Noah: "Stranger Things never addressing if Will is gay is the beauty of it"

[RichAssPiss 4,921]

So, we're back to the 1930s then? Work, progress. Kids are so gay they don't even have to say, do, or be gay anymore.

[River 116,505]

They don't need to acknowledge that, we need as audience to be in the closet with him, to feel those moments of sparks but at the same time feel the fear of being discovered, by the public and by the circle of friends, to feel how it is to be an LGBTQ+ in the closet in the 80s.

Robin's coming was pretty forced out of her, Steven gave her no choice.

You guys forget sometimes that not everyone grew up to the freedom that you have now.

Maybe next season when they'll reach the 90s and LGBTQ+ will come out publicly and it will be the topic of the day, he may have a coming out storyline.

[Jewels n Drugs 4,629]

i agree 

[REALITY 76,353]

I don't know if this'll be an unpopular opinion or what, but LGBTQ+ representation is so difficult to do, and for everyone to be on board with. No matter what kind of representation you have, you will always have people who will critique it. It's always:

"They need to do/show more", or
"They don't need to force it. Someone's sexuality in't a personality trait", or
"They need to explicitly state that x character is gay, bi, trans, etc.", or
"They don't need to explicitly state anything. It can just be what it is", or
"They need a darker, more 'realistic' view of what being LGBTQ+ is like", or
"They need to show a more hopeful side of being LGBTQ+, not everything is doom and gloom", 
etc., etc., etc.

Personally, without giving too much of the season away, I think it's clear that Will has some sort of feelings for Mike. It's not explicitly there, but it's definitely hinted at.

I think we also have to remember that not everyone's experiences are the same. That is something I'm dumbfounded to realize that some people don't/can't process. YOUR experiences being queer are not indicative of everyone else's. And look, I get it, it's a TV show, so they can theoretically do more. But sometimes those different experiences manifest in different ways on screen. Everyone's journey is different, and likewise, every character on screen will be portrayed differently too.

I think Noah could've worded his statement better, but as for Will's portrayl in the season so far, I'm fine with it.

[TimotheeChalamet 5,644]

Guys there's no need for drama, it's only a character from a TV show

[bionic 50,090]

21 minutes ago, Reality said:

I don't know if this'll be an unpopular opinion or what, but LGBTQ+ representation is so difficult to do, and for everyone to be on board with. No matter what kind of representation you have, you will always have people who will critique it. It's always:

"They need to do/show more", or
"They don't need to force it. Someone's sexuality in't a personality trait", or
"They need to explicitly state that x character is gay, bi, trans, etc.", or
"They don't need to explicitly state anything. It can just be what it is", or
"They need a darker, more 'realistic' view of what being LGBTQ+ is like", or
"They need to show a more hopeful side of being LGBTQ+, not everything is doom and gloom", 
etc., etc., etc.

Personally, without giving too much of the season away, I think it's clear that Will has some sort of feelings for Mike. It's not explicitly there, but it's definitely hinted at.

I think we also have to remember that not everyone's experiences are the same. That is something I'm dumbfounded to realize that some people don't/can't process. YOUR experiences being queer are not indicative of everyone else's. And look, I get it, it's a TV show, so they can theoretically do more. But sometimes those different experiences manifest in different ways on screen. Everyone's journey is different, and likewise, every character on screen will be portrayed differently too.

I think Noah could've worded his statement better, but as for Will's portrayl in the season so far, I'm fine with it.

Bad representation is better than no representation. Being gay is a small part of most people's personality that they can only "do it wrong" in the eyes of homophobic viewers

[Ziggy 11,792]

28 minutes ago, River said:

They don't need to acknowledge that, we need as audience to be in the closet with him, to feel those moments of sparks but at the same time feel the fear of being discovered, by the public and by the circle of friends, to feel how it is to be an LGBTQ+ in the closet in the 80s.

Robin's coming was pretty forced out of her, Steven gave her no choice.

You guys forget sometimes that not everyone grew up to the freedom that you have now.

Maybe next season when they'll reach the 90s and LGBTQ+ will come out publicly and it will be the topic of the day, he may have a coming out storyline.

I don’t think he needs to come out publicly, though. It can be private acknowledgement to audiences that he’s gay, even showing the internal struggle he has which was absolutely part of being gay then. Idk I think it not touch it at all after basically broaching it last season feels somewhat weird

[RebeldeFaith 5,452]

1 hour ago, Frank Potion said:

We need to see what that painting is 

  Hide contents

 

That looks like Henry Cavill cuddling with himself. 

[Ziggy 11,792]

23 minutes ago, Reality said:

I don't know if this'll be an unpopular opinion or what, but LGBTQ+ representation is so difficult to do, and for everyone to be on board with. No matter what kind of representation you have, you will always have people who will critique it. It's always:

"They need to do/show more", or
"They don't need to force it. Someone's sexuality in't a personality trait", or
"They need to explicitly state that x character is gay, bi, trans, etc.", or
"They don't need to explicitly state anything. It can just be what it is", or
"They need a darker, more 'realistic' view of what being LGBTQ+ is like", or
"They need to show a more hopeful side of being LGBTQ+, not everything is doom and gloom", 
etc., etc., etc.

Personally, without giving too much of the season away, I think it's clear that Will has some sort of feelings for Mike. It's not explicitly there, but it's definitely hinted at.

I think we also have to remember that not everyone's experiences are the same. That is something I'm dumbfounded to realize that some people don't/can't process. YOUR experiences being queer are not indicative of everyone else's. And look, I get it, it's a TV show, so they can theoretically do more. But sometimes those different experiences manifest in different ways on screen. Everyone's journey is different, and likewise, every character on screen will be portrayed differently too.

I think Noah could've worded his statement better, but as for Will's portrayl in the season so far, I'm fine with it.

Yeah Im fine with him having closeted feelings for Mike. Like that happens. But just need the cast and crew to just call it that if that’s what they’re doing lmao

[Knife 6,879]

That feels like a cop out and is the worst kind of representation to me, especially when you consider there is a lesbian character that very casually comes out in what, the first episode of this season?

[gypsy101 5,453]

1 hour ago, Pablo said:

I've not seen all the new episodes yet and I never got the impression that they were trying to say he was gay. Maybe just late bloomer and he wanted to stay a kid. 

really? the last few seasons they were kinda vague but season 4 it seems pretty obvious that he is gay what with the eyes he’s always making at Mike

[River 116,505]

3 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

I don’t think he needs to come out publicly, though. It can be private acknowledgement to audiences that he’s gay, even showing the internal struggle he has which was absolutely part of being gay then. Idk I think it not touch it at all after basically broaching it last season feels somewhat weird

He’s a very complicated character and most of the times he’s just dealing with the trauma of the past.

And maybe he’s not ready to accept that he’s LGBTQ+? So is there a reason to come out to the audience?

I believe that the “never” that Noah meant here is right now and not for the future, we still have 2ep left for this season and a whole new season later, so anything is possible.

[HookerOnAChurch 6,786]

is he dating Millie Bobby in real life? Btw, season 4 so far is EVERYTHING! mindblowing.

[REALITY 76,353]

59 minutes ago, bionic said:

Bad representation is better than no representation. Being gay is a small part of most people's personality that they can only "do it wrong" in the eyes of homophobic viewers

That's not entirely true. Obviously, it will be "wrong" for homophobic viewers, and in that case, we shouldn't even be paying attention to those people. They're not worth the time and effort to debate with; however, look at a show like Heartstopper. I personally love the show, but there are other people—specifically other LGBTQ+ people—who think the show isn't "realistic" in its depiction of being young and queer.

There are many examples of being having a problem with how LGBTQ+ representation is handled WITHOUT it being just blatant homophobia. Eternals is another example of that. You look at the relationship between Phastos and Ben and people are like, "This is cool and all, but we need more." That's not to say that we don't need more, because we definitely do, but in a movie like that, with all that's going on, there's not enough time to properly flesh out that relationship—no matter if it was a gay or straight relationship.

The problem is that people are always going to have issues with how LGBTQ+ people are portrayed on screen. That's obviously not to say that we should stop having LGBTQ+ representation, but frankly, I'm just tired of the conversation surrounding what is "valid" LGBTQ+ representation and what isn't. Unless the movie or TV show is blatantly using LGBTQ+ representation as a way to undermine the community, I feel like any kind of representation is fine.

[REALITY 76,353]

56 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

Yeah Im fine with him having closeted feelings for Mike. Like that happens. But just need the cast and crew to just call it that if that’s what they’re doing lmao

That's fair. Like I said, he should've worded his statement differently or something. But hey, maybe there's a bigger arc planned for Will. This is the first time it's clearly been hinted at that he might be gay or something, so we'll have to see how the rest of his arc with Mike pans out.