If I recall correctly, Gabrielle originally wanted to be a bard and traveled with Xena to get stories to tell.
There was also a groundhog day episode where Xena relives the same day over and over. One morning out of the many, during his morning greeting, Joxer looks at one of the women and says “It that a hickey?” the women look at each other and grin.
Closer than Smallville has come to admitting Clark and Lex have a gay thing for each other.
But which came first (not like that)? Did the writers realize they were getting a lesbian following and then play up the relationship or was it from the beginning? I tend to think it was the former from what I remember when watching the show sporadically.
[QUOTE=Loach]
But which came first (not like that)? Did the writers realize they were getting a lesbian following and then play up the relationship or was it from the beginning? I tend to think it was the former from what I remember when watching the show sporadically.
[/QUOTE]
I read somewhere (I don’t remember where now), that it was intentional from the beginning but that the studio made them tamp it down a lot in the first season.
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas]
Closer than Smallville has come to admitting Clark and Lex have a gay thing for each other.
[/QUOTE]
They need to admit it?
[QUOTE=RickJay]
Is Gabrielle WASN’T Xena’s lover, then why the hell was she on the show? She’s didn’t appear to serve any purpose other than being Xena’s galpal.
[/QUOTE]
You could say that of any sidekick, yet a sidekick appears to be an indispensable accessory to a hero.
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
You could say that of any sidekick, yet a sidekick appears to be an indispensable accessory to a hero.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, just because the hero has a sidekick doesn’t mean they’re gay! Look at Batman and Ro…
Never mind.
I don’t have a cite for this, and it’s a while since I’ve seen it, but I thought it was stated clearly and explicitly in the final episode.
They did something similar in the Hercules show, didn’t they, with what’s-his-face? (But then again, he was playing against Sorbo…)
[QUOTE=FriarTed]
One episode, X & G meet a good ol’ boy who has a big Xena crush while ignoring the good ol’ girl who’s just right for him (spoiler- X & G do a make-over on her & the guy flips for her). Anyway, he asks G if X’s looking to settle down with a man, G replies “No, she likes what I d—” and a fish smacks her in the face, then she corrects "She likes what she does.’
[/QUOTE]
That’s hilarious! Does someone hit her with the fish, or does it just magically appear?
Fish make everything funny, IMHO
Let me guess, Mr. Excellent, you’re a big fan of Monty Python’s fish slapping dance?
[thread=412530]How hard can I hit some-one in the face with a trout without killing them?[/thread]
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
I read somewhere (I don’t remember where now), that it was intentional from the beginning but that the studio made them tamp it down a lot in the first season.
[/QUOTE]
I recall an interview with one of the writers. She said they deliberately played it coy, because it’s a lot funnier that way.
[QUOTE=dotchan]
They did something similar in the Hercules show, didn’t they, with what’s-his-face? (But then again, he was playing against Sorbo…)
[/QUOTE]
Iolus. I didn’t watch Hercules as much as Xena, but I don’t recall any particularly strong subtext between them. They were roughly the same age, though, and generally as I understand Greek pederasty it involved an older man in a mentoring relationship with a younger one.
Now Young Hercules, with the yummy Ryan Gosling and Chris Conrad playing Hercules and Jason (of …and the Argonauts) as youths in hero school, could’ve been rife with subtext if it hadn’t been aimed at teenagers.
[hijack - and I’m sorry for it]
I just had an amazing revelation and this thread is the sole purpose of it, so I will do a quick hijack and be on my way. Ever since saw Autolycus’ user name it’s been bugging me. I didn’t know where I’d heard it, but I knew I had. Now, that his name (from garygnu’s link) has come up in a Xena thread it came to me like a trout in the face. And I claimed to be a Bruce Campbell fan!
That is all.
[/hijack]
[QUOTE=Otto]
Iolus. I didn’t watch Hercules as much as Xena, but I don’t recall any particularly strong subtext between them. They were roughly the same age, though, and generally as I understand Greek pederasty it involved an older man in a mentoring relationship with a younger one.
[/QUOTE]
And of course, historical accuracy was the keystone of the Hercules/Xena francise.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
I read somewhere (I don’t remember where now), that it was intentional from the beginning but that the studio made them tamp it down a lot in the first season.
[/QUOTE]
Liz Friedman, one of the producers of Xena and herself an out lesbian, said in an interview that in “Is There a Doctor in the House?”, considered the first subtext episode, she lobbied hard to get the subtext stuff in and got it in by saying basically “No-one will notice, no-one even notices lesbians exist”. Lesbians noticed, and Xena got a big lesbian following, to Friedman’s claimed surprise.
Now, I don’t think Friedman was surprised, and like I said I can see pretty clear subtext prior to that episode, but that’s her story anyway.
It’s not. The closest it gets in that episode is the more-loving-than-necessary kiss during the transfer of water from Gabrielle’s mouth to Xena’s.
[QUOTE=Otto]
Iolus. I didn’t watch Hercules as much as Xena, but I don’t recall any particularly strong subtext between them. They were roughly the same age, though, and generally as I understand Greek pederasty it involved an older man in a mentoring relationship with a younger one.
[/QUOTE]
I haven’t seen much Hercules either, but I got some gay vibes from the first Xena episode Hercules and Iolaus are in. For one thing, when Iolaus is looking for Hercules he describes him as “really handsome, with big arms”. Yeah, that’s how a totally straight guy describes his totally straight guy friend.
[QUOTE=Alessan]
And of course, historical accuracy was the keystone of the Hercules/Xena francise.
[/QUOTE]
Direct from the pages of Bullfinch it was.