One of the most moving stories about the bond between two men is related in the film “Midnight Cowboy”, based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy. The young Texan, Joe Buck, quits his job washing dishes in a rural town, dresses in cowboy attire and heads to New York to become a male prostitute. However, business in the city is not as plentiful or lucrative as Joe was expecting, either through heterosexual or homosexual encounters. Falling on hard times, Joe moves into a squalid squat with a crippled con-man named Rico Rizzo, and an unexpected bond develops between the pair. In the 1969 film, Joe Buck was played by the young Jon Voight, with Dustin Hoffman in the role of Rico Rizzo. As a teenager, I must have worn out the VHS tape by repeatedly rewinding and replaying the brief scene which offers a fleeting glimpse of Jon Voight’s naked arse. Even putting that magical moment aside, “Midnight Cowboy” is a poignant, intriguing and emotional film which explores the depths of friendship, loyalty and love between two very different men. Hugh Braceland
There’s John Voight’s naked ass as a young actor in 1969, and then there’s the updated reality of John Voight the man embracing authoritarianism in 2025 at a Trump victory rally days ago:
“I’m proud to call the president of the United States my friend, our friend. My hero, our hero.”