Kiss of the Spider Woman

A homosexual window dresser, Molina considers himself a woman and takes on stereotypical female roles throughout the novel. He is sensitive, self-degrading at times, and very expressive, and often looks for Valentin’s reassurance. He tells movie plots to Valentin, in order to distract him, but also to escape into a fantasy world. He identifies “always with the heroine” in movies (25). He goes into great detail to describe the women in the movies. At one point, he describes the singer in the Nazi propaganda movie as, “very tall, absolutely perfect...layers and layers of hanging tulle...the most divine woman you can imagine” (50). He goes into great detail describing the fashion, the hairstyles, and the decorations in the homes in his narratives. He seems obsessed with living in these fantasy worlds, changing details or embellishing them to fit his imagination, and is often unwilling to focus on day-to-day reality.

He hasa similar obsession with Gabriel, the waiter, describing him as a real man. Molina fantasizes of a world in which he can take care of both Gabriel and his mother, but Gabriel is straight and married, and when he doesn’t indulge in Molina’s request for more, it is clear he is not interested in any sort of relationship.