In his essay «Elio's Education,» scholar D. A. Miller has placed it on a continuum of Mainstream Gay Movies (or MGMs) with Maurice (1987), Brokeback, and even Moonlight (2016) for its alleged aestheticization of gay male sexuality: in other words its elevation and exaltation of same - sex desire for its beauty, with the implicit goal of erotically neutering and normalizing it for straight audiences. (filmcomment.com)
The look is gorgeous, of course, but seldom has so much aestheticization served so much heartlessness. (filmcomment.com)
Their frontal orientation accords with the surface aestheticization tendencies of our visual culture. (wsimag.com)