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

Contents:

• HBO’S THE LAST OF US GETS REVIEW BOMBED AFTER HISTORIC GAY EPISO
• HOPEFULLY, THE LAST OF US TV SERI DON’T BURY ITS GAYS
• THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY
• THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE
• 'THE LAST OF US' STAR BELLA RAMSEY THKS 'S 'IMPORTANT' TO PICT LGBTQ LOVE A POST-APOLYPTIC WORLD: 'IT'S NOT LIKE ALL THE GAY PEOPLE GOT BLOWN UP'
• THE LAST OF US’S GAY LOVE STORY BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR AN ENTIRE GENRE
• HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
• JAGUARS ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR U.S.-BASED PRO LEAGU
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

HBO’S THE LAST OF US GETS REVIEW BOMBED AFTER HISTORIC GAY EPISO

And bee of this gay reprentatn on-screen, a ntgent of largely homophobic dience members have been quick to share s vrl. Bill n’t exist whout beg gay Frank’s arms.

Apparently the wrers thk Bill and Frank’s inty was jt that they were gay, nothg more than that. Oh and that person jt happens to also be gay? "And jeroen-10631 even lled out the episo's haters, sayg review bombers should "be ashamed of themselv" and that "clearly the story of two gay men ma you so unfortable:""Some of the people mentg about “polil propaganda” and 'checkg off liberal box' should be ashamed of themselv.

HOPEFULLY, THE LAST OF US TV SERI DON’T BURY ITS GAYS

Clearly the story of two gay men ma you so unfortable that you only subnscly realized you are so behd the tim and been raised rigid and immature while htg that '1 star' button. All tak is a simple Google search to figure out that this is simply the act of homophobic ter trolls. In the game, while not overtly shown, Bill is gay.

This post ntas spoilers for the Last of Us prequel game Left, sners, for the gay mhroom apolypse is upon ten years after the vio game of the same name buted, HBO Max's The Last of Us is g to the streamer next year — and the seri' first teaser trailer, which dropped on Monday, has given a peek at our queer a near-future U. In the game, Riley di almost immediately after she and Ellie kiss for the first time; that's generally not unexpected for survival horror, but a naked example of the "bury your gays" trope neverthels. Meanwhile, the characters Bill and Frank (Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett) are nonilly a gay relatnship — or at least were, as Frank is killed off screen before the events of the first game take place.

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

And Part II, players meet Lev, a trans man whose life is largely fed by parental and relig abe, and whose adname is repeatedly shouted by var 40-mute long Ntendo Direct showse had no shortage of gaymer-gasm, this is survival horror, so we shouldn't expect nice thgs or much of a life expectancy for anyone.

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. Wh Bill and Frank, we were given a portra of love—specifilly gay love—that feels surprisg and urgent.

In our own 2023, we are not exactly lackg for media imag of whe gay men. For one thg, we see gay sire portrayed all s plexy, but wh a touch as light as a breeze playg through curtas. 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!

THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE

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.

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.

'THE LAST OF US' STAR BELLA RAMSEY THKS 'S 'IMPORTANT' TO PICT LGBTQ LOVE A POST-APOLYPTIC WORLD: 'IT'S NOT LIKE ALL THE GAY PEOPLE GOT BLOWN UP'

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.

Acrdg to crics who have seen the show, we're gettg a whole lot more of The Last of Us' gay characters than we Last of Us follows Joel and Ellie as they travel across a post-apolyptic Ameri tryg to avoid fung-fected zombi. Episo three of HBO's "The Last of Us" sparked homophobic backlash om some viewers.

Homophobia has long been an issue the gamg muny and larger fandoms.

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

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.A 2019 survey by the Anti-Defamatn League found that 74% of adults who have played onle vio gam have experienced harassment. Sunday's episo, tled "Long, Long Time," picts a gay romance between Bill, played by Nick Offerman, and Frank, played by Murray Bartlett.

It was really unpleasant for me to watch this, not all people support this, why are you imposg this madns!"Plenty more reviews acced the episo of phg LGBT "propaganda" or a "gay agenda."Insir even received an email om a rear rponse to s story about the episo beg review-bombed, which further exemplifi this homophobia. As 's clear they are no longer foced on makg good shows but promotg their polil iologi."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 misogyny.Echo 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."Part II" also sparked review-bombg. The episo tled "Long, Long Time" stars Nick Offerman as Bill, a character om the origal game who is implied to be gay.

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

"It's not like all the gay people got blown up and don't exist anymore, you know what I mean? Ellie  The Last of Us is one of the most proment gay characters all of gamg.

JAGUARS ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR U.S.-BASED PRO LEAGU

The fan rpond to HBO's announcement of The Last of Us TV seri sayg that they shouldn't erase the anchise's gay reprentatn. In that DLC, players learn that Ellie is gay, and that aspect of her personaly is set to be explored much more the upg Last of Us 2. She told CNN that, while playg the game for the first time, her “gaydar pged” when Bill mentned his “partner,” but by the time she read Frank’s suici note, she wonred if she’d misunrstood – maybe the pair were jt bs partners and nothg more, she thought.

In their review, wrer and filmmaker Juan Barqu said the sudn veer to a straightforward romance an otherwise bleak seri “feels fundamentally opposed to the world (-creator Neil) Dckmann has created,” and the episo was ls of a valuable narrative divergence than “an explic attempt to urt praise.” Riley MacLeod of the Washgton Post noted that however movg their story was to viewers, Bill and Frank still “fall to well-worn gay ath trop” – a gay man phg another gay man, sickened by an unknown disease, a wheelchair; an image often shown storyl about HIV-posive characters – and are seemgly the “only two queer people the world.”.

A cric for Logo TV wrote that the game rced Bill to a “punchle” after Ellie jok about a gay porn magaze she fds. Fanbyte reported on Bill’s stg the TV seri as a “gay (the show) will probably bury.” Even the wily praised 2022 remake of the game was a “remr of s ‘bury your gays’ romance,” said Ja Kg of The Gamer, an article that year.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

(The “bury your gays” trope refers to the equent killg off of gay characters media.). “To get almost two full s wh someone you love is a gift, and to get a time of so much ath and stctn feels even more special, so ’s really nice to see happen for gay people,” she told CNN. 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.