dedicated to leaderibbit who was here for my first lotr revelation and i invite them here for my second <3
How To Get Writing Inspiration Fast [REAL]
1. Tell yourself "inspiration will come when it comes, idrc"
2. Tell yourself you'll take a break
3. ACTUALLY take a break for like two days
4. 99.9% revelation guarantee! [REAL]
no but srsly, that's how it happened for me
we hit 1K, i was super happy but also super drained, literally had no new ideas, i relaxed the update schedule and decided to take a break, i rewatched lotr for the fifth time (as one does when in doubt) and ✨BOOM✨
suddenly i had a revelation on lotr film theory and ik exactly what to write for the next four chapters
PSA i didn't actually have this revelation at 1AM like last time it was more like 2PM and i spent a straight hour writing and rewriting this in my notes app on my phone and pacing the room talking to air bc HOLY SHITTTTTT THIS IS BIG.
as i'm writing this i have the whole chapter written but written in the style of an analysis essay so i have to go through add a couple exclamation marks, lowercases, emojis, etc etc
so i hope you enjoy reading abt me spiraling into madness as i attempt to explain what i titled in my notes app: The Straight Context, Queer Scene Theory, AKA SCQS: How Movies Make Us Think Queer Scenes are Straight Using Context
listen it makes sense to me okay?? and get ready to read the words straight, queer, context and scene like 12641863664783 times
***
how do movies gaslight us into thinking that a very clearly romantic/romantic tension-filled scene between two men is just bros being dudes and them being besties? how do people look past scenes like this, and deny their evident queerness?
All movies use the same theory—putting straight context onto a queer scene.
this is an extremely prominent theme in lotr, where before you can look too deeply into a scene that seems very gay, something undeniably straight in the context of the scene jumps out at you and you're like, "oh wait, no, this can't be gay, there's this very straight thing here in the background." That straight CONTEXT distracts you from the fact that that scene is very clearly queer.
allow me to explain, and I'll start with some examples in other fandoms/media, and I'll then come to how this is used in lotr.
Stranger Things season 4—the scene with Mike and Will (two of the mcs, for those not in the fandom) in the back of Will's van, where Will essentially makes a love confession to Mike, and basically comes out to him. It's a queer scene. But wait—there's a catch.
Will talked about Mike's gf in his "love confession" who was having trouble fitting in at her new school. He basically said "she's just different, and sometimes that's really difficult because people don't see you the same way as before." The whole thing was a metaphor for coming out, but it was a very straight metaphor because he talks about Mike's gf.
because of this, both people who ship Mike x Will and people who don't and say they're both straight, use this scene to defend their opinions. The shippers say it was a metaphor, he's in love with Mike, the haters say wym there is no metaphor, it's all straight, he was talking about Mike's gf.
the actor for Will has confirmed the former, but this scene still isn't fully accepted as such, and many don't see it as queer. Why? Because there's that straight context of Mike's girlfriend that draws attention away from the queerness of the scene.
And it's not like this theme is a new thing.
let's head back to the classics—Dracula, by Bram Stoker. The famous vampire novel. All the men in that book are gay for each other. This is widely accepted as a sound analysis of that book. Literal professors use this in lectures in englit classes talking abt this book
however, because it was written so long ago, Bram Stoker couldn't just say that. No, ofc not. He introduced a female character named Mina, the only female character in that whole book basically. The men center their whole lives and their whole mission (aka killing Dracula, what the whole book is about) around Mina. She's their "liGHt iN thE dArK tImEs" and the whole reason they want to kill Dracula, to make the world a better place for people like her, who have gOoD and kInD sOuLs, etc, etc.
so, every time the men join hands and profess their love and mention how they are eternally bound to each other, it's totally not gay. Bc they're doing it for Mina, it's all for Mina, right???
they're all totally in love with Mina and not each other, right???
Again, straight context, queer scenes.
"Doing it all for Mina" is the straight context of these scenes, and it gaslit everyone into thinking that Dracula isn't the gayest piece of literature ever written.
but that's bullshit, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise
Plus—Dracula was published in 1897, and this method, (which I'm calling the SCQS theory, bc i'm getting tired of saying straight context, queer scene over and over) was used even then, 120+ years ago.
...and the list goes on.
BBC Sherlock, the modernized show about our fav detective Sherlock Holmes and his bf John Watson. great show, reccomend.
....also one of the greatest examples of queerbaiting in this century.
the last shot of BBC Sherlock season 4, the last season: Sherlock and John sharing an apartment, smiling, handing John's child (who they're raising together) back and forth in their arms, overall acting like a married couple. Queer scene, right? But no, it can't be, because guess who's doing the voiceover for that scene? John's wife, Mary, deceased. Hearing Mary's voice in the background of this very clearly queer scene DISTRACTS us from that queerness. We think "oh, Mary, John's wife, straight, not gay, not a gay scene" although it obvi is.
Again—straight context, queer scene.
Literally name any piece of media where two main characters of the same gender are shipped, but not canon. Name any single scene in that media that shippers use to justify it ("look at how they're looking at each other!" "The body language!" Etc, etc) and there's a 90% chance that that scene follows the straight context, queer scene theory.
because no matter what anyone tells you, queerbaiting is still very much prominent and a huge problem in modern media.
this theory has the same energy as men who will say to their homies "i'D tOtAlLy kIsS u bRo, bUt lIke, oNlY tO sAvE uR lIFe" The straight context here is the saving their life, the queer part is the kissing. It's a totally innocent, hypothetical scenario.......
anyways, I think I've made my point. So, let's move on to the SCQS theory in lotr
There are 3 main scenes that follow this theory in lotr
(there are a lot more, obviously, but these i could think of off the top of my head, and i only had this revelation halfway through my lotr rewatch a few days back, so i prob missed a ton. just another excuse to rewatch again)
1) the "I'm glad you're with me, Sam. Here at the end of all things" scene in ROTK, right after the Ring is destroyed. The way they hold each other, the way their heads are bent together, lips inches apart? ARE YOU JOKING ME!?!? HUSBANDS.
but, wait, no. Because what does Sam say right before that line ("here at the end of all things") he says:
"Rosie Cotton dancing. She had ribbons in her hair. If ever I was to marry someone, it'd be her."
and what's that? Yup, straight context. The fact that he talks about Rosy, the girl he (supposedly) has a crush on, (tho he never mentioned her in the books and this line wasn't in the book) right before that little cuddle session with his bf Frodo, DISTRACTS us from said cuddle session and the blatant queerness of the following line, "I'm glad you're with me, here at the end of all things." It's totally not gay, because Rosy, right???
Once again—straight context, queer scene.
2) the scene with Aragorn and Legolas in TTT, (my personal fave scene in that whole movie) where he comes back after falling off that cliff and Legolas hands him the evenstar.
All the aralas shippers, myself included, agree that this is one of the gayest scenes in LOTR. The sexual tension? The way they stare into each other's eyes? The way their hands stay clasped way longer than needed? That line, "Le abdollen, you look terrible?" SRSLY?!?!?? BFS.
but no, it can't be.... Bc the Evenstar—Arwen, Aragorn's gf, gf, straight, not gay, not a gay scene, just bros being dudes. The only reason they have this scene is so that Legolas can give Aragorn back the Evenstar, material proof of his straightness, right??? the presence of the evenstar doesn't change the fact that they're staring into each other's eyes lovingly, but it's enough for the fanboys to justify their straightwashing of those characters.
Say it with me, y'all—straight context, queer scene.
3) last one. Right before Aragorn/Arwen kiss in rotk, right after the coronation. The way that Aragorn and Legolas stare into each other's eyes before that, the little smile, the shoulder touch, the shy, under-the-eyelashes way that Legolas looks at him, the "hanon lle" which clearly means so much more than just "thank you"—SOULMATES.
but, ofc, we can't have nice things, so there's straight context, aka Arwen. Before we can read too far into this scene with Aragorn and Legolas, before we can think "hmmmm that's kinda fruity, that's kinda 💅💅💅 ykyk" we remember why Legolas is even there. Bc of Arwen. Arwen is right behind him, so that must mean that this scene is straight. The presence of Arwen, the context of the scene distracts us from that queerness.
I can guarantee that if the whole "hanon lle", shoulder touch, smiles, eye-screwing, under-the-eyelashes scene had been in any other context, if it was in any other part of the movie other than the coronation—no one, not even the die-hard fanboys, would be able to deny Aralas.
So one more time, say it louder for the people in the back—STRAIGHT CONTEXT, QUEER SCENE!!!
AND THIS IS ACTUALLY INSANE!!!! i'm not gonna be able to watch movies the same way ever again. i'm gonna be over-analyzing every scene with two people of the same gender that i ship and seeing if it applies to this theory.
bc it isn't just lotr, y'all. It's everywhere.
So directors, screenwriters, producers who say that their male/female main characters are "jUSt fRIenDS"—watch your backs, cause I've cracked your code. And I'm about to ruin some careers.
***
wow, that was intense.
i hope that made sense? i swear whenever i have one of these i always have it so clearly in my head and just can't get it quite right in words
i might go over this again and add some extra explanations if i see how i can make things clearer, but don't be a ghost reader!!! tell me what you think <3
my next three chapters (if all goes to plan) will be:
1) how to write an ACTUALLY GOOD lotr fanfic - AUG24
2) rings of power ep1 - THOUGHTS - SEP3
3) lotr thing ive been thinking abt pt3 - SEP12
so stay tuned!! love y'all and thanks sm sm sm for 1.1K <3
out ✨
EDIT: adding to my last point: the whole thing with arwen being the straight context (the coronation and the evenstar both representing her and by correlation also aragorn's supposed straightness) in most aralas scenes just proves my point that she's a plot device and nothing more. i talked about this in my first revelation chapter and this just confirms it.