I learned a new word today
Tinhat.
It takes it’s name from people who wear tinfoil hats to prevent the government/aliens from using microwave or radio transmissions to read their minds.
In fandom parlance, it refers to people who believe that two celebrities are involved in a romantic and sexual relationship but are forced to keep it secret because they’ve signed a contract with their management company/production company. The pairing may have never given any indication that they’re dating each other, they’ve possibly even denied it in interviews, and are dating other people, but still the tinhat believes that these two people are in love with each other.
The term was coined as a sobriquet for Lord of the Rings fans who believed Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) were in love, but forced to keep their relationship secret by New Line, the production company behind LOTR; Though the phenomenon predates DomLijah. I remember various forms of it in my early fandom days.
Probably the best know Tinhat pairing is the so called ‘Larry’ pairing of Harry and Louis from One Direction; their fans have been very vocal about their opinions especially on Twitter. It seems likely that the band members were aware of it, and played it up a little, at least in the beginning. It fueled interest in the band.
The majority of tinhatted pairings are same sex couples - Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles from Supernatural or Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins, or Chris Colfer and Darren Criss from Glee, for example. There are examples of tinhatting in opposite pairings too - Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliff, and I’m going to argue Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. I know they did actually date for a long time, but after they broke up a number of their shippers refused to accept their relationship was over and are convinced the pictures of Stewart kissing directer were faked and that since then Kristen has given birth to Rob’s daughter. And of course, there’s the pairing that drove me to google this term, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson AKA Joshifer.
The people who ship these pairings spend hours scrutinising every picture, GIF, video and interview they can find for evidence. They scour social media for mentions and sightings of their idols. Items of clothes and tattoos are forensically examined for further proof. They feed each others theories, creating elaborate narratives about when and how they couple first began seeing each other and how their relationship has developed.
Taken in isolation, some of the ‘evidence’ collected by tinhat shippers can seem pretty convincing. The thing is when you look at a few tinhat pairings together, a very clear pattern emerges. None of the claims made by the Tinhat shippers are unique. They are all the same. They all follow the same five-step formula.
The Powers That Be (management/production company/TV network) have forced the couple to sign a contract preventing them from making their relationship public. Usually to prevent the (male) stars from coming out as gay because TPTB fear their brand would be damaged if their stars were gay. But it applies to straight couples too.
Everybody is involved in the conspiracy. Colleagues, co-stars, friends and family. The media knows all about it, but are being kept quiet by the powerful PTB who threaten them into silence. Even random fans who are lucky enough to meet the celebrities or get selfies with them are involved in the conspiracy. They’re only mentioning that one half of the couple was buying apples at the grocery store and have promised not to tell you that the other half was also there. Yes, that’s OTP’s #2′s reflection in that pair of sunglasses.
While the couple is really, really in love/living together/married/with child, they are in fake relationships with other people to cover keep their real relationship secret. Sometimes they’re forced into the fauxmance by the evil PTB to perpetuate the idea that the stars are straight, or they’re only doing it to promote another project, or are being blackmailed.
The couple is keeping their relationship secret for now, but as soon as their contract is over, they’ll stop hiding and come out in public as a couple. The couple are always on the verge of coming out.
The couple show their disdain for TPTB and the contract they’ve signed by sending secret messages and using codes that only they, and their oh so observant shippers, will recognise. Yes, that tattoo is a secret message to show how much they love each other. Oh look, they both have the same model of the most widely used mobile phone in the world, it’s proof. The vaguely similar shirts they’re both wearing are a sign. They both shop in the same multinational supermarket chain, it can only mean one thing - married!
Of course, eventually the tour ends, or the show is cancelled or the last movie is released and there’s still no sign of the pairing going public. They continue to lead separate lives, dating other people. Even the most die-hard shippers accept that there’s no relationship and move on, or convince themselves that
There’s nothing original or unique about any of these ‘relationships’. Joshifer is no more real than Larry or J2 or DomLijah. It could be copy and pasted from the tinhat playbook.
Sources:
Fanlore
Daily Dot.
Im-on-fire-now
