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.
Contents:
- HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
- THE LAST OF US PART 2 REVIEW: BURY YOUR GAYS, EMOTNALLY
- WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?
- WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED
HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
* the last of us gay couple disease *
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.
THE LAST OF US PART 2 REVIEW: BURY YOUR GAYS, EMOTNALLY
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. * the last of us gay couple disease *
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. Y’all better keep the gay gay.
— barbara? (@lmj_black2pk) March 5, 2020 Ellie’s sexualy has been a divisive issue among fans ever sce beme apparent that Ellie was gay the first DLC, Left Behd. Ellie is a rare example of a gay protagonist a major AAA game, and Maz clearly regniz the importance of reprentg this the seri. If The Last Of Us Part II and the HBO show normalize gay people wh the new society beg tablished, would be a big al.
WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?
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.
WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED
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 exprsively and culturally as well—is thrillg.
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.