Unlikely H 'Sound Of Freedom' Opens New Front In US Culture Wars - Towleroad Gay News

Contents:

• THE LAST OF US PART 2 REVIEW: BURY YOUR GAYS, EMOTNALLY
• THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY
• WHY THE GAY ROMANCE “THE LAST OF US” MEANS SO MUCH
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• HBO’S THE LAST OF US GETS REVIEW BOMBED AFTER HISTORIC GAY EPISO
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
• THE LAST OF US’S GAY LOVE STORY BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR AN ENTIRE GENRE
• HBO’S ‘THE LAST OF US’ DIRECTOR SAYS YOU NEED TO ‘TRICK’ VIEWERS TO WATCHG A GAY LOVE STORY
• THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE
• ARE BILL AND FRANK GAY THE LAST OF US? WHAT’S THEIR RELATNSHIP?
• THAT ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAY LOVE STORY IS GROUNDBREAKG
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED

THE LAST OF US PART 2 REVIEW: BURY YOUR GAYS, EMOTNALLY

While The Last of Us and Left Behd were both guilty of the bury your gays trope, Part 2 steps up by attackg the soul. 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.

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

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!

WHY THE GAY ROMANCE “THE LAST OF US” MEANS SO MUCH

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.

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

In fact, this new take on The Last of Us is already gettg a b uy wh another gay love story, one that marks a huge improvement over the gam.

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

Anyone would feel the same that moment, but the specific pa they’re feelg is magnified even more bee they’re two olr gay men who felt isolated even before the apolypse me along. There’s so much tenrns this moment still, somethg we rarely see any pictn of gay sex onscreen, let alone between two middle-aged men such big, mastream fare. Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay.

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

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.

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.

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

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. 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.

HBO’S ‘THE LAST OF US’ DIRECTOR SAYS YOU NEED TO ‘TRICK’ VIEWERS TO WATCHG A GAY LOVE STORY

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.

THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE

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.

The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars strength ach, Kev Maxen, has e out as gay — makg him the first male ach a U. While Maxen is believed to be the first male ach to have e out publicly as gay, there have been a few female ach U.

ARE BILL AND FRANK GAY THE LAST OF US? WHAT’S THEIR RELATNSHIP?

When to players, there have only been 16 the history of the NFL to e out as gay or bisexual as of September 2022, per Outsports. 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.

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.

THAT ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAY LOVE STORY IS GROUNDBREAKG

Here, y, are two gay characters who die. HBO’s h vio-game adaptatn seri The Last of Us took an unexpected tour to gay terrory s most recent episo, focg on a buddg romance between the characters played by actors Nick Offerman and Murry Bartlett.

In a recent terview, the episo director said viewers sometim need to be tricked to watchg a gay love story.

Director Peter Hoar, who is openly gay, spoke to the science-foced se Inverse about makg the show. Hoar directed the recent Brish miseri It’s a S, which followed the liv of a group of gay men at the height of the AIDS epimic. How The Last of Us creat a betiful oblivn for two gay men love.

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

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. 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.

If you are wonrg whether Frank and Bill are gay the show and the 2013 Nghty Dog vio game is based on, we got you vered. It gradually be apparent to the men that they both are gay. It is que apparent that Frank was openly gay the world before the outbreak, whereas Bill had never been wh a man before Frank.