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

two gay characters in the last of us

The btsellg sequel featur a gay central character, challengg the last taboo for reprentatn gamg

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

Wh Bill and Frank's story beg told Episo 3 of The Last of Us, we analyze how their gay romance fi expectatn. * two gay characters in the last of us *

The show is already garnerg high praise for s third episo, which lved ep to a si story wh two gay characters at s re. Several more gay characters are sttered among the game’s st, and future episos — and seasons — will see the h characters realized live-actn for the first time. Ellie Image via Nghty Dog That’s right, the lead character The Last of Us is part of the gay muny.

THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE

"The Last Of Us keeps buryg s gays - but that's OK," op wrer Tom Chapman, this season-wi rep * two gay characters in the last of us *

The character’s sexualy is hted at the Last of Us gam, and many players termed that he was gay, but players didn’t get nearly the romance the origal that HBO livered wh “Long Long Time. LGBTQ+ them are not somethg entirely new to The Last of Us anchise, as the first stallment of the seri also showsed a gay NPC and then a very graceful lbian kiss the Left Behd DLC.

Bill is gay and had a relatnship wh a man lled Frank, who is later found ad the game, much to Bill's dismay. Unlike Da, Bill tri to hi his homosexualy and ially only refers to Frank as someone he had red for.

Acrdg to crics who have seen the show, we're gettg a whole lot more of The Last of Us' gay characters than we thought.The Last of Us follows Joel and Ellie as they travel across a post-apolyptic Ameri tryg to avoid fung-fected zombi. Bill is gay the game, but ’s referenced so vaguely that plenty of players missed . 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.

FROM REVIEW-BOMBG TO BURYG S GAYS: THE LAST OF US AND S EPIC HISTORY OF LGBTQ REPRENTATN, EXPLAED

Bill is a gay character om The Last of Us. This sectn is need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by edg . This sectn is need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by edg . This sectn is need of major improvement. Please help... * two gay characters in the last of us *

The game’s storyle don’t avoid trop altogether, though: It was cricized for “buryg s gays. How The Last of Us creat a betiful oblivn for two gay men love.

The third episo of The Last of Us, “Long, Long Time, ” featur a gay love story between two characters, Nick Offerman’s doomsday prepper, Bill, and Murray Bartlett’s wanrg artist, Frank. Stori on TV featurg queer characters are routely mishandled, givg rise to the “Bury Your Gays” trope where queer stori are plagued wh unwarranted pa and ath, so ’s rehg that The Last of Us shows don’t have to be that outbreak ed massive loss of life and stctn across the world, but for Bill, who adms a letter to Joel that at one pot he hated the world and was happy everyone died, the zombie apolypse is a eeg experience. It’s probably a safe bet that, before the apolypse, Bill chose to stay the closet bee he wanted to spare himself the judgment and discrimatn gay people face, not to mentn humane anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

But, thanks to the outbreak, all that disappeared overnight, and wh , seemgly, all of Bill’s fear about beg openly gay. Episo 3 director Peter Hoar and wrer Craig Maz get pots for tellg an excellent story that looks at the zombie apolypse genre through a queer lens, showg how would uniquely (and unexpectedly) affect a closeted gay man, but they go one further by learng om mistak ma by other shows. Episo three was review-bombed after highlighted a gay relatnship.

THE LAST OF US’S GAY LOVE STORY BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR AN ENTIRE GENRE

Episo 3 of The Last Of Us explored Bill and Frank's heartwrenchg relatnship but fans have been askg if Bill was gay the game. * two gay characters in the last of us *

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.

"The Last Of Us keeps buryg s gays - but that's OK, " op wrer Tom Chapman this season-wi rep. At a time when the work is known for queer shows like Euphoria and beg a memeable obssn thanks to Jennifer “The gays, they‘re tryg to murr me! Still, The Last of Us is dog the muny proud… and the homophob hate .

The Last Of Us buri s gays – but that’s OK (spoilers ahead). Followg the aths of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) episo three, The Last of Us uld fall to ‘Bury Your Gays’ terrory. Maz stated they were both gay, but “their sexualy is nfg to them and sry to them.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED

The show’s episo about an olr gay uple’s love a dire settg brought back memori of mment and heartbreakg loss a time when much of society was unable — or unwillg — to help. * two gay characters in the last of us *

” Remdg how the vastatg Outbreak Day occurred 2003, Maz explaed the world hasn’t gone through the “revolutn” of “acceptg homosexualy and whatever we’d ll non-heteronormative sexuali. HBO seems equally aaid to nfirm Ellie is gay, and we’ll hazard a gus why. The game nfirmed Bill and Frank were a gay uple.

But when spun out to an epic love story, the homophob sharpened their pchforks. She recently told GQ: “If you don’t want to watch the show bee has gay storyl, bee has a trans character, that’s on you.

Dpe beg straight, Offerman clapped back at one homophobe on Twter, sayg that this hate and ignorance to gay storyl is the reason people keep makg them. “The Last of Us” also will spotlight Bill and Frank, a gay uple played by Nick Offerman (“Parks and Rec”) and out gay actor Murray Bartlett (“Lookg, ” “The Whe Lot, ” “Wele to Chippendal”).

THAT ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAY LOVE STORY IS GROUNDBREAKG

That same year, he lled the Tmp admistratn “pigs” for undog nondiscrimatn protectns for LGBTQ people health re and health surance, and he said that Supreme Court showed “the f*ckg basics of humany” by lg that gay and lbian people n sue for workplace bias. He won two awards and received a nomatn for his reportg on the lol LGBTQ muny, cludg a two-part vtigatn that exposed anti-gay bullyg of lol high school stunts and the school districts' failure to implement state mandated protectns for LGBTQ stunts. After wng turns Lookg, Tal of the Cy and The Whe Lot, he’s fast beg one of the medium’s most proment gay the episo nears s end, and Frank be curably sick, the uple’s last scen together are profoundly movg.

The episo is, among other thgs, a subversn of the much-cricised “bury your gays” trope. Here, y, are two gay characters who die.

Bill is a gay character om The Last of Us. “It was geo, and I was so not expectg , ” said Darn Lowenste, 41, a vio game nsultant, who is gay. “Obvly, I’ve played the gam religly and I know there’s gay characters there, but I was not expectg an 80-mute … tearworthy piece of art.

THE LAST OF US PART 2 BURI ITS GAYS BEFORE RELEASE (AND MAYBE THAT’S OKAY)

” Queer-themed gam date as far back as 1992’s “Gay Bla, ” acrdg to the LGBTQ media advocy group GLAAD. Though Bill’s role the game is small, and his mentn of beg gay brief, did not go unnoticed by LGBTQ gamers like then, he was his early 20s and still the closet about his sexualy. ”Adaptatn giv gamers hope for more reprentatnSome queer viewers exprsed excement that Sunday's episo would expose even more people to gay vio game characters.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* TWO GAY CHARACTERS IN THE LAST OF US

The Last Of Us Part 2 Buri Its Gays Before Release.

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