I need to bitch to someone … The way all these interviewers are questioning Hudson and Connor about filming sex scenes and their bodies is bizarre. You would think that Heated Rivalry invented explicit sex scenes. I’m not sure what the obsession is with that specifically and not any other parts of the show?? I don’t know.
It's beyond disgusting. I have already been thinking about this since like, episode three aired. I was thinking, oh my God, they're fucking nobodies. They're near nobodies who got picked up out of nowhere and they're becoming huge stars overnight because of a smutty romance and they are going to be sexually harassed constantly.
A lot of people have been talking for sometime about how worried they are or how difficult it must be to have overnight stardom, and that's true, but really, it's even worse for Connor and Hudson because it's not just overnight stardom. Because Heated Rivalry has so many sex scenes, and because that involves a fair amount of not just showing their bodies but also showing their bodies specifically for the audience to enjoy, to desire, it was going to be even worse, and then on top of that, it's a gay romance.
And I think I've seen this even in the fandom - this tendency to minimize that. To act like because Canada and the US are "gay friendly" that the queer aspect of this romance isn't still a spectacle here, and that's not the fucking case.
I've written about this before, but in the west (Canada and the US specifically), queer sex scenes like this are close to unprecedented. I can think of few other western movies or tv shows that have a single explicit queer sex scene, much less one. Right now, genuinely, all that comes to mind is Orange is the New Black. I know that's not the only one, but the point is, when pressed, I can barely come up with any that depict two nude members of the same gender pressed against each other fucking. It is almost always implied. Or filmed partially off screen. Or in the dark.
I can think of zero that include explicit details like a man pulling his partner's head off of him so he can avoid swallowing and jerking off afterward to finish himself. I can't tell you how much that scene fucking floored me when I watched it. I couldn't believe it was included. I still can't. It still, weeks later, stuns me when I think about it. People have given Heated Rivalry shit for not showing things like lube or cum or whatever, and though I could appreciate it if they did that, I kind of always feel this urge to shake them because it's like do you fucking hear yourself? Do you not see how much we were already given in terms of realism that nobody else gives us? I'm thinking too of Ilya saying, "You're scared." That blew my mind too. Oh my God, acknowledgement that anal can really fucking hurt. Acknowledgement that it's fucking scary if you've never done it before. Acknowledgement that it's not a given someone will automatically fill the role of bottom and enjoy it. Oh my God. I could go on.
And so what ends up happening then is, this is what a lot of straight people are so obsessed with. I'm not saying that there aren't plenty of straight viewers, especially of the fangirl variety who have been reading mm fanfic and romance for years, who watch this and are nothing but entertained by it, or moved by it, or in it for the story etc. etc. etc. But for a lot of straight people watching this, especially now that the audience is broadening, more and more people who wouldn't have ever put this show on casually in their homes just to check it out, are now watching it specifically because somebody told them you have to see it, you aren't going to believe it, it's crazy -
This is a spectacle to them. The queer sex scenes, and all the loving detail put into them, is a spectacle. That doesn't mean they're not enjoying it, watching it for the characters and story too - but they are also watching it for the spectacle of queer sex.
And all of these interviewers, podcast and show hosts, etc. - know that. They know that's what audiences really want to talk about and know more about.
And they know that so so so many people - and I'm not saying this judgmentally, I'm in the same boat - are watching this in part because it's hot. Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams are hot. I mean, obviously. It's part of why they were cast for the roles.
But, the interviewers and podcast and show hosts know this too.
And their main concern, obviously, is making sure their own interview, podcast, show, etc. gets a lot of readers or views and satisfies its audience. They don't care about Hudson and Connor's wellbeing. They probably think that by virtue of doing the show at all, Connor and Hudson signed up for this treatment.
It's horrifying for me to think about how much they're being sexually harassed like, literally by the hour right now, and then to have it happen in professional settings, when they can't just tell the interviewer or host to fuck off, to not ask them stuff like that - especially considering any little slip up right now, and this all goes away for them. They're finally achieving their dreams, finally "making it" - but I guarantee you if either of them responded to the sexual harassment they're getting (they should have every right to) - it's over. Careers can be ruined by being unwilling to be sexually harassed, and I have no doubt Connor and Hudson are intimately aware of that every single time a complete fucking stranger asks them about their dicks or assholes. I also imagine that a lot of interviewers and hosts who might typically be on guard more about sexual harassment with a woman, aren't keeping that same guard up for Hudson and Connor because they're men. I mean, it sounds insane to say, but a lot of people think of sexual harassment as something that only happens, or can be done to, women. They aren't thinking about it with Connor and Hudson.
And though this is far from what matters most here - obviously, Connor and Hudson's comfort and dignity is what matters most here - it's also just frustrating to me because I think we should be able to, and even think people involved in this show might have liked to talk about the sex scenes from a creative standpoint, a craft standpoint. I bet Connor and Hudson would be happy to talk about those scenes and answer questions about what went in to them the same way they would probably be happy to talk about any other aspect of their process - but, people won't fucking talk to them about it without being fucking creeps for fuck's sake.
I'm honestly still very worried about them and think frankly that it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm glad they have each other.
