The LA Times breathlessly speculates about Superman’s sexuality, yet comes to no conclusion as it tries to manufacture some sort of controversy. I don’t get it. The central relationship in the Superman mythos is the romance between Superman and Lois Lane. That has been consistent in the comics, movies and television versions (the tv show was called “Lois and Clark”). But because the LA Times needs to fill some space on a Friday it becomes “is Superman gay?” No, he isn’t.
I think it had more to do with the fact that the gay magazine “the advocate” came out with a cover story saying “Superman Gay”…
Not that there is anything wrong with that….
The staff at the “advocate” seems to know….and after all there is that well known super-power “gaydar”….
“You don t have to be gay to be a gay icon.” That seemed to be the theme of the article to me, Superman’s appeal to gays, not that he was gay. On the other hand, is there such a thing as pink krptonite (sorry)?
Even this 45-year-old, married-23-years, father-of-two-now-adult-boys can recognize that Superman (by definition) is a superb example of fitness and looks good in a blue bodysuit.
Sometimes I just wish the newspaper had blank pages, y’know?
Or it could also be a piggyback on the overly sensationalized story that this new Batwoman character is going to be a lesbian.
As if there haven’t been gay characters in comics before now. Nobody in the mainstream press, it seems, read Warren Ellis’ excellent The Authority.
In the earlier comics especially, Superman was oddly indifferent to Lois’s constant pleading to become his wife–a desire she attempted to fulfill in nearly every issue. In his spoken asides, he’d say something like, “Lois can never know that I, Superman, can never marry–it would be too dangerous for my wife!” Beyond that, though, he just didn’t seem that interested. In fact, he sometimes went out of his way to perpetrate elaborate hoaxes on Lois just to get the idea out of her head.
So maybe they’ve got something there. But the modern age Supes is certainly hetero enough. Hey, maybe he’s one of those gay icons, like Cher or Tammy Faye Baker. You don’t have to be gay to be a gay icon.
Nevertheless, it does allows us to consider why Superman is a dick (again!).
Feh. Too muscle bound for me. Never was into those jock types…all brawn no brain.
BTW, a few years ago there was substantial speculation that Lewis and Clark were gay….
And not that it will answer any questions, but Larry Niven’s Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex is a hilarious essay about Superman’s problems with women.
So he’s a gay Jew, that’s fine.
If I may borrow a pedro tactic…
“Have you ever SPOKEN to a gay person?”
Oliver -
Actually, Superman can’t do anything about it whether he’s gay or straight. See Larry Niven’s article, “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.”
That was a brilliant essay by Niven-
One can imagine that the Kent home in Smallville was riddled with holes during Superboy’s puberty.
What does it say about the homosexual rights movement that after years of positing that some long dead historical figures might have been homosexual (think Richard the Lion Heart), now some are speculating that a fictional character might be homosexual?
It’s fiction, people! The authors can write it any damned way they want, in the very next issue, and change it again in the following one.
One of my best friends is gay…..
(and conservative too by the way…)
Better end this string, I have a feeling this conversation is making Ollie a little…eh….uncomfortable…..