I’ve got about 300 old Archie comics, not a one is mine. They’re all from my older brother or my dad. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a comic book in my entire life. The only reason I read the Archies was they made good bathroom reading.
Anyway, Jughead. Was the cartoonist trying to pass him off as being gay? Most of these are from the 60’s and 70’s, and I asume it wasn’t acceptable for a comic book to present a teenager as being homo. But in every one he doesn’t like girls, and doesn’t want to be around them, and states that he’d rather hang around with guys. So were they trying to make him out as being gay, but not “too” gay as to come right out and say it, or what?
What teenage boy who isn’t gay doesn’t like girls anyway?
I doubt they thought of him as gay, and during the age in which those characters were conceived and developed I doubt that they even considered that anyone might think that.
I see him as a counterbalance to Archie’s girlcraziness, with a bit of 10-year old thrown in (averse to girls, “kiddie” type hat). Exaggerated caricature.
Not being romantically interested in girls wouldn’t qualify one as gay. Being romantically interested in boys would–and I never saw even the slightest hint of that in any Archie series comics.
Actually, Jughead does like girls… he is just very selective. According to a story last year, when he was younger he was best friends with a little girl named jenny or something. So he had to leave to riverdale, but he pledged never to forget jenny, and that’s why he’s never been interested in any girl since. Later in that story, he met a new girl and started getting attracted to her, and then Jenny came back. Yup, Juggie has two girls, and thus is subject to the same problems Archie has with HIS girls.
This whole concept was explored in a movie in the 1990’s, where one character asserted that Jughead was Archie’s “King”, which is why he always wore that little hat that was shaped kinda like a “crown”. IIRC, the summation was “Jughead and Archie was sis-ta’s”.
Can’t remember the name of the movie, though. The answer is that, of course, Jughead is not gay. [Seinfeld]Not that there’s anything wrong with that…[/Seinfeld]
“Archie is not fucking Mr. Weatherbee! He’s just helping him with his homework”
“Read between the lines.”
When I saw this thread title, I assumed it was taking off from that scene in “Chasing Amy.” I didn’t know the debate existed outside that movie. Then again, I don’t know crap about comics.
