HBO’s The Last of Us expands Bill & Frank’s gay romance om the game - Polygon

Contents:

• THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY
• ‘THE LAST OF US’ DIRECTOR ADMS TO TRICKG AUDIENC TO PH GAY STORYL AND PROPAGANDA
• HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
• THE GAY AGENDA BLUEPRT: A PLAN TO TRANSFORM AMERI
• FALLY THE GREAT GAY AGENDA IS WORKG! TWICE AS MANY OF NOW INTIFY AS LGBTQ+
• THE GAY AGENDA
• GAYS THE “LAST DAYS”

THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY

What we got stead was a psule episo, and a particularly bracg one, given the show’s opprsively bleak mood th far: The hour is dited to the love story of Bill and Frank, a gay uple who—due ially to Bill’s skills as a bunker-stockg, booby-trappg, Don’t Tread on Me survivalist—manage to build a largely happy existence together an abandoned and eventually fortified ral hamlet for almost 20 years. Bill’s is not a “type” of gay man I n say I’ve ever seen mastream media before, and watchg him slowly reveal and epen that aspect of himself wh Frank’s help—sexually, y (Hollywood: more hairy bear love scen please!

But Bill and Frank create somethg else, a ltle oasis of their own that’s regnizably gay, full of quiet bety and joys the size of new strawberri. Frank wants to fix up the block and some of the “not stupid” shops—the we and furnure stor, the clothg boutique—bee he hop they might one day have unfected guts (which they eventually do, the form of Joel and Ts), but really bee makg thgs nice, pecially when nicens isn’t valued, is one of the great gay llgs. As an echo of the gay experience wh AIDS, is, as veteran activist Peter Staley put a Facebook post, a ftg tribute to the “tenr love & bravery gay men summoned when facg ath durg the plague years, cludg those who did so on their own terms.

How powerful, then, to see not only a gay uple given an entire hour of a marquee show, but a gay uple who are held up as the keepers of civilizatn, as stewards of bety, as emblems of human digny and possibily. The latt episo of HBO's vio-game adaptatn "The Last of Us" has been wily praised — but 's also spired fierce backlash, shg a light on what have been persistent issu the gamg muny and larger cultural fandoms: homophobia and anti-LGBTQ iology.

‘THE LAST OF US’ DIRECTOR ADMS TO TRICKG AUDIENC TO PH GAY STORYL AND PROPAGANDA

Sunday's episo, tled "Long, Long Time, " picts a gay romance between Bill, played by Nick Offerman, and Frank, played by Murray Bartlett. "Insir even received an email om a rear rponse to s story about the episo beg review-bombed, which further exemplifi this homophobia.

"The rponse om some homophobic fans to Sunday's episo nearly a after "gamergate, " a far-right onle movement agast "progrsivism" gamg, built on racism, sexism, homophobia, and of "gamergate" uld be seen cricism agast "The Last of Us Part II, " the 2020 vio game sequel, which Ellie's sexualy is further explored. To elucidate this pot further Pope John Pll II and The Vatin’s Congregatn for the Doctre of the Fah published Consiratns Regardg Proposals to Give Legal Regnns to Unns Between Homosexual Persons. After providg ample evince to this pot, the letter says, “There are absolutely no grounds for nsirg homosexual unns to be any way siar or even remotely analogo to God’s plan for marriage and fay.

Legal regnn of homosexual unns or placg them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of viant behavur, wh the nsequence of makg a mol prent-day society, but would also obscure basic valu which belong to the mon herance of humany. If you don’t want to watch the show bee has gay storyl, bee has a trans character, that’s on you, and you’re missg out.

HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE

RELATED: ‘The Last Of Us’ Actrs Storm Reid Rponds To “Homophobic Backlash, ” Says “If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Watch”. Clearly, Hoar knows that is natural to reject homosexualy bee is ed unnatural and go agast “the natural moral law.

The cisn to keep muted, hted at a sgle le of dialogue and a hidn letter, was both praised and cricized — was easy to overlook, but also avoid a lot of gay-character trop, and allowed Bill to be a human and not “a maniftatn of sexualy, ” as Polygon’s Danielle Rien put at the time. Although Lynskey don’t intify as queer, and her character seemgly don’t eher, one viewer bizarrely acced her and the seri for “more homosexual agenda phg”; seemgly referencg the sexualy of Bella Ramsey’s leadg character Ellie and episo three’s acclaimed gay love story between Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman.

After the terviewer rrectly rmed her that she has a passnate gay fanbase, Lynskey said ’s “been a badge that I’ve worn proudly forever” and “’s jt always been a big part of my own muny and life”. Comg to the show as ‘mor’ characters and givg a te romantic outlook on who Bill and Frank are, not only as dividuals but as a uple as well, giv a great look on a gay relatnship that don’t seem unnecsary or forced, ” Mumey shared. Episo three has been gettg review-bombed on social media and review s by angered watchers who hold homophobic and discrimatory iologi.

THE GAY AGENDA BLUEPRT: A PLAN TO TRANSFORM AMERI

One er on IMDB labeled the episo as a “token reprentatn propaganda snoozeft, ” and plenty more reviews claimed the show was phg the gay agenda and rryg out LGBTQ propaganda. The fierce backlash rponse to the show sheds light on a persistent issue existg wh society: homophobia and anti-LGBTQ ials.

FALLY THE GREAT GAY AGENDA IS WORKG! TWICE AS MANY OF NOW INTIFY AS LGBTQ+

In a society where queer narrativ are beg more proment, is rehg to have romanc between gay upl portrayed a way that is not stereotypil or relsly thrown jt for reprentatn. Dpe the seri’ excellent pictn of a gay relatnship, the homophobic rpons om viewers show jt how much improvement still needs to be ma regardg the way society perceiv the LGBTQ muny. MORE FROM FORBES'The Last Of Us' Season 1, Episo 3 Rep And Review: Bill And FrankBy Erik KaI’ve seen every possible reactn to this episo om rears, rangg om the same enthiasm I felt about to blatant homophobia, plag that ‘the gay agenda’ is beg ‘shoved down our throats’ (or the ‘woke agenda’ etc.

THE GAY AGENDA

In the November 1987 edn of Gui, a magaze for homosexuals, the two men thored an article tled “The Overhlg of Straight Ameri. ” There Kirk, a rearcher nropsychiatry, and Madsen, a public relatns nsultant, laid out a blueprt to fundamentally change Amerins’ attus toward homosexuals and homosexualy. In 1989 they expand that blueprt to a 398-page book tled After the Ball: How Ameri Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays the 90s.

Gallup polls 1989 showed that only 19 percent of Amerins believed people were born homosexual, wh 48 percent believg was due to environmental factors such as upbrgg. By 2015 those numbers had dramatilly shifted to 51 percent believg homosexuals were born that way and only 30 percent attributg to other factors.

GAYS THE “LAST DAYS”

(This is spe of the fact that extensive geic rearch and many studi of intil tws where only one was homosexual have disproven geic termism. Well-rearched surveys (as opposed to some wh markedly skewed sampl and/or methodology) have nsistently placed the homosexual populatn of Ameri at around 2 to 3 percent—yet the fluence of homosexuals on Amerin culture is vastly out of proportn wh their actual numbers.

The way to benumb raw sensivi about homosexualy is to have a lot of people talk a great al about the subject a ntral or supportive way... Constant talk builds the imprsn that public opn is at least divid on the subject, and that a sizable segment accepts or even practic homosexualy. In the early stag of any mpaign to reach straight Ameri, the mass should not be shocked and repelled by premature exposure to homosexual behavr self.