Superheroes : Now with rainbow colors!

Ah superheroes. Those paragons of strength and righteousness. The ones who keep our little hearts and mind secure in the knowledge that good always triumphs over evil no matter how convoluted or devious the plans of those nefarious masterminds are. No matter how big or powerful the bullies are, a superhero by your side makes all the difference in the world. Which is why it made perfect sense to recruit some for the LGBT team!  :) And you don’t have to dig particularly deep to find some superheroes who might be hiding a little more in the closet than just a cape.

To begin with, let’s go over the all too familiar relationship between Batman and Robin. I mean what’s really going on there? There’s nothing new about this question. The gay angle for Batman and Robin has been going on ever since.. well, Robin came into the scene.  But let’s face it, we all know Batman is straight. Least according to Catwoman. Robin on the other hand.. well, it’s an open question.  After all he’s never had a girlfriend and more importantly he’s perfectly happy being with Batman. How is possible  a teenager with raging hormones never think fondly about a girl or two and instead is happy traipsing around in short tight shorts with a hunky guy? Of course you could always put forth the argument that crime fighting in Gotham is serious business and that there’s no time for fooling around with girls. The only issue with that would be the fact that Batman always seem to find the time to go for a date or two. Hmm.. it all points to the inevitable., doesn’t it?

This is the bitch slap which started it all. The actual comic strip which gave the world the slapping meme. If you ask me, Robin’s shorts are a lot more suggestive than need be.  Plus, the conversation and the body language suggest an intimacy, does it not?

And speaking of teen boys, type “Is Tintin” on Google and see what auto suggestion throws up.

Looks like we are not the only one asking the question! And it’s not surprising. Not once in the entire series, in all his adventures around the world did a girl catch his eye. I mean c’mon!! How is it  possible for a young man to not have any female companions when you are as well travelled as Tintin is. It almost  defies logic till you consider the possibility of him being gay.

 If that’s not proof enough, you can look at his relationship with Haddock. Haddock, again a well-travelled man who’s shown no interest in women but is devoted to Tintin in a way that is completely at odds with his gruff exterior. Unlike Tintin, he doesn’t seem like someone who really enjoys being chased by (or chasing) goons and foiling evil plans to take over the world. But he endures all for the sake of this teen reporter.  And he’s a man of means and it makes perfect sense for him to settle down with a pretty wife in his comfy mansion.

And why does this teenage invest so much energy into an alcoholic and make him turn over a new leaf. All of this simply doesn’t make sense unless you consider their relationship to have a deeper chord, one which is a lot more than friendship. 

And if you start some serious psychoanalysis on their relationship.. whoa, it’s a Freudian goldmine! From Tintin’s androgynous physique to his almost nonexistent relationship with his parents (a lot of gay men in that period particularly are known  to have difficult relationship with the parents) to the fact that the only female friend he has is an opera diva.  The signs are all there!!

Now we move a little south of border and wonder about our Gaulish friends, Asterisk and Obelisk.  While it’s well documented that Obelisk is more than a little susceptible when it comes to female charms, does it not strike you odd why these bachelors have set up home together away from their families? And though there’s been tons of gorgeous and powerful women around them, they always come home to each other. It’s not like there are no other single men in the village but they seem to be the only two bachelors who are living with each other. In the words of Fulliautomatix, something smells fishy here!! 

Moving to American soil, we have Forsythe Pendleton  Jones III more popularly known as Jughead who might not be a superhero but is most certain an icon. His tremendous appetite is matched only by his compulsion to not date girls. While he clearly is not a misogynist with plenty of women as his friends, his lack of interest in them is all the more marked when you look at the antics of the rest of his friends circle. Even if you don’t have the raging hormones of a teenager, with so much peer pressure around you to date, he should have dated a girl or two.  Despite his skinny frame and unconventional choice in head gear, he’s had a few gorgeous women who have chased him and even convinced him to go on a couple of dates. But all of this feels more like exploration and experimenting rather than a serious try to make a relationship work.  Moreover all that over eating (where does it all go, though!) does suggest that he might be trying to compensate for some deep seated emotional distress. Overall, it looks like our favorite foodie needs to step out of the closet. 

While none of the super heroes considered so far is openly gay or is only hinted at, DC comics has embraced the changing attitudes and given the world an openly gay super hero with Green Lantern.  A new series, The New 52, was released in 2012 which reimagines some of DC’s star cast. In this series, Alan Scott’s Green Lantern is shown with his partner Sam. There’s even some steamy kissing scenes.

Not to be left behind, Marvel comics also hosted a same sex wedding in the June2012 issue of it’s Astonishing X-Men where Northstar married his partner Kyle.  X-men so totally works as an analogy for gay people. A minority misunderstood and persecuted by the majority. As a result they try to hide their true selves, cloaking themselves with the mundane. Until they realize they are not alone and the differences are to be celebrated and what makes them special.

Now, before anyone starts throwing brickbats for ruining their favorite childhood past time, just stop and think for a moment what difference it really makes, super heroes being gay. Does Batman’s fierce love for justice grow any less? Is Tintin less exciting and adventurous? Jughead less logical or loyal as a friend? None of the qualities which make them who they are, which make them super heroes  and why we love them are changed. It merely adds another facet to their personality. In their private lives. So ease up and let us celebrate superheroes in all the colors of the rainbow!

Some shoes pinch too much to even try!

I came across a very interesting story the other day, one where the editor of Grantland apologises for running this. So I read the article in order to have a context for the apology. After I finished the article (and before I finished the apology) I must confess I was rather clueless about why an apology was issued. It seemed to me a rather interesting article uncovering the hoax and the personality behind the particular golfing equipment. True, I did think it was a wee bit tasteless of them for sharing that Essay had died but that’s about all that really stood out to me. It did not seem like a journalist hounding her to death. Nor does it come across as sensational-isation of the issue. In fact I thought it was almost sympathetic towards the woman who had built the hoax.

Then I read the apology. And as it laid out plainly the mistakes which the magazine (and I) had made, I must say I was racked with guilt. I had always seen myself as someone was more than just sympathetic to the LGBT cause. That I was someone who was sensitive to the discrimination. I thought I could imagine what it is like to a part of the repressed minority, extrapolating what I know as being part of the repressed majority (a.k.a women). Extrapolating the fear and loneliness that seem to be part of even the most extroverted gay person I know. Yet the fact remains that I was instead part of the unknowingly callous when it came to Essay. It was not that I was ignorant which surprised me. It was the sheer scale of it. 

And it’s not just me. I’m sure more than half of the readers who see themselves as liberal minded would have missed the implications. The people at Grantland certainly did. And I could understand why they did. The revelation of her transgender nature was not as much an emotional one, as much as another fact disproved. It would have not mattered to them had they discovered that Essay was a gay man or whether she was in fact Chinese. Because in logical brains, these are merely facts to store about a person, along with hair and height, not an emotional discovery. Which unfortunately is not the case. 

And how did I miss that? Given I know how zealously my few gay friends guard their secret and how carefully they decide with whom they will share it. The months of torturous preparation they do in order to withstand the possible rejection when they finally share. And how equally careful I am with their secret. Though I might not always agree with them on whom it should be kept the secret, I respect that the decision is theirs and theirs alone to make, who they want to share that with.

And the evidence of her reluctance to share was there all over the article. Yet it escaped me. Though a fraud she might have been, she was after all a human. And this basic respect of her privacy should have been respected.

That’s when you see the problem with ‘Live and let live’ policy. Because it breeds a certain type of insensitivity when you take for granted that everyone feels the way you do regarding the matter; a certain type of false security that everyone will react the way you do to the same; and the most dangerous of all, a peculiar strain of ignorance which is all the more difficult to detect because it breeds under the guise of liberal-ness. 

The solution? The one I have could possibly be about as effective as the cures for common cold but I willingly admit it. The lesson for me, as a reader, from all of this was this: While you may empathise, don’t assume you know what it is like to be in those shoes. I’ll be hard pressed to remember this time and time again. But that’s about all I can do to correct my insensitivity towards Essay. 

RIP Dr.V!