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Originally Posted by thinlo
Now, where's all this come from? Is there some hidden gay agenda in the movies? Or are the movies unintentionately homoerotic? Or is this all just because teenagers have to include sexual agenda everywhere? Or is it just random that this many people have "noticed" something?
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I think part of it is probably the teenagers having sexual agendas. A lot of teens do see sex everywhere, even where it isn't and never was. I am not one of them, but a lot of them do. It's actually a little disgusting, this obsession with sex.
I think that another factor is that in these unfortunate times, friendship has become very superficial. People are afraid of love because often times, the media overlooks great friendships in favor of romance. It's almost as though true friendships don't really exist for the media...and when they do, they're always between girls. It's socially acceptable for girls to love their friends. Physical contact between girls isn't frowned upon as much as it is between guys...though I still have the memorable experience of being asked if my best friend and I were in love. We just laugh a lot together and aren't afraid to hug each other...but we're both straight and she had a boyfriend at the time that question was asked. Silly thing to ask, if you ask me.
It's a lot worse for men, at least here in the USA (can't speak about in other countries). So many of them, while not strictly homophobic, seem to be mortally afraid to be mistaken for gay...and the problem is intensified by the fact that men are discouraged from being emotional at all.
Anyway, because of this tabboo on contact and even on close friendship, sometimes seeing true, close friendship makes people feel uncomfortable...
And the drought of close friendships, particularly in the media, makes for the possibility that people will make the mistake of assuming love between friends is actually love between significant others.
Middle-earth lacks the social standards of our modern world.
Frodo and Sam are close friends. They (gasp of mock horror!) are able to touch each other. They are not afraid to be emotional together, to share deep feelings of joy and of sorrow and of fear. They, in fact, (NOOOO!) love each other. Because they're FRIENDS.
Aragorn is friends with Boromir. They've been to hell and back together, fought together, and travelled together for a long time. Of course they're friends. By the end, they each come to recognize the nobility in the other. I find it perfectly reasonable that Boromir's death would be emotional for both of them...and yes, Aragorn kisses Boromir's forehead after he passes. (ewwww!
) It's a gesture of respect, grief, and of platonic love. There should not be any kind of issue.
And so Aragorn and Legolas look at each other. Well. You can't expect the Fellowship to travel all that long way without once making eye contact! And they, too, are friends. Does making eye contact with a friend mean that you are in love with him or her? No, and in fact, the question sounds absurd to me.
No one in my close circle of friends had a problem grasping this fact, because we are all the unashamed type of friend. We're close, and as such, are not afraid to hug each other or to cry together...or to make eye contact,
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The trouble is that other people see it and can't understand. They feel uncomfortable. And one of the reflex ways of dealing with discomfort or feelings of awkwardness is to make a joke about it to break the ice...and so they make jokes about the characters being gay. Some people actually look at it and see homosexuality. Some of them may actually be gay, and then it probably is a case of, as Alatar pointed out, seeing what they want to see.
I feel sorry for the people who think that way but aren't gay, though. Because they have never known true friendship.
Whew...that was long, and actually turned into a rant. I think I ought to clarify, though...I have no problem with homosexuality in its rightful place. For instance, I loved Brokeback Mountain. But people not understanding friendship and that whole love=romance thing...or more accurately love=sex thing really bothers me. It's a rant that's been lurking in me ever since I found Tolkien fandom.
To me, the books are practically about that kind of friendship-love. It's something I hold very dear.