The queerness of Hobbits.

On eve of third 'Lord of the Rings' release, gay fans discuss
storyline's same-sex relationship
By Web Behrens

From:http://www.sovo.com/2003/12-12/arts/feature/queerness.cfm





Actors Sean Astin (left) and Elijah Woods acknowledge the close bond
between their characters Sam and Frodo in the 'Lord of the Rings' film
trilogy, even saying that the relationship could be interpreted as gay.
(Photos courtesy New Line Cinema)
It began with a shy caress on the hand. From there, it grew into
sleeping side by side.
By the time the tale winds to its dramatic end, there are sacrifices,
kisses and open declarations of love. Indeed, the couple's relationship
might be hailed as a great romance of 20th-century literature — but for
the tyranny of gender.
The characters in question are Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, the
two hobbits at the heart of "The Lord of the Rings." And though they grow
preciously close to each other during their quest to destroy the One
Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, the fact that both characters are male
suppresses a thorough discussion of their love — a sort of Middle-Earth "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell."
But since the billion-dollar blockbuster film series renewed interest
in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic, some fans are asking a question no one seemed to
think about when the trilogy was first published in the mid-1950s: What
exactly is the nature of Frodo and Sam's relationship?
"Return of the King," the finale of the film series and the on-screen
relationship between Sam and Frodo, opens Dec. 17 in wide release.
Between the two characters, some fans see a close bond between master
and servant (Sam is Frodo's gardener), and others find a deep fraternal
love between comrades in wartime. Still others discover clear evidence of
romantic love.
Could it be that the heroes of this spectacular tale, beloved by
millions across the world, are gay? Could Tolkien, a renowned linguist who
utilized words with precision, have crafted a subtle statement about gay love?
The very notion that the hobbits had a romantic interest in each other
is enough to send some people into apoplexy. Between the release of the
first and second films, some fans were surprised to learn that actor Ian
McKellen, who portrays the wizard Gandalf, is gay.
For a time, the official "Lord of the Rings" Fan Club message boards
even censored the word "gay," until McKellen found out and helped lift the
ban.
So one can imagine the potential for hostility to any suggestion that
Sam and Frodo, making their way towards the fires of Mount Doom, were also
heating things up with a fire of their own.
There is no direct reference to any sexual passion between the pair.
Then again, there's nary a spark in the source material between the tale's
human protagonist Aragorn and his immortal lover, elf princess Arwen. The
films clearly play up that star-crossed love affair.
McKellen posted a statement on his Web site about the relationship
between Sam and Frodo.
"Frodo and Sam would not be the first young gentleman and his servant
to be a little in love with each other, but Tolkien doesn't make their
affection explicit sexually, nor does every reader agree that he has dropped any
real hints about it," McKellen writes. "Theirs is certainly a close
interdependent relationship."
Even Elijah Woods and Sean Astin, the heterosexual actors who play
Frodo and Sam, acknowledged that the pair could be gay during interviews
after the release of the second film "Two Towers."
"I think the gay community has certainly embraced it as a beautiful,
special thing, and I think it can be interpreted that way," Woods said
at the time. "It's good to know that people appreciate the relationship,
because it is powerful, and it is integral to both individual journeys.
Frodo wouldn't make it without Sam, and Sam wouldn't make it without
Frodo."
The comic relief duo Merry and Pippin could also be interpreted to have
a love relationship, according to the actors who play them.
"There's a nice kind of loving, close friendship that goes on, a kind
of unconditional love between the hobbits," said Dominic Monaghan, who
plays Merry. "It is something that you can associate with gay people."
Even as some straight fans shy away from the notion that Frodo and Sam
might be gay, the topic is of great interest to gay fans of the series.
"It's not a specifically homoerotic relationship, but it is a
homo-romantic one," asserts Shawna Walls, a Tolkien historian who runs the
gay-friendly site BagEndInn.com, and moderates a Yahoo group for queer "Rings" fans.
"The thing is, Tolkien didn't talk about sex at all, so using sex as a
litmus test to decide whether or not Sam and Frodo are a gay couple
doesn't really apply," Walls says. "On a non-sexual level, they definitely
compare to the other romantic relationships that Tolkien illustrates."
Clifford Broadway, a writer and Tolkien expert who pens a regular
column (under the name Quickbeam) for TheOneRing.net, the most popular Tolkien
fan site, continues the debate and the dichotomy between gay fans and
heterosexual "Rings" followers.
"It would be OK if they were gay — but they're not," Broadway counters.
In his niche in cyberspace, Broadway weighed in on the topic four years
ago, well before pop culture reawakened Tolkien-mania.
"I had observed a lot of people yammering on other sites, speculating,
'Oh my god, we're going to have homo hobbits holding hands and kissing each
other,'" Broadway recalls.
Gay actor Ian McKellen tells fans on his Web site that the relationship
between Sam and Frodo in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy is 'a close
interdependent relationship' that some interpret as gay.
"I always hear, 'Oh, they're so gay together,'" Broadway continues. "My
response is: 'No, they're just affectionate. You need to deal with your
own issues.' American men cannot deal with two literary characters
supporting and loving each other in a time of dire need, so it becomes a gay issue
when it never really was."
Regardless of the interpretation in Tolkien's books, one thing is clear
about the films: Hobbits holding hands are a no-no at New Line Cinema.
In the second book, Sam watches Frodo sleeping and remarks, "I love
him." The screen version excises that moment.
The movies choose to leave the Sam-Frodo relationship ambiguous, and
that seems to be where they're headed with next week's finale "The Return of
the King."
Sam and Frodo's plight grows ever more dire, but "I don't think we're
going to see the two of them cuddled up, sleeping close together, using each
other's bodies for warmth, as Tolkien expressly states," Broadway
predicts.
But for fans of the books, the compelling question "Are they or aren't
they?" remains.
"You can interpret it either way, and I think either interpretation is
valid," Walls says. "You just have to look at it from different
perspectives. I think Tolkien tells us that they are a couple. It's
beyond friendship, that's for sure."

Stephen Holt contributed to this article.