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

[strange_quark]

I'm of two minds.

On the one hand, I find the Naruto and Sasuke dynamic--and really, pretty much any relationship Sasuke has--to be fraught and borderline obsessive and unhealthy. So if they do end up gay for each other, I would not view it as a positive portrayal of homosexuality.

On the other, any portrayal is probably better than the erasure that homosexuality receives in our heteronormative culture.

I'm kind of with you on "they wouldn't get it," too. I'd have to buy the build-up. As of right now, Naruto has canonically only been shown to be sexually attracted to women (Sakura). Not to say that I couldn't buy him turning out to be bisexual or even gay, but the story would have to make me believe it. But that's not me with my sexuality-issues hat on, that's me with my I-want-a-good-story hat on.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Naruto and Sasuke being gay for each other is something whose quality changes based on which direction you come at it from.

Because Sasuke/Naruto? Is not really LESS healthy than Sakura/Sasuke (I would argue more, frankly) or even Sakura/Naruto.

So.. let's let the homosexual relationships be just as fraught as the het ones?

[anat-astarte.livejournal.com]

This raises and interesting question: I wonder if a pairing (like Naruto/Sasuke) could be canon with requited feelings but not actually engaged in a full on relationship due to, well, the logical sense that trust would need a while to rebuild first, among other things...

Yes! Angst! Angst! Angst! XD

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Wow.

I'm imagining Kishimoto actually having that much subtlety.

[anat-astarte.livejournal.com]

XD

Seems like where Naruto/Sasuke is concerned the cat's pretty much out of the bag now! And hey, given the famous Sasuke/Sai yaoi shot Kishi might as well go ahead and push the envelope a bit more with NaruSasu and go for the gold XD

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

This is true.....