Xiao An (San) is the raccoon with his mask but as with almost any standard raccoon San is cute soft and lovable. San does not intend duplicity nor does he want to hurt either his pursuer Maocai or Si (who secretly loves Xiao An). Indeed San only learns gradually that Si is both sweet and kind to San not because of politeness alone but rather due to a profound affection. One familiar with living in Chinese culture would recognize the initial internalized reaction of Xiao An to Si's caring and affection as the classic brotherly one. While San and Si never think of or refer to one another as "brother," it is the norm in Chinese society and culture to use the word profoundly and only with a single rare special friend who feels like one of the family. In USA we use the term "bro" across the culture but often loosely. This is in contrast to the special and sacred manner in which the Chinese award the word "brother" to only the most dear and trusted friend who is familiar over a long and tested time of events and life challenges.
In fact and as Maocai states specifically several times, he thinks of Xiao An as his little brother. It would seem strange to Western people that a male suitor of another male would think of his same sex love object as his brother, however, the distinction is clear to both men at any age and in the full context of the relationship. For the male lovers to be both sexual and like brothers is a positive statement of the profound love or affection they share. In the relationship and in the act the two are sexual while also feeling brotherly. Certainly not as brothers in any real sense of the concept. We know it as brotherly love thanks to the existence of the adverb. The verb is in the sex act of love in its literal meaning.
Unlike the film North Sea Texas, where sex scenes dominated the first 30 minutes of the interaction, Raccoon barely touches on overt physical sexual activity. There's a lot of touching on the head of Xiao An and a lot of hugging of San by Maocai, but it is almost always in a public place while fully clothed. The single forward moment of touching is of couse by Maocai of San when Maocai invites himself to accompany San to his Chinese Lit major classroom. Maocai places his left hand onto San's right thigh then slowly down and inward only for it to be quickly and decidedly thrust away by the fiercely chaste Xiao An.San's accompanying smirk reveals he is both humorously appreciative of Maocai's horsing around in the classroom where the move is well noticed but also shows Xiao An is pleased with himself to express clear limits to Maocai's advances when they get physical. Even the public touching and embracing involving Si and San after the fact of their consummating their affections is initiated by Si whose prior physical contacts had been self-contained to only soft brief and light touches to San's head and hair.
So the one overt clothes free event in which Maocai deflowers Xiao An is the radical change that is the sexual take-away of the film in its plot and character development.
The scene opens by panning the small hotel room wall and window to find Xiao An asleep in the bed with the white bedcover up to his neck. On this morning after the night before Xiao An is out cold from a wild beer drinking session with the cast and crew of the successful stage play the previous evening in which Maocai played the "leading boy." At the curtain call San had left his audience seat to go onstage to present flowers to Maocai. San's eyes spring open and he suddenly sits up like dracula startled but to place his head in his hands. The bedcover drops to below San's navel. Maocai is at the foot of the bed trousers half on to go out to gather food and from where he'd been gazing upon his beautifully serene and hard won angel of his paradise.
Maocai (with distinct glee): "Does your head hurt?"
Xiao An (head in hands and drolly): "Everything hurts!" San suddenly realizes the setting and circumstance of the clothes free environment to then jolt his head up to look at Maocai in a moment of shock. Aghast, San moves his eyes only downward then rapidly lifts the bedcover to stare unbelievably in a moment of horror. San pulls the cover up to his chest as he gapes again at his beaming mate.
Maocai (with joy and an accomplished satisfaction): "Why are you shy on this morning? I saw everything last night."
Xiao An (forcefully with eyes wide): "You did everything last night !"
Maocai onto the bed crawling deliberately while smiling: "It is good you can remember because I come to you again. You still do not know everything."
Xaio An (drawing back): "Enough!"
Maocai: "It feels good, doesn't it..." Maocai plunges himself onto Xiao An and tickles San all about his chest and trunk. San cries out in laughter and uncomfortable smiling as he sqirms, curls and shifts his body but cannot free himself from Maocai's rapid dominance. The bedcover gets pushed to Xiao An's feet as his buns in tight thin undershorts of robin's egg blue get turned toward the camera. Maocai's slender taught back is twice turned toward the camera also. The wildly laughing and also writhing Xaio An cries out again, this time more in a quiescent resignation.
A knock on the door brings the two suddenly still and silent. Maocai turns away toward the door to answer it as he throws on a shirt and quickly orders his drooped trousers. San reassembles himself while he unabashedly displays a half smile on his brightly illuminated face to settle back in under the well drawn up bedcover.
Maocai greets Li Xian the somewhat heavy and pleasant gal who is pursuing him and who was the "girl lead" in the well received campus play. Xian is ostensibly returning Maocai's coat he placed on her during the night chill. Li Xian does indeed know the momentous event that had occurred in the room overnight. The cosmopolitan Li Xian also knows the splendid bonding that transpired between Maocai and Xiao An is something that has been celebrated countless times anywhere and everywhere over thousands of years. In her process of thanking Maocai for his chivalry Xian suggests to Xiao An to come out from under the bedcover, to get his clothes back on and to make a threesome for a lunch. (Lunch -- indeed, Americans ask how are you, the Thais ask where are you going, the Chinese always ask: "Did you eat?") San politely declines, suggests the two go while he gets some more sleep. Maocai and Li Xian leave and San pulls the bedcover up over his head.
San's arm only extends from under the bedcover to his cellphone on the bedside table. Xiao An pokes his head out and calls Si at the dorm. San advises Si he's at the hotel outside the campus. Si replies in a deep sigh that he knows San and Maocai spent the night together at the hotel. All the same, San asks roommate Si to bring him some fresh clothes. Si darts out the dorm to the hotel and to the room where he knocks breathlessly at the door. Xiao An opens the door gift wrapped to Si in only the white bedcover. And not entirely wrapped either. San embraces Si who returns the moment to gently snuggle his chin onto San's shoulder.
There's just no other way to say it than to say it's at this point the plot thickens. And as we say in respect of the long season of baseball, you win some, you lose some and some get rained out.
