I don't understand this either...

[Glirdan]

I would have to say that your theory on teenagers having a sexual agenda and applying it to everything they see. It's the hormones. It gets to them (I should say us, but I'm more mature than that...most of the time that is ) really quite easily. If you took a poll of the world's population, how many of them do you think would still be a virgin? Honestly. I go to schooland all I hear from others is "Oh, I slept with so and so over the weekend".

Personally, I too (I hate to admit it, but it was only then) thought that the way our beloved Professor wrote some of the lines between Frodo and Sam was a little homoerotic. However, after reading the parts with Sam and Rosie, I got over it and came to the conclusion that Sam and Frodo hve a very close connection. I personally have never had that connection with another guy because I am too sensitive and most guys (no offence meant for the other males here) only think about sex and girls. So everytime I see two guys really close, I sort of get the homoerotic impression.

Anyway, completely off topic. As I said, I don't think there was any intetion in both the movies or the books for homoeroticness. That's my conclusion. (Wow, I got really off topic in that post....wow...)

[Lalwendë]

Indeed, I would doubt there's any intention on Tolkien's part for such scenes to be homoerotic, but the imagination is a curious thing, and if people get that from reading what he wrote then there is nothing 'wrong' in it; it's surprising what sorts of things the human mind finds stimulating, and writers and artists don't really have any control over our creative imaginings. And anyway, if they will insist on putting Sean Bean in their films....

[Mithalwen]

If you have seen Lady Chatterley there is precious little left to imagine .... and while the 13 Gamgee children may have been an attempt to over compensate... you can't help thinking that a man who could name characters Teleporno and Shagrat may have been oblivious of some perceptions of his writing....

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

If you have seen Lady Chatterley there is precious little left to imagine .... and while the 13 Gamgee children may have been an attempt to over compensate... you can't help thinking that a man who could name characters Teleporno and Shagrat may have been oblivious of some perceptions of his writing....

Oh yes. I have a VHS tape of it and it's all crackly now...

Indeed, Tolkien wrote in (slightly) more innocent times, with his use of the descriptive words queer and gay, though I'm certain he would not have been entirely green about homosexuality, as not only did he go to a Boys' school but he worked in a University with many gay students and academics, some of them quite infamous, not least Tolkien's friend and pupil Auden, who fell in love with Isherwood while at Oxford.

[Brinniel]

Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne

the thing about pretending to be gay is something people do. . .something I do. Let me tell you that it has absolutely nothing to do with homophobia, if anything it is an expresion of the opposite. How do we do it. . . well we actually make passes at each other and such. Not by hugging, because hugging is the way good friends greet each other (yes males too).

Some of my friends are gay so I really would hate to be labeled homophobic because I joke about being gay.

Well, I don't think that every man who jokes about being gay is homophobic. And the situation is different depending where you living. My high school is located in one of the most conservative states in the United States. Many people there really are homophobic and homosexuality is not as welcome as some other places. I didn't know of many gay people in that school, and I wonder if perhaps it was because they were afraid of coming out. There was a lesbian couple at my school, and each day they walked the halls hand-in-hand, I could feel the negative energy directed towards them. I do not think that all straight men who imitate gays are doing it to be hurtful, but there are some who do. And the guys in my high school who did it might have not been homophobic at all. But the vibe I got from how they acted made me think that they imitate gay males because they do not understand homosexuality, and it is their way to interpret how they feel about it. I believe that a similar attitude is directed to LotR when comes to interpreting male friendships as sexual.

I do realize guys who are completely comfortable with homosexuality still joke about it. I see it at my current school all the time. Yet, this joking is done in a different light. People don't do it because they're uncomfortable, but instead use it to express their acceptance. My school is well-known for the high percentage of gay students, and students like to emphasize this by joking about it. Often, the joke is how gay males outnumber the straight ones. We even put on a play, Romeo and Julian, which only accentuated the stereotype we're given.

Okay, sorry for any rambling. I thought I should just clarify...