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

Contents:

• HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
• ‘THE LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?
• Y, ELLIE HAS ALWAYS BEEN GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’
• ARE BILL & FRANK GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME? HERE’S HOW THE SHOW EXPAND ON THEIR STORY
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED
• WAS ELLIE GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH RILEY EXPLAED
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? EXPLAED
• IS ELLIE GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?
• WAS ELLIE GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME? ANSWERED
• GAMER EXPLAS WHY BILL AND FRANK TOTALLY WEREN’T GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME, YOU GUYS

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

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. The game’s storyle don’t avoid trop altogether, though: It was cricized for “buryg s gays. “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. ” 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.

‘THE LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO

”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. 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. “Long Long Time” has sparked several plats om the worst si of Twter about how The Last of Us allegedly shoehorned a gay relatnship.

But the fact is Bill has always been gay. So yeah, Bill has always been gay.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?

The most recent episo of HBO’s The Last of Us has left some fans wonrg if Bill and Frank were a gay uple the origal game. Wh such drastic chang, pecially when to Bill and Frank’s relatnship, some are left askg if Bill was really gay The Last of Us vio game. The biggt hts towards Bill beg a gay man are his relatnship to Frank and a certa magaze that Ellie steals om his stash the church basement, both of which n be missed by players not engagg optnal ntent or not payg close enough attentn.

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 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.

Y, ELLIE HAS ALWAYS BEEN GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’

Sunday's episo, tled "Long, Long Time, " picts a gay romance between Bill, played by Nick Offerman, and Frank, played by Murray Bartlett. "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. "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. Ne years before the episo of the same name, Left Behd revealed that Ellie is gay.

Those are the qutns plagug Ellie, not the far more played out”Am I gay? Though this storyle ends wh a ad LGBTQ+ character, don’t necsarily follow the Bury Your Gays trope. But The Last of Us Part II -wrer Halley Gross nfirmed no uncerta terms that Ellie is gay.

ARE BILL & FRANK GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME? HERE’S HOW THE SHOW EXPAND ON THEIR STORY

While Jackson, Ellie is harassed by a homophobic man for kissg her iend Da. And yet The Last of Us was there 2014, nfirmg that one of the bt known characters gamg history was gay all along and handlg her first love as serly as this anchise handled the ath of Joel’s child.

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.

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

Ellie Image via Nghty Dog That’s right, the lead character The Last of Us is part of the gay muny. 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. If you watched ‘Long Long Time’, the third episo of HBO’s post-apolyptic seri and are only jt emotnally reverg, fans of the crilly acclaimed Sony exclive got the answer to a qutn that has been teased and theorized about for years: are Bill and Frank gay The Last of Us game?

Here’s how the show diverged and expand on their story and if Bill and Frank are gay The Last of Us om StyleCaster'That 90s Show' Star Ashley Aufrhei Plays 'That 70s Show' Trivia--See If She Nails ItHere's How to Watch 'Married at First Sight Atralia' the US to See Which Coupl Are Still TogetherWhat Disease Did Frank Have 'The Last of Us'?

Here's How His Death In the Game & Show DifferAre Bill and Frank gay The Last of Us game?

WAS ELLIE GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH RILEY EXPLAED

*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Last Of Us*The story of Bill and Frank is only briefly touched upon The Last Of Us vio game, but episo 3 of HBO’s adaptatn has dramatilly expand on their relatnship what is a notable viatn om the source enthrallg episo is filled wh tensn, joy and heartbreak as tells the pair’s story over almost two s, begng wh their first meetg after Frank fell to one of Bill’s follows is a betiful love story that has left fans wh a number of qutns, wh some askg whether Bill was gay The Last Of Us game self.

TERMINAL ILLNESS: FRANK’S FATE IN THE LAST OF US SERIES IS A HUGE DEPARTURE FROM ORIGINAL GAME© HBO | Liane HentscherWas Bill gay The Last Of Us game?

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? EXPLAED

Y, Bill is nfirmed to be gay The Last Of Us vio game. Speakg The Last Of Us podst, Craig Maz reerated this pot, sayg: “This wasn’t a new ncept that Bill was gay, that’s the game. The relatnship between Ellie and Riley is only briefly touched upon the ma story of The Last Of Us vio game, but episo 7 of HBO’s TV adaptatn lv to much more eply, leavg some askg if Ellie was gay the origal game self.

© HBO | Liane HentscherWas Ellie gay The Last Of Us game? Y, Ellie is nfirmed to be gay The Last Of Us vio game as well as the the ma game, Ellie’s sexualy isn’t really discsed as there are only a few referenc to Riley dotted throughout the story and we’re only told that she was Ellie’s ’s only the DLC add-on, Left Behd, where the te nature of Ellie and Riley’s relatnship is revealed, meang some players of the origal game may have missed this the TV show, the pair enjoy a night together at the mall where they share a kiss before they are attacked by a hor of nners and get bten and bee we know, Ellie is immune to the fectn but Riley was not so lucky. Here’s everythg you need to know about if Bill was gay The Last of Us game.

Full Explanatn While both Bill’s sexualy and relatnship wh Frank were never explicly stated the game, there is plenty of evince to pot towards both Bill beg gay, and him and Frank havg mataed a romantic relatnship. On top of this, Ellie also steals a gay pornographic magaze om Bill’s locker, to joke around wh Joel. So y, n be duced that Bill was very likely to have been gay The Last of Us game, or at least have some sexual attractn to men.

IS ELLIE GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?

That’s all you need to know about if Bill was gay The Last of Us game.

Is Ellie gay The Last of Us? Episo 7 explored the relatnship between Ellie and Riley om Left Behd, but is Ellie also gay the game?

Is Ellie gay The Last of Us game? Y, Ellie is gay The Last of Us game and TV show.

WAS ELLIE GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME? ANSWERED

Prr to the show’s release, a fan tweeted -creator Craig Maz, wrg: “Y’all better keep the gay gay. “Here are two girls who are both gay, and their sexualy is nfg to them and sry to them.

“The revolutn that we’ve gone through as a culture to bee acceptg of homosexualy and whatever we’d ll non-heteronormative sexuali hasn’t occurred… this world, that stuff is still ‘problematic’ as they say.

Given athat female ma characters gam were a rary until que recently, the fact that one of the biggt releas of the year, The Last of Us Part II, stars a gay woman feels like a signifint moment.

GAMER EXPLAS WHY BILL AND FRANK TOTALLY WEREN’T GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME, YOU GUYS

Ellie is, fact, the first gay star of any blockbter game (die velopers have been ls shy about explorg queer stori) and Ellie The Last of Us Part II.

We journey through much of the game wh her girliend Da (played by Shannon Woodward); we see her experience homophobia and have awkward nversatns wh the people who re about is played by Ashley Johnson – a warm, wry and ngoly shy actor who had numero creds film and TV before landg a role 2013’s The Last of Us. “Playg a lead female character a game is already pretty ol, but the fact that she’s gay is even oler, for me.