Dead brain: Dean is queer-coded because he likes Broadway musicals and wearing panties.
Live brain: Dean is queer-coded because he feels constant pressure to offer up excuses for things he “shouldn’t like” but somehow can’t stop liking even though he’s embarassed and defensive.
Third eye brain: Dean is queer-coded because over time he learns to be proud of his “weird” preferences and accept and love himself for who he actually is, rather than being ashamed of the “traditional ideal” he isn’t.
I mean, we could argue this is how his queer-coding evolved, on one level.
But, if you don’t think the cucumber water in 12x07 Rock Never Dies was Berens writing some “Dean likes dick” subtext, I don’t know what to tell you, seeing as Oscar Wilde made the exact same queer-coded joke in the Importance of Being Earnest, when Algernon eats all the cucumber sandwiches, which were intended for the ladies.
The cucumber water was definitely queer coding but the thing is, Dean doesn’t just go “cucumber water, yummy!”
He sees the cucumber water and thinks “that might be good- NO! Men don’t drink cucumber water! It’s for the ladies!”
But then Sam drinks it, which gives Dean an excuse to both try, and enjoy, this new thing. But he wouldn’t have done it without some kind of excuse.
When people are like “it was really important for Dean to come out of the closet in the finale” it wasn’t because we needed validation that “cucumber water = queer.” It’s because we want Dean to be able to embrace his preferences and be happy with himself.
Yes true, and that’s why his N. American silence in 15x18, 15x19 and 15x20 in relation to Cas, feels like violence done to him (symbolised by that goddam rusty nail). We know he had something (queer) to say.
Dead brain: Dean is queer-coded because he likes Broadway musicals and wearing panties.
Live brain: Dean is queer-coded because he feels constant pressure to offer up excuses for things he “shouldn’t like” but somehow can’t stop liking even though he’s embarassed and defensive.
Third eye brain: Dean is queer-coded because over time he learns to be proud of his “weird” preferences and accept and love himself for who he actually is, rather than being ashamed of the “traditional ideal” he isn’t.
I mean, we could argue this is how his queer-coding evolved, on one level.
But, if you don’t think the cucumber water in 12x07 Rock Never Dies was Berens writing some “Dean likes dick” subtext, I don’t know what to tell you, seeing as Oscar Wilde made the exact same queer-coded joke in the Importance of Being Earnest, when Algernon eats all the cucumber sandwiches, which were intended for the ladies.
NO, I do not condone violence in real-world relationships.
NO, being hit in real life is not a sign someone really loves you.
NO, a bruise is absolutely NOT a kiss IRL (unless in the context of sane, safe and consensual BDSM, not the gross fake Fifty Shades kind, or a consensual hickey).
However, because of the history of homosexuality on-screen - as prohibited, repressed, and often, therefore, signalled covertly via cinematic metaphor - in the world of the sliver screen, violence between men has often been used as a substitute for other kinds of (more forbidden) touch.
Remember Barbara Kruger’s on-point political art?
In his article, “Masculinity, The Male Spectator and the Homoerotic Gaze” (1998) American Studies Vol 48.4., Patrick Schukmann argues as follows:
