[Lush]

First of all, about SLEEPING BEAUTY:
Yes, indeed, the prince does fight through a forest of thorns to get to his beloved. And he does wake her up with a kiss. We can read as much into it as we like, but the whole waking-up-with-a-kiss thing is also present with Snow White. Obviously, as far as we know, these more more than just kisses! Yikes! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
The GAY THING IN TOLKIEN: You know, a true friendship does constitute love, and it is quite possible to experience that with a person of the same gender, or of a different gender (although that's a little less common), without any sexual feeings developing. The history of male bonding within a war-like setting is quite fascinating, but I definitely do not want to think about Legolas and Gimli having the hots for each other. I would die of jealousy!
And as for WHEEL OF TIME: I definitely have to read those some day! And it's not like I like Tolkien less because women didn't have that big of a place in his world- it was just that the expansion of Arwen's character drew me into the story more while watching FotR.
Love,
Lush
(aren't we so cultured here?)