This Was Too Good A Question To Answer Anonymously

[redbrunja]

Okay, over on the Naruto what-if meme someone asked the question, "What if Kishi actually decided to make Sasuke and Naruto a couple at the end of the manga? Would fandom explode? How would this be seen by different cultures/the media (Naruto is a fairly popular manga)? Would this affect the way kids veiw gay couples at all?"

My instinctive thought was 'they wouldn't get it.' I think a lot of the casual, non fandom readers of Naruto would be REALLY confused and I would bet money on the American and Japanese parents flipping the fuck out.

However, what I'm pondering is whether or not having Naruto and Sasuke being gay for each other would change some children's perceptions about homosexuals. Would it make them more accepting? Would they start to see gay people as human beings who deserves the same rights everyone else does?

You thoughts, flist?

Comments

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Homosexuality often does come completely out of blue because unlike straight people, gays tend to hide it, both in real life and fiction. The reason I say the author did it right if it "comes out of the blue" is because most of the time? The character's sexuality has no bearing on the plot whatsoever, so there was no reason to highlight it.

I think there are two different points to this.

First, yes, gay people often hide their sexuality - but that is HUGE character trait. Sexuality is a large part of who someone is - if a character was hiding something of that magnitidue, as a reader/viewer I would want to see hints of that, because it's a large part of who they are.

Secondly, most of the time, sexuality - ANY sexuality - does not have any baring on the plot. But we see a lot of it because sexuality is both a signicant part of our pysche and because (most of us) are interested in it.

I'm not saying there should be anvils dropped that 'oh, character X is gay' but I'd either like to see their sexuality getting the same respect and attention that straight people's sexuality gets on tv.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I really understand where you're coming from but I feel that if we give all this page time to straight relationships and sexuality, it's supporting the idea that being gay is something that we shouldn't talk about. I'm not suggesting that orientation should supplant quirks or being well rounded, but I don't think it should be this hidden thing either.

But I should have phrased what I was saying better - I do think sexuality is an important aspect of who someone is, but I don't think it, like, changes their personality or influences character traits (beyond what gender they like to have in their bed).

[anat-astarte.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, the best way to respect the gay is to stop making our sexuality such a huge damned character-driving issue and write gay characters who are as human and rounded and quirky and flawed as the straight ones. And to me, that means not even stating the character's sexuality until there's a reason to do so. Let the audience know them as individuals first.

I agree. Letting the audience get to know and like the characters first is key.