Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Newbe with an Axiom sub question

well said Peter, the non-rednecks of Manitoba thank you for that (and yes it is difficult to not grow up a redneck homophobe when you grow up in a small, rural farming community).

When I read about that Sam and Frodo thing -- I just laughed. I'm too old to get bothered by the idiots of the world that would even think of something so completely ignorant.

That was an extremely moving relationship, and anyone who's read the books know the movie didn't even come close to the true characterization of their friendship.

Sheesh! there are a lot LOTR fans on this board!!! I'll be careful to keep my callus, caviler, and swagelling ways to a minimum. {smart board!}

We like the films
the films that go boom...


(omg, did I just make that reference?)

Speaking as a gay guy, I think part of the reason some people may have read their relationship as being more than friends (or at least wishing it was) is that you NEVER see two male friends that are that close, and open to showing their feelings with one another - gay or straight. Sure there's been a rash of gay content on the TV recently, but it's all comedy. Laughing at the gay guy. Har, har. Yeah, it's funny. Yeah it's entertaining. But there's no reason the only gays on TV should be for laughing at.

No, they probably weren't gay, but other than Sam getting hitched in the last 10 minutes of a 10 hour epic, there's no reason they couldn't have been gay characters. (and even that doesn't mean much) Believe it or not, not all gay men talk with a lisp, and worship Cher and Madonna. As much as many straight people may hate to believe it, Sam & Frodo's relationship honestly was the truest portrayal of a gay relationship I've probably ever seen on film.

*end rant*

I thought long and hard, but the joke reply potential quotient of your post is exactly zero. Thanks for your insightful post.

I think part of the reason many straight men are so bothered by gay men is that they envy the non-sexual aspects of their relationships.

It's been years since Ken told me my ass was hot.

Damn, I just did it.

well Peter you could always try the old standard:
"not that there's anything wrong with that"

Peter, you've just let it go. It used to be hot.

Hey, thanks for all the advice on the sub,I do however, think I'm pretty secure with my sexual orientation..... never tried swinging that way, but if its ok for Frodo.. thats cool.. what ever makes him happy

Oppinions vary… zero?... but nonetheless, I think I need work on my posting educate. I’ve been into computers for over 20 years, but have just recently used posting boards – apparently this “virtual world” is every bit as serious as the real world. *** sigh** My humblest apology to anyone that my "gay, not funny, rated Zero, Joke" who was offended.

Personally, I think many of us straight men (straight on the spectrum, that is, because it is a spectrum) are secretly jealous of the varied and ongoing romantic lives that gay men have the opportunity to lead and that we wish we could safely emulate in the straight scene. Many gay men enter monogamous relationships, but even in gay monogamy, from what I've observed, there's a more open and playful attitude toward the variety of life, in the sex and romance department, than there is among heteros. I'm talking about opportunities for genuine intimacy here, not what can be found in strip clubs or commercial sex, which is of course widely available to anyone, at a variety of costs. For reasons one can only ascribe to ancient taboos and the societal push for nuclear families, many of the varying levels of intimacy that gay men and women seem open to feel off-limits to us heteros. And our culture depicts the worlds that were sexually more liberated -- like 18th-century France or the 1970s of The Ice Storm and Boogie Nights -- as roads to ruin. It's not the fault of the "culture," of course, so much as our own for being uptight .... however, raising children does tend to change the equation radically between the two lifestyles (though it's fascinating to see society wrestle with changes here, as more and more gay men and women assume roles as loving parents).

Final thought on my own rant -- the latency period (see Freud) also makes many a man a rabid homophobe in later life. Security, and familiarity, can overcome this, so to an extent all those TV shows are, ever so slowly, making a dent. While some gay men may object to the gay comedies on TV, real progress is often only attained when the popular culture can also laugh at -- and not just sanctify -- the other. (Now, if we ONLY laugh at a class of characters, that's a problem, but I think homosexual characters are now gaining a wide range of reactions in arts and the media, not a narrow range, and that's good.)

Birdman