Nolte: HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Creator Attacks Fans as Homophobes

Fans of HBO’s The Last of Us who didn’t like a gay-themed episode are homophobes, per the show’s co-creator and showrunner Craig Mazin.

One episode of the latest zombie apocalypse TV show focused on a couple of middle-aged gay guys, survivalists who meet and fall deeply in love during the apocalypse. This “romantic” episode has nothing to do with the main story that follows stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. It’s one of those side-street episodes “Prestige TV” shows sometimes takes to show how prestigious they are.

Well, the episode was hit with a backlash. Fans of the show attacked it as filler and unnecessary. And so, because it’s the 2020s and Hollywood only hires people who hate their own customers, the Last of Us showrunner is not rethinking how he delivers his product to his customers. No, he’s attacking his customers as bigots who don’t like the “gay stuff:”

“Some people didn’t like Episode 3 because, you know, gay stuff. And then they kind of retroactively try and come up with a [different and inoffensive] reason why,” co-creator and co-showrunner Craig Mazin said in an interview with IndieWire, “[But] one of the complaints I saw was, ‘Oh, it’s just a filler episode. It doesn’t advance the story.’ And I was like, ‘I think this episode advances the story more than any other episode we have’ — because it’s not plot, it’s character. It’s the letter Bill leaves behind to Joel that powers the rest of the show.”

So, as you can see, it’s not even possible that this episode was a bad idea — that three episodes into your premiere season, people were sincerely put off when you took a pretentious side street. No, no, no, the show isn’t the problem. Another freaken show bringing everything to a halt to prove its woke bonafides isn’t the problem. The infallible and virtuous Craig Mazin certainly isn’t the problem. Nope…

The fans are the problem.

More to the point: the homophobic fans are the problem.

Whether it’s TV, books, movies, or certain types of music, it all comes down to one thing: being able to relate to the characters. If you can’t relate, you lose interest, you check out emotionally, and that’s when whatever it is becomes boring.

I’m sorry, but 98 percent of human beings cannot relate to homosexuality. That doesn’t mean you have to exclude gay characters. But when your gay characters are only about their identity, about their sexuality — which is all we see today — we can’t relate. When we’re told this character is special and virtuous only because of their sexuality — which is all we see today – you have created a one-dimensional, dull character no one cares about, which means we lose interest.

If you want to know how to create an unforgettable, dynamic, sympathetic, iconic gay character, watch Dog Day Afternoon (#40 on my list). Al Pacino’s Sonny Wortzik is so brilliantly constructed that after it’s revealed he’s a homosexual, he doesn’t become a joke. Instead, he becomes even more sympathetic because we understand his desperation and relate to his status as a misfit and outsider.  Watch the Gay Vito episodes in The Sopranos or Sal episodes in Mad Men. Hollywood was actually doing this right before it drove off the rails into woketardery. And woketardery is definitely exemplified by: We interrupt our regular programming to bring you gay stuff.  

And when exactly did it become controversial for heterosexuals to say they don’t want to watch gay sex? This is yet another example of our fascist culture. You can be as broad-minded on the topic of gay rights as possible. You can believe in and fight for homosexuals to be included in your live and let live philosophy all day long, but if you don’t want to watch a couple of hairy guys get it on, you’re still a bigot.

I’ll tell you right now that if this Craig Mazin guy is straight, he is uncomfortable watching two guys have sex. How do I know this? Because human nature is human nature, that’s how. I could not care less how consenting adults live their lives. But that’s not enough anymore. Now, I have to watch how they live their lives and lie about how I find it beautiful and inspiring.

Forcing people to lie is a way to keep them down, to humiliate and demoralize them.

You know, I’ve been spilling opinions online for nearly 20 years and, until recently, never said a word about how watching gay sex makes me uncomfortable. First, it used to be one of those truths that served no purpose other than insulting and stirring things up. Secondly, I had no reason to speak that truth. No one was demanding I watch and approve. No one was demanding I lie. But now that they are demanding I lie, I will never shut up this or all the other stuff they demand we lie about. So here I go again…

• Watching intimacy between two men creeps me out.
• Scantily clad overweight women are gross.
• Recycling is pointless.
• Climate Change is a hoax.
• Obesity is not healthy.
• Biden cheated.
• Masks don’t work.
• Fat jokes are hilarious.
• Men cannot become women.
• Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization.
• Diversity is destructive.
• Deport the DREAMers first.
• Disney grooms.
• Meryl Streep is a terrible actress.
• They are called “midgets.”
• Godfather III is pretty good.

One thing I do love about the 2020s is how easy it is to feel like an outlaw. That’s pretty sweet.