Green Lantern is Gay
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
As long as they aren't doing it strictly for pandering, then it's fine.Winnosh said:
Just color me jaded from the 80s and 90s, where exploitation and PSA comics were at their height.
That's legitimately funny.DVS BSTrD said:
Anyway, I've never really followed comic books in particular, so this Green Lantern completely flew over my head. I'm more familiar with Hal Jordan or Ryan Reynolds.
Still, I don't see anyone trying to lynch the people over at the DC offices, so I'm taking it that the reception to this change is fairly positive.
I know I shoulden't be part of this topic (as I don't know what gos on in comics thes days) but, from the page cover of the picture, if Alan Scott the blunge chap, then whos that other guy hes kissing to? Robin or a supporting character?
So, purely out of interest, how "iconic" is Green Lantern in the US? I'm not a big DC person, and as far as I can tell he's nigh on unheard of over here in the UK (or was until the movie).
I'm genuinely interested to see how big of a statement they're making with this, basically.
I'm genuinely interested to see how big of a statement they're making with this, basically.
I was happy about this until i read your post. Which is right. Its sad they had to make a big deal. You know what would have been fucking awesome? Like AMAZINGLY awesome?Grey Day for Elcia said:
Heres the scene. DC dont say anything. At all. They have a scene where green lantern comes home and pecks his boyfriend while hes watching tv and then goes to get a beer. A story point is discussed and the event is a background thing in a single panel. It isnt commented on. It doesnt even get an entire page. It just fucking happens. That. Would. Have. Rocked. DC then make no further comment. They write the next issue and offer no press release at all. Its just an event. Its the exact same as Green lantern making himself a cheese sandwich.
"Oh look green lantern likes cheese". "Oh look green lantern likes men".
It doesnt change a thing. It could have just been as simple as superman hugging or kissing louis lane. That doesnt get an entire page. It just happens. They could have played this SO WELL. But they failed. Nevermind.
I WANT gay characters to be a norm. I want gay super heros and doctors and soldiers on TV and in films just wherever the fuck anyone wents. I dont want a single deal made out of them. It doesnt need to be an entire plotpoint. It doesnt even need to be mentioned by a single character. They can just be there. Along with black characters. And asian characters. Just there. As they are in real life.
This guy gets it. We will never ever move forward as a species and put the woes of the past behind us, until we leave those woes in the past, and stop talking about them. Racism, gender discrimination, hetero/homo sexual natures... Until we stop looking to draw the line, and looking for people who might have drawn the line, we are doomed to keep talking about the same boring topics.BiscuitTrouser said:
Whiskey Echo!!
Mythgraven
Part of me wonders if this is some sort of holdover from the 90s where this sort of thing was made to be a big deal just for publicity. I mean, back then (Christ I feel old now) it was a big deal because there weren't a whole lot of characters like that and it was a shock, now? Who cares and I don't see why they should've made a big deal out of it.BiscuitTrouser said:
It would've been awesome if they casually put it in like that, but no. It's no wonder why so many people are cynical towards DC about this, myself included, because if they just slipped it in and later said, "Yeah, he's gay, so what?" rather than "Hey you guys, guess what? One of our characters digs the dudes, but you have to find out later!" then they would've gotten more kudos than this.
Basically, what we have here is a failure to
You mirror my thoughts exactly, friend.BiscuitTrouser said:
When you make homosexuality a big deal in and of itself, you defeat the purpose of having gay characters. Rather than become an example of how to make homosexuality as mundane as heterosexuality or number of preferred sugars in one's coffee, you make being gay different, alien, something to talk about, something noticeably noteworthy.
What do anti-homosexual activists do? The point to someone who is gay, they make gay people feel like their sexuality is a choice, they talk about it in ways they would never even for a moment consider heterosexuality.
What did this comic do? It pointed at someone who is gay, it made everyone aware that they "decided to make a character gay," it went out of its way to not just show a a gay man, but to set the stage in a way they would never would for a straight man "coming out."
We want being gay to be mainstream and uninteresting. We want it to be more than just okay to be gay on TV, in comic and anywhere else, we want it to be irrelevant. We don't want homosexuality to be an issue.
When coming out as heterosexual has as much impact as doing so as homosexual on the social and political scales, you've won the battle. So far, you're just adding to the weight of the latter's burden and creating a situation where it's impossible to "come out" as straight--what's the need to come out when you're heterosexual by default?
captcha: foul smelling
I betted on one of the Robins TBH. Specifically Dick Grayson.Cheery Lunatic said:
OT: Maybe I'm just not as jaded, but I don't think it's as much of a publicity stunt as some others are making it out to be.
No, in a perfect world, someone's sexuality shouldn't be a big deal, but it's not a perfect world. A lot of LGBT people like knowing they have allies, and if more big names see other big names pushing towards a better representation of LGBT people, then they'll do it too. Are they all going to do it for the right motivation? Probably not, but I think in this case the end might justify the means.
We have to get over this awkward phase before we come to total acceptance. Hell, the Blacksploitation era passed before we got to the point where we could say "He's black, okay, cool. Moving on." Baby steps.
Now if his sexuality was his sole defining characteristic, then I would cry about it being a "gimmick" and a "publicity stunt".
I was so sure it would be Aqua Man. Or Batman, considering he and Boy Wonder shared a bed together for YEARS. (Okay so they had twins that were REALLY close together, but you see what I mean.)
i would have guessed wonder woman it would have made more sense but i guess the US its ready for a lesbian super heroine
this has actual the way green lantern has always been for awhile now, if you read any of the comics from the late 90's and early 2000's than its prety clear that the character who plays him is a homosexual.
