this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
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[–] WaxedWookie@lemmy.world 105 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I'm impressed by pretty much everything I see from Offerman, and his role in TLOU was fantastic. It had real impact, and didn't feel at all like the lazy tokenistic drivel that's become Disney's standard fare.

[–] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 75 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (6 children)

I'll tell you why:

Because it, kind of like Brokeback Mountain all those years earlier, appreciates that homosexuality and the gay community are not one in the same. While the gay community is extremely important and should never be downplayed, media always tends depict gay people as connected to it or at the very least evoking many of the same aspects and tropes.

This isn't an unfair thing to depict, far from it, but it has the unfortunate result of making many gay characters feels rather same-y, occasionally even one note.

Offerman's character depicts a very accurate thing that doesn't get as much attention in media: the straight acting man discovering his sexuality late in life. With the exception of his piano playing and his penchant for wine and setting the table for elaborate dinners, his character has none of the telltale "gay" aspects you typically find in media, nor does he develop them. In fact his character aspects (survivalist, paranoid, shut in, loner, even a hint conservative) are generally not associated with gay characters, out of fear of depicting them in a poor light.

That's not at all to suggest other depictions of gay men are wrong or bad, Bartlett's character is very well done too. The characters of Bill just feels more notable and fresher in our current media landscape because we see it far less often.

[–] Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website 54 points 8 months ago (8 children)

piano playing

Fellas, is it gay to play an instrument?

I know that's not what you're saying I just thought it was a funny way to phrase it

[–] Igloojoe@lemm.ee 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If you're playing the skin flute, it might be gay... hahaha

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[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago (2 children)
[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 6 points 8 months ago

Men can only drink beer and whiskey. Everything else is gay.

/S

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[–] THE_MASTERMIND@lemmy.today 73 points 8 months ago (7 children)

Offerman is becoming more and more a chad in my eyes and that love story was really really good and its coming from someone who really hates comedy and romance genre but gotta say it was really good.

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Read his books, but only if you're a lefty. I showed my boomer parents and they hated it.

[–] THE_MASTERMIND@lemmy.today 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] scops@reddthat.com 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I've listened to Paddle Your Own Canoe on audiobook (he narrates). Dunno about the rest, but I'd agree based on that one. He makes it clear pretty quickly that Ron Swanson was just a character and his views are different and more nuanced.

[–] CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The only similarities between Nick Offerman and Ron Swanson are his giggle and his faithfulness to his friends.

[–] dwemthy@lemdro.id 10 points 8 months ago

Wood working and a very erotically charged relationship with Megan Mulally too

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[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 31 points 8 months ago

The most Offerman thing to say. 👍

[–] Leviathan@lemmy.world 21 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I don't know how anyone could watch that episode and see anything other than an absolutely heart wrenching tale of love and how beautiful and sad and even stupid it can be. You don't even have to be gay to identify with it, you just have to be human.

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[–] arc@lemm.ee 14 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I think the Last of Us demonstrates the difference between writing a story around the character vs the sort of crap in other shows where inclusivity is more like a box ticking exercise and a casting quota.

[–] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 10 points 8 months ago

It was my favorite episode. It was a beautiful story.

[–] Rackarunge@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

And the best single episode love story ever.

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[–] freamon@endlesstalk.org 8 points 8 months ago

The episode was directed by the same guy who directed all of "It's a Sin", another incredible bit of telly.

[–] nifty@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I loved that episode and I love Offermans pov about it!! Do I like this episode as part of Last of Us? No, I was expecting something different from this series. More action and adventure, less emotional trauma and humanity.

I think the show is trying too hard to lean into the emotional side of the apocalyptic scenario, and I think the TV scene is already saturated with kind of stuff. I wanted something which would be more focused on the main characters, their experience, and the action and adventure as captured in the game.

Should there be more stories about gay love in different scenarios? Yes. Is it okay that this story showed up under this context? Definitely, overall it’s a great story and I am better off for having experienced it. Do I like it as part of Last of Us? No, my expectations were different. I would say the same if the love story was between a heterosexual couple.

Edit: that said, given the bias and discrimination against LGBTQ+ folk, I am not surprised that writers (who are often overwhelmingly empathetic) choose to add such stories in their work

[–] Syndic@feddit.de 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Do I like this episode as part of Last of Us? No, I was expecting something different from this series. More action and adventure, less emotional trauma and humanity.

Hmm, for me that's a strange take from someone who played the games. The heart of the Last of Us always was about tragedy and how humanity handles such a catastrophe. Action and adventure in the games was mostly there to not loose interest as a gamer between the story. That's just how these two different medium work. Obviously a live action series can't work on the same formula to keep it's audience engaged. That's one reason why there wasn't that much zombie action since too much of it will get old pretty quickly and the writers didn't wrote a brainless zombie action adventure but a human drama tale.

[–] ArmokGoB@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 8 months ago (5 children)

I agree with the sentiment of the article, but the author can jump off a bridge for perpetuating the "SLAMS" bullshit.

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