When a book is presented as a primary source it’s an authorial invitation to look between the lines and search for hidden truthsįrodo and Sam begin (as many great period-piece romances do) with a class difference. There’s at least one novel about a batman and his officer having a romantic relationship ( Look Down in Mercy by William Baxter, 1951), and many accounts of queer soldiers who found they could - while facing nightmarish conditions in the trenches - live out relationships that would have been impossible at home. Tolkien based Frodo and Sam’s relationship on ones he had seen and experienced in World War I - that between a usually upper-class officer and his batman, a usually lower-class man who served as his bodyguard, personal assistant, and constant companion. The exception is Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee - the Ring-bearer with an impossible burden, his loyal gardener, and the bond between them that ends up saving their world. But they do not read as intentionally romantic (and while fan interpretation is a diverse, wonderful thing, this essay is focused on authorial intent). These relationships are high drama powerful examples of male friendship and family. Boromir and Faramir have an intense brotherhood, and have complex feelings about the loyalty owed to their king, Aragorn. Gandalf takes on a sometimes kind, sometimes frustrated grandfatherly role to the hobbits. They fondly tease their other cousin Frodo, and talk down to working-class Sam. Merry and Pippin are cousins, and banter like cousins. There are many relationships between men in the book, most of them platonic. Revisiting the book in the last year, as someone who has been out for many years and who is deeply engaged in making and consuming queer stories, I was amazed to find a same-sex love story at the heart of the narrative. The essayist Italo Calvino defined a classic as “a book that has never finished what it has to say,” and The Lord of the Rings is certainly a classic. But for a long time I avoided it, for the same reason that I learned not to talk about the movies at school: The accusations of queerness somehow tied into a story about elves, hobbits, and looming evil. It’s written on my creative DNA as the first book I really loved.
I listened to The Lord of the Rings before I knew how to read. So each Wednesday throughout the year, we'll go there and back again, examining how and why the films have endured as modern classics. When asked if he authorized the use of his image for the meme, he responded: ‘Definitely not’.2021 marks The Lord of the Rings movies' 20th anniversary, and we couldn't imagine exploring the trilogy in just one story. ‘The message behind this image couldn’t be further from the truth.’ Simon Dunn. ‘ appalled at both the message behind it and the fact my face had been used,’ he said.
The people in the ‘do not respect’ section of the meme are ‘a fundamental part in our big, diverse community’, he told Gay Star News. I’ll always support those those who are true to themselves and be who they truly are.
I will always be your biggest advocate!’ĭon’t use my image for your internalised homophobia, don’t make assumptions on the kind of gay man I am or the kind of gay men I associate myself with. He then added: ‘I’ll always support those those who are true to themselves and be who they truly are. ‘Don’t make assumptions on the kind of gay man I am or the kind of gay men I associate with. ‘Don’t use my image for your internalized homophobia,’ he wrote on Twitter on Friday (26 July). Simon Dunn respondsĪfter Simon Dunn became aware of the meme, he quote-tweeted it and called it out. Internalised homophobia is a disease x /2jqRfVl7csĪ Twitter user posted a screenshot of the meme after seeing a Facebook ‘friend’ of his share it. Someone (a gay man, no less) just shared this absolute fucking catastrophe on my Facebook feed and I hit delete so fast and hard I almost smashed my phone screen. While characteristics they ‘do not respect’ being ‘Sexuality is the focal point of their existence’, ‘Rainbow flag everything and everywhere’, ‘Complains about straight people consistently’ and ‘Dresses like a clown to show the world how gay they are’. It lists characteristics of gay men that the meme’s creator ‘respects’, such as ‘Doesn’t force upon you the fact that they’re gay’. The 32-year-old former Australian team bobsledder slammed the meme that unfairly criticizes out and proud gay men. Simon Dunn became aware of a viral homophobic meme after people began tagging him in it on social media.