Booster Gold #39

[bwhahahabeck]

Four pages from the latest issue of Booster Gold.

Booster is feeling nostalgic about his JLI days. After an incident with Rani and Michelle's Goldstar suit, he flies off to patrol Ted's old neighborhood. He runs into a jewel thief who claims to be a modern day Robin Hood. Booster flips.





Booster spends some time thinking to himself before visiting Ted's grave. He asks Skeets what happens after they die.



Needless to say he has a breakdown complete with dramatic soundless NO! and tears.

The issue concludes with an adorable scene with Rani and this page--cue the waterworks.



I understand that there are friendships that run deep and I value and love the Blue and Gold relationship, but sometimes, I honestly think Booster was in love with this man. I mean, that last page--if that's not love on some level, I don't know what it is anymore.

Comments

[turtlefu]

Here is how I feel:
Our society is a homophobic one, and one that thinks any extreme friendship with men as gay, and thus wrong.
But we only have one concept of "love" the Greeks had so many.
I think they were in love with eachother, but not a sexual "love" or even a romantic "love", but a "love" that exists between two people bonded so perfectly it's basically the same.
I don't know why, socially, people can't accept romantic friendships (or even extremely close friendships) between men.
Do I think they would ever knock boots? Were they both completely straight? No, and yes. That's just how it is.
I think construing romantic friendships between men as gay is incredibly harmful to social relationships between men.

[bwhahahabeck]

I'm sorry, but when people get utterly defensive about protecting the sanctity of friendship between two men, I cock my eyebrow and walk away. I do not understand what is so utterly SHAMEFUL about perhaps there being something more to this friendship than what our--as you put it--homophobic and heteronormative society displays for us.

I think putting down others for speculating positively on the romantic feelings two men have for each other is more harmful.

[cuntfucius]

I think putting down others for speculating positively on the romantic feelings two men have for each other is more harmful.

Lawl, I'm seriously reminded of some Celluloid Closet bs here.

[bwhahahabeck]

Just googled. Interesting. Would you recommend watching the documentary or is it more a joke than good?

[cuntfucius]

It's wonderful and on youtube :D do it ♥ it really touched me.

[bwhahahabeck]

I WILL PUT IT ON MY LIST ♥ Thank you. c:

[shadowpsykie]

the way they described Marcella and Ben-Hur made SOOO much more sense when i saw that...

yeah its a great documentary very insightful

[darkknightjrk]

"I do not understand what is so utterly SHAMEFUL about perhaps there being something more to this friendship than what our--as you put it--homophobic and heteronormative society displays for us."

True enough, but one could argue that saying there's only casual friendship and DEEP ROMANTIC LURVE is also very limiting and another brand of normative.

[cuntfucius]

Homosocial relations being construed as gay or bad or wrong arose from a heterosexist society and compulsory standard, but it didn't just harm the social relations between men. It, indeed, harmed romantic relations between them, and held hands as the nuclear family came over the horizon and slaughtered the English language and the many forms relationships could come in.

There's a false transference of power or privilege in believing that somebody (especially a queer someone) reading, in a positive and happy way, the close relations between two men or two women as something more than platonic, as something they can relate to. That's not the dominant society or marginalization that reads it in a bad way irl and shames it out of people.

It's not applicable in this situation, I think.

[turtlefu]

Isn't that a little hypocritical though? Gay or lesbian couples who are out want to be referred to as a COUPLE. If people say "oh, that's his/her friend", it's horrifically offensive. My own family does it to my own cousin and her girlfriend.
Likewise, if that's true, than it should work vice versa. Misconstruing platonic relationships as romantic is equally annoying.
Men don't want to be platonically close to one another because "that's gay!".
If you look at the closeness of frienships between men and women, women are both emotionally and physically closer. Have you ever seen two platonic male friends holding hands? I've never, and I'm sure it is FAR more rare than platonic women holding hands.

[bwhahahabeck]

Ah, yes. The woes of being a heterosexual man or woman in our society. Just think of their pain and suffering!

[turtlefu]

I'm not talking about that. Now you're just putting words in my mouth.
I champion equality. I think everyone should be treated equally, and nobody in society should feel marginalized, ostracized, fearful, or unable to be their true selves. That applies to everyone. That's my personal philosophy.

In fact, the only thing I'm saying is that men should be allowed to have romantic friendships without society frowning down upon it, usually resulting in the relationship being gay. That has nothing to do with s_d and everything to do with the inherent homophobia in society.

btw, I'm done now, because I'm not starting ANOTHER argument.

[cuntfucius]

Yeah it's best you're done :D

[cuntfucius]

I see less of a concern for men and women being frightened and offended at being considered romantically involved if they are just close platonically. You're also thinking of western society -- in my culture men can kiss each other and hug each other and hold hands. Yet we're considered backwards :) Hm.

Anyway, I understand what you're saying but you're framing this argument pretty poorly and also bringing it up at a wildly irrelevant time. Like I said, it's false transference of power and damage to homosocial relations to positive queer reading, rather than to heterosexual monitoring of society and negative queer reading.

[bluefall]

Misconstruing platonic relationships as romantic is equally annoying.

When it's actually possible to easily and ubiquitously see open, well-portrayed queer relationships in popular media; when it's possible for a writer to put a major character in a same-sex romance as casually as zie would introduce a new heterosexual romance, without trying to clear it through editors and producers and getting shot down; when queer and allied writers stop deliberately sneaking in ship-teases in ostensibly straight relationships because it's all they can give us; when it is no longer utterly absurd to imagine that long-running fictional same-gender friendships will ever, much less inevitably, meet the same shoehorned fate as your Bart/Carol or Kim/Ron or Babs/Dick hetero equivalents; on that day, you will have a point.

Until then, those of us who are denied representation will continue to make do with the culture of subtext and clearly-should-have-beens that is all that is afforded to us.

[cuntfucius]

♥ wowzers

[mad]

Men don't want to be platonically close to one another because "that's gay!".

That's more the fault of homophobia than of people thinking characters like Booster and Ted are in love, though, I would think.

[julian]

You're making speeches like this on /scans-daily/?

Did I fall into some weird mirror-thing while I wasn't paying attention?

[mad]

I don't know why, socially, people can't accept romantic friendships (or even extremely close friendships) between men.

They can and they do, and it's called bromance, and that's all over the place. That's why we haven't seen Ted and Booster actually making out in canon (contrary to my icon--that was just Milagro playing with her dolls--clearly she didn't know she was being "harmful to social relationships between men"!), that's why they had to create Midnighter and Apollo in an alternate universe instead of having Bats and Supes ever go out on a date, that's why Dinah never marrying Babs wasn't considered in canon, and on and on.

I think construing romantic friendships between men as gay is incredibly harmful to social relationships between men.

What on Earth is that supposed to mean? How the hell do fans enjoying some (very freakin' obvious) gay subtext in a comic, or playing with that relationship in their fannish activities, actually harmful to male homosocial relationships?

They're not being harmed. You know what, if anything, has the potential to harm all sorts of relationships, including male friendships? Homophobia, dude.

And furthermore, if you're uncomfortable with slash, gay subtext, or gay relationships, why are you even on scans_daily? Go away.