OK but the thing you have to understand about this level of no-homo oblivious bullshit is, it’s socially conditioned to an alarming degree? Because right now, across most forms of media, if someone makes an overt reference to same-sex attraction, whether their own or someone else’s, it’s frequently meant to be read as a literal joke. And by frequently, I mean like nine fucking times in ten. Meg referring to Castiel as Dean’s boyfriend in Supernatural? Joke, even though it’s a structurally unambiguous statement. Stiles in Teen Wolf repeatedly asking Danny if he’s attractive to gay guys, then asking if Scott will make out with him? Jokes, even though there’s nothing in the context to differentiate this from an actual expression of bisexuality. Think of how many times you’ve seen a straight male character say, deadpan, to his equally straight male friend/colleague, “I’m so attracted to you right now,” or something equally suggestive – but it’s a joke, and the way you know is because those types of men – which is to say, protagonists – could never be anything other than straight. No matter how overt the example, it’s always a joke, to the point that suggesting otherwise is invariably seen as biased readers irrationally imposing queer subtext on the narrative, even though all we’re doing is refusing to treat literal admissions as insincere gags.
So, Deadpool flirting with men? Gets read as a joke, because that’s what it usually is. Deadpool clearly stating his sexual attraction to men? Gets read as a joke, because that’s what it usually is. Deadpool kissing men through a mask, with no visible tongue? Well, sure, it’s pushing the no homo envelope a little further than normal, but still – why wouldn’t that be a joke, too, when everything else invariably is?
Like, I mean. I’m not defending this sort of bullshit AT ALL – I’m just trying to point out why, given the cultural context, it’s not completely impossible for someone to assume that all the above examples were meant as queerbaiting humour: because that’s what they usually would be. Hell, I can find some pretty similar examples of all this stuff between characters who are still, canonically, held to be straight. For instance:
Which is why I’m gonna go ahead and institute Deadpool’s Rule: that overt statements of queerness should always be read as literal, not joking, because queerness isn’t a fucking joke. If you can imagine Deadpool saying it, then it’s a canonical admission of queerness – because if not, you’re insisting that the only way for a character to prove their sexual orientation is to state, explicitly, “I’m gay/pan/bi/queer”, as though their actions will always be insufficiently demonstrative otherwise. End of discussion.
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