I disagree. If material is written to queerbait, the material queerbaits. It's an actual marketing technique and it was used to death in media in the early 2000s. Every man overhears 2 other men and thinks they're talking about sex scene from action movies.
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Replying to @BinJLG @fozmeadows
The painful "jokey" queerbaiting in Friends (Phoebe calling Monica and Rachel her bitches if they were in jail and Ross Chandler and Joey having a nap together and freaking out about it come to mind).
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Replying to @BinJLG @fozmeadows
Queerbaiting exists in its source material. It can be read with or without the Death of the Author theory. Why shouldn't queer fans be upset about a creator queerbaiting a character consistently and then saying "I never intended this character to be gay?"
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Replying to @BinJLG @fozmeadows
Saying material can't queerbait on its own is basically saying "mostly queer fans are silly for seeing queer subtext" whether that subtext is serious or used as a joke and that is just... not a great stance to have about a classically dismissed, marginalized, and silenced group.
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Replying to @BinJLG
I'm queer myself, and I'm certainly not saying queer fans are silly for seeing subtext: I'm saying the presence of subtext IS NOT INHERENTLY THE SAME THING as queerbaiting, and that the latter is a specific thing done by intent.
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Replying to @fozmeadows @BinJLG
I also think you're perhaps conflating "queerness as a punchline, no homo" with queerbaiting. These are both tacky, gross concepts, but they are nonetheless *distinct* tacky gross concepts that occasionally have a Venn diagram portion of overlap.
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Replying to @fozmeadows @BinJLG
For instance: I'd argue Moffat used no homo jokes as part of his overt, intentional queerbaiting, whereas no homo jokes in Friends, like the bitches line from Phoebe, isn't queerbaiting, it's just referencing gayness as a joke.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
Queerness as a punchline, no homo IS a form of queerbaiting though. It's one of the most used and popular forms. Because it sets up the idea that queerness is inherently a joke or the punchline to a joke.
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Replying to @BinJLG
But that's... not what queerbaiting is? Queerbaiting is when creators hint at or promise a queer relationship or character but don't actually deliver it. Joking about queerness can be part of that, but by itself, it's not the same thing.
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Replying to @fozmeadows
Yes, they set up "hey, possible queer things could be going on" and then pull the rug out saying "HAHA ISN'T THAT SO FUNNY CAUSE THEY'RE BOTH ACTUALLY STRAIGHT???"
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But this is only one permutation of no homo jokes. A couple of throwaway lines isn't the same as expressly building characterisation around their intent, marketing that intent, and then failing to capitalise on it as a deliberate gotcha.
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