The Last of Us Lets Gay Love Flourish the Apolypse - IGN

Contents:

• THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY
• THE LAST OF US’S GAY LOVE STORY BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR AN ENTIRE GENRE
• ‘THE LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO
• TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE THE CROWD ROOM DEFEND BY FANS
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE
• HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED

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. 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.

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

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! 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 LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO

Bill is a gay character om The Last of Us. 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. 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 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. 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.

TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE THE CROWD ROOM DEFEND BY FANS

The episo is, among other thgs, a subversn of the much-cricised “bury your gays” trope. Here, y, are two gay characters who die. Wisler died his arms, and like so many other gay men, he died before the most effective treatments to ntrol the vis stroyg his immune system were available — after polil difference stifled early medil efforts.

Peter Staley, one of the untry’s most proment AIDS activists of that time, lled the episo’s metaphor “a gift, ” sayg that “tears flowed rememberg the tenr love and bravery gay men summoned when facg ath durg the plague years” as he watched. The relatnship between Bill and Frank didn’t ronate wh him as a metaphor for those wh HIV or AIDs — and Halkis has spent time documentg the lived experienc of other HIV-posive gay men who survived that era.

Depictg that kd of love — where two middle-aged gay men fd happs growg old together — was also val to the shownners, as Maz explaed on the official pann podst for “The Last of Us. That’s why he believ seeg a love story between two olr gay men beg told on “The Last of Us” was surprisg and pellg for so many.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Bee of where they lived, and the tim they lived , g out as gay or admtg to beg HIV-posive meant takg on real risk.

While on one si of the divi, has drawn the hate of homophobic ter menters review-bombg the seri bad fah, the majory have seen the story for what is, a grippg love story that happens to be between two gay men fdg each other the apolypse. “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.

THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE

So yeah, Bill has always been gay. Fans of Brish actor Tom Holland have e to his fense after some social media ers were seemgly upset that the latt episo of his Apple TV+ seri The Crowd Room featured gay the scene, Holland’s character go to a club wh heavy black eyeler and all black.

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

”A lot of other ers, however, seemed very nfed over the backlash, pecially sce Spir-Man actors Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield have also played gay person wrote, “Watchg agile cishet men have breakdowns over the reason Tom Holland is trendg is sweet we to me. ”“The fact that a sgle scene on an Apple Pl show featurg Tom Holland has brought out so much homophobia om the stupist people is...

Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay.

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

Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual. Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player league history to announce that he is gay 2021. Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league.

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.