Ellie's Sexualy Will Rightfully Rema Gay HBO's The Last of Us

Contents:

• 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’ PRENTS AN ACHGLY BETIFUL GAY LOVE STORY
• HBO’S THE LAST OF US GETS REVIEW BOMBED AFTER HISTORIC GAY EPISO
• THE LAST OF US EPISO 3 REVIEW BOMBED BEE GAYS EXIST
• THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE
• 'THE LAST OF US' STAR BELLA RAMSEY THKS 'S 'IMPORTANT' TO PICT LGBTQ LOVE A POST-APOLYPTIC WORLD: 'IT'S NOT LIKE ALL THE GAY PEOPLE GOT BLOWN UP'
• HOPEFULLY, THE LAST OF US TV SERI DON’T BURY ITS GAYS
• THE LAST OF US PART 2 BURI ITS GAYS BEFORE RELEASE (AND MAYBE THAT’S OKAY)
• ELLIE’S SEXUALY WILL RIGHTFULLY REMA GAY HBO’S THE LAST OF US

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.

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.

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

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 LAST OF US’ PRENTS AN ACHGLY BETIFUL GAY LOVE STORY

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. A man who his alone a bunker, after all, don’t have to worry about beg rejected, by eher homophob or other gay men who simply aren’t terted.

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.

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.

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

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. 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.

Some er reviews on Metacric clud homophobic ments.

THE LAST OF US EPISO 3 REVIEW BOMBED BEE GAYS EXIST

HBO's latt episo of "The Last of Us, " s new vio-game adaptatn, aired Sunday to wispread praise and imprsive the episo, tled "Long, Long Time, " is seemgly gettg review-bombed by angry, homophobic fans of the the review aggregator Metacric, the episo has a er ratg of 4.

9, the past, review-bombg — or when people liberately give a show or movie a low ratg to crease s sre on s like Metacric and Rotten Tomato — has typilly occurred for racist, sexist, or homophobic reasons. Lookg through the er reviews, 's clear that some of the game's fans didn't like the episo's central love story between Bill, played by Nick Offerman, and Frank, played by Murray the game, 's evint that Bill is gay and had a relatnship wh Frank, who never appears HBO seri tak their relatnship a different directn: In a flashback, Frank across Bill's hoe after beg the lone survivor of a group travelg to the Boston quarante zone. 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.

THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE

When lookg closer at the one-star ratgs, many brg up the fact that Bill is gay, dubbg the episo a "borg" romance. Other one-star reviews are angry that a gay man met a gay man, dubbg pletely unlikely, while the same breath mentng a girl who is somehow immune to a vis that has torn down the walls of society as we know .

It's fairly obv what the mon thread is across this sudn flux of negative reviews - a gay uple dared exist. Another tertg plat levied at this episo is that 's a disservice to the game, spe beg an episo that revolv entirely around buildg on clu given the game while also makg up for s pfalls reprentatn, namely fallg to the Bury Your Gays trope.

'THE LAST OF US' STAR BELLA RAMSEY THKS 'S 'IMPORTANT' TO PICT LGBTQ LOVE A POST-APOLYPTIC WORLD: 'IT'S NOT LIKE ALL THE GAY PEOPLE GOT BLOWN UP'

Bury Your Gays, if you're unaware, is a trope which gay upl disproportnately break apart due to ath. It was a gay story that wasn't mired trma, but bee of the "lack of actn", apparently wasn't worth tellg. Gay people existg is polil, apparently, and so TLOU even darg to show two gay people livg their liv together is to make some grand statement, spe the show already beg heavily polil given that the US ernment turn to psdo-Nazis that fd easier to burn people alive than take re of them.

Gay people exist, the ter gets mad, review bomb ensu. Wh The Last of Us episo 3 receivg some backlash, Nick Offerman fends om homophobic tiras.

After beg targeted by bigoted Twter ers, Offerman rpond to one dividual to make clear that he specifilly ma episo 3 rponse to homophobia.

HOPEFULLY, THE LAST OF US TV SERI DON’T BURY ITS GAYS

Dpe s wispread acclaim, a review-bombg mpaign has targeted The Last of Us episo 3 due to var homophobic ments, which led to Offerman's sharp fense. The story of The Last of Us episo 3 has drawn massive praise for s portrayal of an ial LGBTQ+ romance the midst of an apolyptic wasteland, but was more than jt gay love at the end of the world. In other words, they’re a perfect gay uple, a “normal” gay uple, a world which the mere thought of takg re of someone else is somethg of a ath sentence.

Some might fd the pivot tone and narrative to be rehg, and the seri has already been praised by crics for liverg a gay love story, but the tonal shift om bter loss to lovg oasis feels disgenuo. Watchg the episo, feels as though the wrg beme stuck 2003, which is when the fungal panmic hs the show, rultg the kd of gay love story that would have been groundbreakg TV back then, but is now jt wearisome. To settle for a narrative this bland and dated, one termed to wrg tears while both metaphorilly and lerally buryg s gays — bee, y, strippg them of any narrative purpose is a thematic burial before their actual on-screen aths, is flat-out mortifyg, particularly a world where more and more nuanced and plited queer characters e to life every day.

The Last of Us actor Nick Offerman lash back at a Twter er who was attackg the show for s portrayal of a gay uple Episo 3. This is due to people floodg the se wh one-star ratgs due to the portrayal of a gay uple.

THE LAST OF US PART 2 BURI ITS GAYS BEFORE RELEASE (AND MAYBE THAT’S OKAY)

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.

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.

ELLIE’S SEXUALY WILL RIGHTFULLY REMA GAY HBO’S THE LAST OF US

The episo tled "Long, Long Time" stars Nick Offerman as Bill, a character om the origal game who is implied to be gay. "It's not like all the gay people got blown up and don't exist anymore, you know what I mean?

While they fall to certa gay stereotyp — a love of fer thgs, Frank’s knowledge of antiqu, Bill’s fss about his home — the quali stand as humanizg ntrasts to their tough exterrs. They “queer” what ath “The Last of Us” n be; a world where everythg ends tragedy, they create the happit endg available to anyone, gay or straight. They’re a lifele to life self, to an old world where people uld die more ways than jt at the mouth of a zombie or the barrel of a however revolutnary their aths might be for the universe of “The Last of Us, ” they still fall to well-worn gay ath trop.