How fans deny queerness in "The Righteous Gemstones" and other recent tv series. With examples and d*cks.

Link to the n*de photos

New book on fan reaction to queer codes in tv series, especially how and why some fans on social media refuse to admit that a character is gay.

Gideon Gemstone's room is plastered with pictures of musclemen.

He's obviously straight.  He wants to look like them, not at them.

On The Middle, Sue's friend Brad begins "I'm...."  and is cut off when she says "I know" and hugs him.  

Obviously he was going to confess his love for her.

On What We Do in the Shadows, Guillermo tells the vampires, "I was about thirteen when I realized that I was..." and is cut off.

Obviously he was going to say "shy around girls."

On The Hollow, Adam has a Pride flag in his room.

So what? Lots of guys like rainbows.

He tells his friends, "I'm gay."

Obviously he didn't mean it like that.

On Solar Opposites, the aliens Korvo and Terry hold hands, share a bed, discuss sexual positions, and kiss.  

They're just imitating human behavior. They're not gay or anything.

More after the break

Gideon and Scotty have a romantic candlelight dinner, and discuss how they met and their plans to run away to Thailand together, while the background song tells us: "The way you look when you get down, you knock me out."  

Straight guys can go out to dinner.  There's such a thing as friendship, you know.

 

Kelvin and Keefe have an explicit s*x scene that comes right out of an adult video.  Keefe friggin' swallows.

That's what it looks like, but obviously it's not.  Why would two straight guys do that?

Fans are quick to identify villains, monsters, demons, and killers as gay, but if they are heroic, moral, or religious, "Straight guys do that.  It doesn't mean that he is gay."

The main analysis is The Righteous Gemstones, with three seasons of refusals to acknowledge that Kelvin and Gideon are gay and had romantic relationships with Keefe and Scotty.  But there are also examples from about 40 contemporary tv series, including Animal Kingdom, Shameless, Modern Family, Workaholics, Solar Opposites, True Blood, What We Do in the Shadows, The Last of Us, Young Sheldon, The Middle, and The Walking Dead.

Ders: Why would she give up a hot piece like that?

Adam: You saw the outline through the towel.

Ders: He was fully hogging!

Adam: What about her new boyfriend? Is it huge? What does it look like?

Ders: Who's is bigger?

The paperback is $49 on Amazon, but the Kindle version is only $29.00.  And you can read about 30 pages for free on Google Books.