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Why Gene Hunt is gay
I just realized something.
I've watched all 16 episodes of LoM at least two times now, some of them three times. On the second rewatch, I was trying to find my ship. Because yeah, Sam/Gene is the obvious one, but I didn't see much future there, not with Gene being either an actual heterosexual with homophobic tendencies or a fake heterosexual with homosexual tendencies so deep in the Nile that even a trained team of rescue divers wouldn't get him out.
I thought about shipping Sam/Nelson - and still am, because, hey, shiny shiny ship, isn't it? The gay and the racial issue in one fic. Besides, Nelson is fun, and Sammy needs some cheering up. But while the ship is nice, it doesn't really fit into the show. I will have to think of a way to make it work, because I want the angst of Nelson getting hurt/being killed in a hate crime and Sammy desperate and unable to talk to anybody about it, but for now, I let my mind wander into a different direction.
I was thinking about writing a Gene/Sam fic in which Gene is hot for Sammy but can't admit it, and so it happens that he gets desperate at some point and tries to simply take what he can't bring himself to ask for, only to have Sam beat the shit out of him and tell him that if he wants this, fine with Sam, but he's not going to get to take it by force. After some sulking and wound-licking there would be a long talk and then some hot steamy man sex with a side dish of guilt thrown in.
Now, in the process of finding a plot that would bring Gene to the breaking point, I did some research to find out about gay society in 1973 - and this was when I had my revelation.
Gene Hunt could be a stereotypical homosexual for that day and age - closeted, but definitely out to himself.
I have this smart book -Hogwarts Homosexuality, a History - and there's a chapter in there about gay liberation in the late 60ies till the 80ies. '68 - or rather '69 - was a turning point for the gay liberation. In '69, the Stonewall Riots happened in NYC, in which the gay community protested against the police raiding the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street. '71, the Gay Liberation Front released a manifesto in Britain, and in '72, 2000 men and women marched in Hyde Park under the flag of the GLF. In the same year, the first issue of Gay News was released. However, the average early 70ies gay man wasn't all that hot on all the attention. Homosexuality had been legalized in '67, gay communities had formed in bars and bookshops and baths, and many members of the gay population wanted to rather enjoy what they had than continue to march and scream for more. Also, the female part of the GLF wasn't too happy with the prevailing focus on the male gay society and split off in '72. Many other sub-groups followed, and the GLF scattered.
Now, 1973, we have the GLF still quite strong and united, although on the brink of breaking up. The members of the GLF are mostly people between 25 and 35. So that would exclude Gene Hunt. Let's assume he is gay, and aware of that. He's married in canon, but his wife is so invisible that she might just as well be no more than a facade. By 1973, Gene Hunt has trained himself to keep a very, very low profile about his sexual life. He probably almost never practised his sexuality, until very recently when all this Gay Liberation stuff started. With a population of about 500,000, Manchester is quite a big city even in 1973, and there are a couple of gay bars and places for the gay community to meet and interact. Gene has started visiting them, but he is known there under an alias, never takes anybody home or goes with them, and his visits are rare and random. At work, he play-acts his facade of the heterosexual homophobic copper like he has done all his life. It's not even a facade to him. It's who he is in his work life. Actually, the secret visits to the gay districts feel much more like a farce to him. He doesn't know what to think of this Gay Liberation idea, all he knows is that keeping the sex life separated from the work life has worked well for him all his life, and whose business is it anyway whom he fucks and whom he doesn't?
Right. Now I've talked a lot. I think it's time now that I wrote the fic in which Sam finds all of this out and shows Gene that there can be more to a gay relationship than a quick blowjob in a toilet stall.
Because Sammy would never let Gene blow him in a toilet stall, now would he. That wouldn't be appropriate at all.
I've watched all 16 episodes of LoM at least two times now, some of them three times. On the second rewatch, I was trying to find my ship. Because yeah, Sam/Gene is the obvious one, but I didn't see much future there, not with Gene being either an actual heterosexual with homophobic tendencies or a fake heterosexual with homosexual tendencies so deep in the Nile that even a trained team of rescue divers wouldn't get him out.
I thought about shipping Sam/Nelson - and still am, because, hey, shiny shiny ship, isn't it? The gay and the racial issue in one fic. Besides, Nelson is fun, and Sammy needs some cheering up. But while the ship is nice, it doesn't really fit into the show. I will have to think of a way to make it work, because I want the angst of Nelson getting hurt/being killed in a hate crime and Sammy desperate and unable to talk to anybody about it, but for now, I let my mind wander into a different direction.
I was thinking about writing a Gene/Sam fic in which Gene is hot for Sammy but can't admit it, and so it happens that he gets desperate at some point and tries to simply take what he can't bring himself to ask for, only to have Sam beat the shit out of him and tell him that if he wants this, fine with Sam, but he's not going to get to take it by force. After some sulking and wound-licking there would be a long talk and then some hot steamy man sex with a side dish of guilt thrown in.
Now, in the process of finding a plot that would bring Gene to the breaking point, I did some research to find out about gay society in 1973 - and this was when I had my revelation.
Gene Hunt could be a stereotypical homosexual for that day and age - closeted, but definitely out to himself.
I have this smart book -
Now, 1973, we have the GLF still quite strong and united, although on the brink of breaking up. The members of the GLF are mostly people between 25 and 35. So that would exclude Gene Hunt. Let's assume he is gay, and aware of that. He's married in canon, but his wife is so invisible that she might just as well be no more than a facade. By 1973, Gene Hunt has trained himself to keep a very, very low profile about his sexual life. He probably almost never practised his sexuality, until very recently when all this Gay Liberation stuff started. With a population of about 500,000, Manchester is quite a big city even in 1973, and there are a couple of gay bars and places for the gay community to meet and interact. Gene has started visiting them, but he is known there under an alias, never takes anybody home or goes with them, and his visits are rare and random. At work, he play-acts his facade of the heterosexual homophobic copper like he has done all his life. It's not even a facade to him. It's who he is in his work life. Actually, the secret visits to the gay districts feel much more like a farce to him. He doesn't know what to think of this Gay Liberation idea, all he knows is that keeping the sex life separated from the work life has worked well for him all his life, and whose business is it anyway whom he fucks and whom he doesn't?
Right. Now I've talked a lot. I think it's time now that I wrote the fic in which Sam finds all of this out and shows Gene that there can be more to a gay relationship than a quick blowjob in a toilet stall.
Because Sammy would never let Gene blow him in a toilet stall, now would he. That wouldn't be appropriate at all.
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I agree with your interpretation of a potential gay Gene, it's pretty well the same one I base my own viewpoint for Gene when I write him. Gene is very determined outwardly, but I think as far as his own sexuality is concerned he might feel a bit vulnerable, and Sam Tyler could give lessons on vulnerable.
Anyhow, welcome, and I hope you do write that story!
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Thanks for the comment on my drawing! I might post it at the comm, but not right now - don't want to flood the comm with entries on my first day, lol ;). Glad you like it, though!
I needed to figure out a way Gene could be gay, even if it was only gay for Sam, because I find it hard to write slash fanfic without having a solid characterisation that justifies the gay tendencies of characters that are on the show displayed as being straight. Sam's not really a problem there ;) - but Gene was, until I thought about it for a while.
I'll probably write that story, or I will at least start it. I have a habit of leaving fic unfinished ;). But I hope I'll be able to finish this one.
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I generally work my way through the situation logically when I first start to write, then once I'm in a comfortable spot, I hit the fic. I wrote one story called "The New Year and its Resolution" where I did a sort of background history to Gene, to explain to myself who he was and how to got to be where he was in the story. It worked well for me.
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Yup, I do the same thing. It keeps me from writing OOC and getting stuck because I realize somewhere in the middle that my fic makes no sense, lol.
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Never mind me, I'm just trying to keep track. :-)
Oh, and your justification sounds good to me. Admitedly I only watched... how many eps? 4 or so, but still, it sounds like it could fit Gene.
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Hee, glad to hear it :). It sounded logical to me last night. I'll have to reread the entry to see if that's still so, lol ;).
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In Manchester, Gay News was available, but a 'local' gay rag was not published until 1978; on top of that, and more pertenant to Gene Hunt's story, the Chief Constable of the GMP was viciously homophobic. Club raids and 'stings' were the order of the day and being queer (which was still considered a derogatory term in the 70s) was literally a life destroying matter.
I've speculated that Gene is 'old school gay' which is exactly how you've described him: living a secret life and in a set 'role' and very much a product of those times. It's a terribly interesting perspective that only a few of us (DorsetGirl in "Signals", for one really good example) have explored.
Would love to see your own story that you described. Sounds lovely!
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Your second paragraph, that's real life canon, right? Not your fic fanon? Because that would be good to know if I'm actually going to write that fic I was talking about.
I will have to check out that fic, Signals. I don't want to rewrite something that's already been written in this fandom :).
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Yes, the second paragraph is real life 1970s Manchester, based on research and contacts I have in the queer community there. I also grew up in the queer community in the 70s and 80s so some of my 'research' for my fic is just based on people I knew. LOL!
I don't think Signals crosses with your idea at all:
Signals, part 1 (http://dorsetgirl.livejournal.com/4980.html)
Signals, part 2 (http://dorsetgirl.livejournal.com/5176.html)
Enjoy!
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Thanks for the links! I'm sure I'll enjoy it :).
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Oooh and welcome! Pull up a chair and have a cuppa and some pink wafers...
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Pink wafers, shiny. There's nothing like food of completely unnatural color to brighten up the day ;).
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If that could be seen as your plot summary (don't worry I'm not holding you to it) then I think you'll be OK. Mikey's stories have a closeted Gene who wants Sam and a Sam who has feelings for Gene that he can't get comfortable with as he's never "been" gay. It covers some of the same territory -- a background of what a closeted Gay man's life would have been like at the time -- but is definitely a different take on it. Her Gene *knows* himself and has had homosexual relationships before it is Sam trying to align his emotional feelings with being able to express them physically that is more the problem. I think you'd enjoy them and, as I said, if your paragraph above might be seen as a potential plot summary I don't really see a conflict.
If the dangerous food colouring bothers you we could just have some Garibaldis or a nice Party 7 instead... *g*
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And lol, I should stop talking so much about this fic. If I ever get around to writing it, I'll be way too anxious to get all of this across to produce anything useful, lol.
Party 7 sounds good! Hee xD.
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Undercover (http://mikes-grrl.livejournal.com/tag/undercover):
Sam accidentally discovers Gene is gay. Gene accidentally is led to believe that Sam is gay as well, and Sam is unable to 'clear the record' before they are drawn into a murder case involving the gay community. Sam essentially goes 'undercover' and in the process, 'leads' Gene on to thinking he has a chance with Sam and also gets a first hand perspective on gay life of the era.
I personally have no stake in whether you read these now or later, but in reading this thread it does seem we're talking about a lot of the same issues. NOT to put you off writing your version, NEVER! Because as I said, this is a concept that very few in the fandom have explored and I would love to see more writers taking on. ♥
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That said, I really look forward to reading your fic. It sounds very interesting :).
this is a concept that very few in the fandom have explored
That's surprising, actually. I'd have thought it would be one of the major fic themes in this fandom, considering how complex it is. Hee, all the better, more space for me to play with ideas xD.
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Yes, I was surprised at how little this idea has been explored, overall, as a complex and serious issue. I don't think my work quite delves into some of the murkier depths -- I do try to keep the boys happy, generally -- and there is just a lot of territory than can be covered here.
Now, a lot of fics DO assume Gene is gay, but not within the larger context of what it meant to be gay in that era, I guess because it is a whole can of worms than really gets in the way PWP!! LOL! But I think it is a fascinating topic.
I think there is also a tendency to view Sam as sexually comfortable with himself simply because he is from 2006. Like you, I think his personality would lead more to repression than anything. I've written him both ways, though. I generally just make hay with assumptions when I can! *evil laugh*
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Hee, then our fics will probably differ after all. My writing is usually more of the angsty, depressing kind - don't ask me why, it just seems to mostly turn out that way, lol. Except when I'm being silly, which happens quite often xD.
Hee, yeah, if you're taking the times into consideration, PWP, especially of the fluffy sort, is not all that easy to write anymore, lol. Although I bet a fic about a meeting somewhere in the woods including hot steamy seekrit man sex in the Cortina could be hot, too xD.
Like you, I think his personality would lead more to repression than anything
Hmm, actually, I think that if Sam had any gay tendencies, he'd be aware and accepting of them. He does repress a lot, but he's also very anal about his principles, and I think denying his own gay tendencies wouldn't really agree with those principles. He wouldn't be one of those people who shove their bi- or homosexuality into other people's faces, but I think he'd be aware of it and would stand his ground if confronted about it, because he'd have this grand idea of having to defend gay rights for the better of society. Lol xD.
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That's surprising, actually. I'd have thought it would be one of the major fic themes in this fandom
Well, I have a theory on that. I haven't been in any other fandoms, but it seems to me that a lot of the writers in this fandom - myself included - have never written anything before, never even wanted to, until LOM in general and Gene/Sam in particular just grabbed them by the heart and demanded to be written.
So you're talking people who don't know how to write, have no history or experience of writing, and therefore I think the tendency is to go for the simple and obvious stuff, leaving the more complicated things for when you have a little spare capacity outside of the mechanics of the actual writing. None of this is meant to denigrate anyone's work in this fandom, because I definitely count myself as one who just goes for the simple, obvious stuff, despite Mikey's very kind recommendation of Signals.
(I'd just like to clarify, btw, that my LJ is just used for archive purposes in the main. The "public" copy of Signals is at Signals Part 1 (http://community.livejournal.com/lifein1973/689869.html), Signals Part 2 (http://community.livejournal.com/lifein1973/690163.html) which is where you will find the comments).
For the sake of completeness, Signals follows on from my first ever posting, What Do Girls Do (http://community.livejournal.com/lifein1973/480606.html)
I'll look forward to seeing your fic when it's done, and - more importantly - welcome to the comm!
And I'd like to second Drayce's rec - Mikey does complicated very well indeed, and she also does detailed header notes so you can avoid anything that might be too close to what you're planning to write until after you're done.
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But LoM is such a small fandom, so it's probably just that in this fandom this subgroup is much smaller than in other fandoms.
I've read Signals and was going to comment as soon as I've read the prequel. Thanks for linking me to the other site; I'll leave my feedback there together with the other comments :).
And I am definitely planning on reading Mikey's fic. LoM might be small, but it's all new to me, so yay, loads of shiny new fic :D.
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I don't know if you've seen Ashes to Ashes yet. If not, disregard this comment.
P.S. Life on Mars DVDs will soon be owned by me. I must have John Simm at my fingertips (mmmm) so I can easily share him and an amazing show.
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I have both series on DVD. This is so weird. I never buy boxsets, usually. Lol xD.
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Not mutually exclusive at all.
If these shows are all in Sam's and Alex's heads, as the writers have previously claimed, the LoM!Gene and Ashes!Gene are two different characters. LoM!Gene would represent some aspect of Sam's psyche and Ashes!Gene of Alex's. Or who knows, Gene might go both ways.
Alternately, fic in general, and slash especially, are all about finding believable different interpretations of subtext than the canon one. Slash!Gene and Het!Gene can both exist perfectly well in fic.
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Sam's not out, of course, but I find the idea of him being in the closet harder to buy and from Gene. It's one thing to simply not be out, and another to have an asshole persona for cover-up.
Stuff to chew on, but Sam isn't the king of healthy relationships so there's some leway in any pairing :)
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As I said, my first thought about the Gene/Sam pairing was 'no way, Gene can't be gay'. But then I read about gay society in 1973, and consider this: Gene's what, say, 43 in 1973. That means he was born in 1930. He might have discovered the truth about his sexuality in 1950. That means he's been gay for 23 years in 1973. Homosexuality wasn't even legalized until '67. Gene's a cop - and even today, homophobia is a popular past time on the police force. So outing himself would be the death of Gene, not only for his career, but it might actually get him killed. I don't think Sam would be pissed off as much as feel sorry for Gene if he found out.
I don't think that Sam was necessarily in the closet in 2006. But I do think that he has sense enough not to out himself in 1973 on top of being the weird guy who hears voices and talks to TVs. And since he's apparently bi, he doesn't have to out himself to have the chance to be in a happy relationship.
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It'd be more that Sam would find out by coincidence (he for example observes Gene visiting a gay bar or something), and would then confront Gene about it. Maybe he would actually try to play the holier-than-thou moral guide at first, but Gene would pretty quickly open his eyes about how the 1973 world looks from a gay perspective. And then Sam would be the one initiating a relationship, wanting to prove to Gene that what he's doing isn't wrong or a dirty secret.
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On the other hand, I'm surprised that the usual portrayal of Sam in fic is that he's sexually confident and aware of any proclivities he might have due to being a 21st century man. Sam is an incredibly repressed person and seems uncomfortable with anything to do with sex. If he were gay I'd think it would be very possible for him to hide it from himself entirely.
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I'm not quite sure how you mean. Because what you said actually concurs with my post: that Gene is aware of his tendencies but is desperate to hide them. Did you mean that he wouldn't be hanging out at gay gathering places for fear of being discovered?
Well, I think he might, because he's smart and not exactly overcautious. I think he'd trust himself to be able to keep his secret a secret. And I think he actually would be able to do that, because no-one in the police force would ever suspect him of being gay - except maybe Sam, who knows more about how the whole denial/repression/secrecy thing works, psychologically.
I don't know, I think if Sam had any gay tendencies, he would know about them and be secure about them. He's a repressed person, no argument there, but it's not that kind of repressed. He's very anal about morale and ethics, and I think that if he were gay, he'd make it his own personal responsibility to do his part to make people respect homosexuality in the police force. Even if he had issues with being gay, he wouldn't want to be closeted (at least not in 2006), because it would go against his principles.
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Well, in that case, glad you agree :). Took me a while to figure it out, but I do think that the theory of Gene being a secret closeted married gay guy isn't all that far-fetched. And it's nice plot bunny fodder :).
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That's pretty much the direction I took it with Sam, in the sense that he's comfortable with 'sexuality' in the abstract but not with himself. While my Gene is wayyy in the closet, he's pretty much come to terms with his sexuality, in the sense that he has just accepted society's norms and abides by them while getting what he needs/wants how he can. I honestly agree that to a certian extent, this is a version of Gene that conflicts with canon the least. It is impossible to get *around* Gene's homophobic commentaries, which seem so much for show, and thus it makes sense that it's a front he puts out for a reason -- to keep all suspicion off of him.
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I recently made a post asking if there was any about. So feel free to ship, I'll jump on board..
but ah, Sam/Gene, my OTP. *kisses them hard*
I hope you do write your fic, and I look very much forward to it if you do! :)
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Hee, I hope I'll write that fic, too! I like the idea, maybe I'll actually manage to write it, lol.
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Yes! I hope you manage to get around to it. I adore seeing new slashers about, the more the merrier!
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Ew, that sucks. Hope you'll be able to figure it out soon! Computers that don't work are very high on the top ten list of the most annoying things in the universe.
And yeah, I think Nelson is definitely the most interesting recurrent character in LoM. Esp since he's sort of a confidant for Sam, but we never find out how much Nelson exactly knows about Sam. It's not too far-fetched, after all, that Sam got pissed one night and spilled his tale to Nelson, and Nelson, being a good
psychotherapistbarman, would of course not try to talk him out of it, like Annie does. Also, Nelson is an outsider in the white male society of 1973, just like Sam. There are quite a few connections there.I'll have to think about this some more, but there's definitely fic material in this ;).
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But yeah. Sam/Nelson needs to happen at some point.
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I mean, Gene has skanky race issues, so if nothing else, that triangle would be a minefield of anger/fighting/darkness. =____=;; I'd fear such a triangle in the hands of the wrong writer, but if someone with a good political/racial awareness tackled it, it'd be really very interesting.
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Hee. But even if you're writing plain Sam/Nelson without getting Gene involved in the whole thing, you'd still have a hefty chunk of angst in there, seeing how you've got a white/black male/male relationship. They'd have to be so very careful.
But yeah, the actual interaction between the partners would be more lighthearted than in Gene/Sam fic.
I think there are only very few ways Gene/Sam/Nelson could be written without turning into terrible badfic. And yeah, it'd probably be quite dark. What appeals to me more, actually, is a Sam/Nelson fic from Gene's perspective with Gene finding out about the two of them and having to deal with it.
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*thinks* I don't know. Sam seems to be rather convinced not to consider race an issue in his relationships and he did date Maya. If race were going to a problem for the two of them, it'd have to be from either Nelson (which I don't see happening?) or from other 1973ers reacting to their relationship (and, yeah, that *would* be problematic). There might be more problems on the homosexual front, since I think Sam sees himself as straight.
Whatever the approach, you're right; the writer *would* have to be so very careful.
What appeals to me more, actually, is a Sam/Nelson fic from Gene's perspective with Gene finding out about the two of them and having to deal with it.
*nods* I was thinking along those lines as well, and then adding in the storyline where Gene *doesn't* deal very well, due to his racism and jealousy over Sam. Your version would lead to a happier ending, though.
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That's what I meant. I don't think either of them would have trouble being in an interracial or a gay relationship (my interpretation of Sam is that he's open-minded on the subject of his sexuality - he might never have had a gay relationship, but I don't think he would have a problem with getting into one), but if anyone else found out about them, they'd be in quite a lot of trouble. And I think especially Sam would be very unhappy with being in a relationship that he has to keep a secret like that.
Your version would lead to a happier ending, though.
Hee, not so sure about that. My fic tends to end badly ;). But I think Gene, for all his (imo mostly put-upon) prejudices, would be able to if not approve of, then at least accept Sam being with Nelson. I think it would basically come down to him deciding that it's none of his business.