this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
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I'm impressed by pretty much everything I see from Offerman, and his role in TLOU was fantastic. It had real impact, and didn't feel at all like the lazy tokenistic drivel that's become Disney's standard fare.
I'll tell you why:
Because it, kind of like Brokeback Mountain all those years earlier, appreciates that homosexuality and the gay community are not one in the same. While the gay community is extremely important and should never be downplayed, media always tends depict gay people as connected to it or at the very least evoking many of the same aspects and tropes.
This isn't an unfair thing to depict, far from it, but it has the unfortunate result of making many gay characters feels rather same-y, occasionally even one note.
Offerman's character depicts a very accurate thing that doesn't get as much attention in media: the straight acting man discovering his sexuality late in life. With the exception of his piano playing and his penchant for wine and setting the table for elaborate dinners, his character has none of the telltale "gay" aspects you typically find in media, nor does he develop them. In fact his character aspects (survivalist, paranoid, shut in, loner, even a hint conservative) are generally not associated with gay characters, out of fear of depicting them in a poor light.
That's not at all to suggest other depictions of gay men are wrong or bad, Bartlett's character is very well done too. The characters of Bill just feels more notable and fresher in our current media landscape because we see it far less often.
Fellas, is it gay to play an instrument?
I know that's not what you're saying I just thought it was a funny way to phrase it
If you're playing the skin flute, it might be gay... hahaha
Only if you don’t tell your bro “no homo” afterwards.
Also, is liking wine gay?
Men can only drink beer and whiskey. Everything else is gay.
/S
Allowing other homophobic men to determine what you should drink or do is the gayest act you could perform.
Also I wonder how long it's going to take for 'Gay' to become good in mainstream lexicon? Probably until all the millennials die out huh? Fight the good gay fight!
Look, not all pianists are gay, but all gay people play the piano.
how often must i gay to be able to play piano? because i love piano
At least 5/7
i've never even tried it with rice
Depends on how big the candelabras are.
And how sparkly the cape.
Mahvellous, dahling ..
Depends, are you speaking of the skin flute?
I really appreciate this take. A lot of us are trapped in the closet for a variety of reasons and it takes years to finally be yourself comfortably. Once we are out, we can exist as just people…if our community lets us that is.
I think a lot of people don't understand that being GSRM does not automatically make you part of the LGBT community.
“Gender, Sexual and Romantic Minorities“ for those like me who didn’t know the acronym.
I think this is a good take, but my criticism of Disney is more in line with my perception of their business model - art by focus group.
They know that if they combine these 3 IP's with these 3 diversity checkboxes, the movie will return x, meaning they have a budget of y to deliver a given ROI. Much like their endless parade of remakes, it's cynical commercislism that has no interest in storytelling artistic value, or representation - and it shows.
To your point, TLOU separated the relationship from the community, and while the community representation is important, this type of representation is critical to normalising homosexual relationships - "oh - they're in a regular loving relationship just like me - it's not all disco music and flapping about in sparkly clothes, making catty comments." kinda deal.
I got to see his standup routine a few months back and it was hilarious and wholesome.