THIS is the night where we find out if we've been queerbaited or not, girlies. The anticipation is rising!! #FalconAndWinterSoldierFinale

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surprise! It was queerbaiting again, not that anyone is surprised

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I don't want anyone to be under the impression that this is what we SHOULD have gotten out of this show. It had no obligation to address Bucky and Steve because it's Sam's fucking show, it's not about them

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I also think there's something powerful in just like, not mentioning Steve at all, or mentioning him as little as possible. Like I said before, it's not about him. I'm glad episode 5 put that to bed so his ideological ghost wasn't looming over Sam anymore

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THAT BEING SAID, is the queerbaiting still a shitty thing to do? Absolutely! It was teased by Spellman in interviews, it was teased with flirty body language between Sam and Bucky in earlier eps, it's a shitty thing to do period

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And the fact that they've KEPT DOING IT with THESE characters and this franchise is especially shitty. They had a chance to say something about it if they wanted to. They could've ignored it too if they wanted! But they chose neither

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Instead we get vague illusions in interviews and suggestive camera angles and blocking and dialogue, but no substantive exploration of the emotional attachments that ANY of these men might have for each other, platonic or otherwise

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I'm glad they put that energy into Isaiah because his relationship with Sam was so important to Sam's character and to the message of the show, but it's also incredibly safe

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You can deconstruct black masculinity and show tender, emotionally honest moments between black men, but only if there's no danger of possible queerness. There can't even be space for illusions of it

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In Winter Soldier, we learn Sam lost his best friend Riley during war just like Steve, and it brings the characters together. They understand each other's pain. After that movie, we never hear about this relationship again

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Isaiah rescued his brothers in arms at the cost of his own freedom, but we never learn any of their names or see their faces. Instead we're shown the letters his wife wrote to him while he was imprisoned

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For the show to ACTUALLY examine the two very different connections that Sam and Bucky had to Steve (which seemed to be something it WANTED to do), it would have had to stray too close to the queerness to be ignored, and they couldn't let that happen

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they could've just ignored Steve, or dispelled his looming ideology in the first two episodes, but they didn't. they kept him around, and in doing that they incidentally kept all of the baggage of his character and the relationships he had with our leads

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in choosing not to address it, we miss out on so much necessary emotional catharsis. and when we DO get those emotions peaking through, whether it's through a notebook or a shield, it's an incongruent reminder of what's so obviously missing from the show

(not me re-reading this thread and realizing I accidentally wrote illusions instead of allusions don't look at me)