The Last of Us’s gay love story breaks new ground for an entire genre

Contents:

• HBO’S THE LAST OF US GETS REVIEW BOMBED AFTER HISTORIC GAY EPISO
• THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY
• HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
• THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE
• THE LAST OF US’S GAY LOVE STORY BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR AN ENTIRE GENRE
• TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE THE CROWD ROOM DEFEND BY FANS

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.

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

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.

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.

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

In the game, while not overtly shown, Bill is gay. 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! 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.

THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE

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.

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.

You may be able to fd the same ntent another format, or you may be able to fd more rmatn, at their web of you reprentativ om the Miserable Onle League is gonna start somethg about Nick Offerman playg someone gay and I want to remd you he is married to Megan Mullally which qualifi as a gay marriage— nolan (@anxluxe) January 30, 2023Philip Ellis is News Edor at Men's Health, verg fns, pop culture, sex and relatnships, and LGBTQ+ issu.

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

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.

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

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.

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.