[BOOK SPOILERS] Renly, WTF?

[TerraPrime]

We're not going to get a five-minute erotic man-man shaving scene, are we? I'd hate for HBO to fill time with something like while they're squelching good book scenes. I never really understood why it was even important for Renly & Loras to be gay. :rolleyes:

Probably for the same reason as why Petyr is short, or why Catelyn has auburn hair, or why Lord Mormont has a pet crow.

[Knight of the Teabags]

I never really understood why it was even important for Renly & Loras to be gay. :rolleyes:

Because it says quite a lot about Renly's future father-in-law, Mace Tyrell's completely naked ambition in regard to making his daughter, Margaery the future queen of Westeros. From all the veiled references to Renly's sexual preferences we learn they are pretty much an open-secret to any courtier with an ounce of curiousity in King's Landing, yet Mace puts his daughter up to marry Renly despite knowing deep down Renly will never truly love her(and is already cuckolding Margaery with her OWN brother!).

When we look at all the matches Mace has tried (and succeeded in 75%) to set up for Margaery you can see the last thing on his mind is her happiness and the first thing is whether that person wears a crown. First we have Robert - a drunkard and a whoremonger who was murdered before Mace could get her hitched, followed by Renly - a barely closeted homosexual in a long-term relationship with Mace's own son, then Joffrey - a pubescent psychopath and sniveling coward and currently Margaery is wed to Tommen - who be great for her if he wasn't half her age and currently more interested in kittens!

[Kaitscralt]

Great thread, would read again. :thumbsup:

[Myrddin]

+5 for Sean.

:thumbsup:

[NW Deserter]

Absolutely! GRRM should have avoided giving any of the characters a sexual identity. It would have made that books much easier to adapt!

:rolleyes: You know that's not what I meant. I just think that this particular character's sexuality isn't as important as, say, Dany's, or Tyrion's. Maybe it's just the fact that I didn't really care much for Renly as a character.

I don't mind if we get a quick scene of Loras/Renly, but given how the pace is already perceived as pretty rushed in the first three episodes, if they spend several minutes on it, I'll have to wonder what they decided to cut out in favor of it.

[Kaitscralt]

:rolleyes: You know that's not what I meant. I just think that this particular character's sexuality isn't as important as, say, Dany's, or Tyrion's. Maybe it's just the fact that I didn't really care much for Renly as a character.

The fact that it isn't important is exactly why it's there. It makes Martin's world more realistic. It shows that sexuality is as diverse as it is on Earth and it doesn't change a thing or matter at all. Also, it gives two minor characters an interesting quirk and a new reason to like them (or dislike them, if you're an asshole).

Lastly, how can you use the word "important" when most people didn't even know until Martin said so in an interview? It's not given any attention in the books at all, let alone being important.

[Rand]

Martin confirmed this in an interview? It certainly never came out directly in the books, though if you read Martin's early work in his short story days while he never actually wrote sex scenes he never had a problem implying gay/lesbian sex. Especially in his sci-fi universe.

I guess it's something added to the show to make it more edgy & real or whatever, I'm not really concerned as long as like someone above me mentioned the scene is too long to the point that something else important gets cut. Certainly puts a new perspective on Loras' treatment of Sansa later on, or women in general when you get to know him a bit better.

[Asha—Not Yara!]

Yes, Martin's confirmed it.

[Rand]

Now this wasn't just a response to Rowling announcing that Dumbeldore is gay and Martin wanting to one up her is it? What's next, is George Lucas going to tell us Lando Calrissian was gay? ;)

[smegma]

It's been confirmed that all of the hints in the books, with the exception of the Rainbow Guard, all indicate the relationship of Loras and Renly as intended by GRRM right from the start, and certainly not in response to Dumbledore.

Is it absolutely vital that they are gay? No. But it makes decisions surrounding the two and their families all make a great deal more sense - all of the political moves by the Tyrells (placing Loras as Renly's squire, the marriage of Margarey and other things) and add weight to the actions of Loras following Renly's death. Also, it should be noted that they are in love, and not just having a sexual relationship. I think that it is particularly homophobic to question why it should be shown, and undervalue its importance to the story and the characters. There are plenty of straight characters that have sex and don't require readers/viewers to second guess their presence in the story and actions, I don't see why all the uproar exists over Renly and Loras.

Also on topic, while Gethin doesn't look exactly how I pictured Renly, I do think he is very cute and I am personally looking forward to more scenes with him.

[NW Deserter]

Sorry if I'm coming off as a homophone...I'm really not. :unsure:

A lot of it is just me never having realized that Renly was gay, even after a second read of the books. I saw that on these forums for the first time.

[Alexius]

It's not given any attention in the books at all, let alone being important.

Actually it explains two plot points: Renly's ties to Tyrells and plausibility of Margaery's maidenhood.

[smegma]

I for one am glad that the cast don't look like they belong in an 80s hair metal band. For the most part. That's the sort of thing that gives fantasy a bad rep.

I don't like long hair on men, in general, so I also am glad that not everyone is sporting super long do's.

[smegma]

Sorry if I'm coming off as a homophone...I'm really not. :unsure:

A lot of it is just me never having realized that Renly was gay, even after a second read of the books. I saw that on these forums for the first time.

Or are you really knot?

LOL

Don't worry about missing the Renly/Loras thing - a lot of people have, although I thought it was quite obvious :)

[Rand]

Sorry if I'm coming off as a homophone...I'm really not. :unsure:

A lot of it is just me never having realized that Renly was gay, even after a second read of the books. I saw that on these forums for the first time.

Haha yes same for me, I got the impression that Renly was a bit metro-sexual but had no clue he was gay. And the Rowling/Dumbledore comparison was just a joke, as I found that announcement to be much more pointless but hilarious.

[ExLibris]

"Now sheathe your bloody sword, or I'll take it from you and shove it up some place even Renly never found." :smileysex:

Was there really ever any doubt? Let's not forget that Renly makes a rainbow guard as well. :lol:

[Joanna vander Poele]

If someone starts out stiff as an actor, they can always improve, but it's not like TV Renly can suddenly become beautiful no matter how charismatic an actor he is.

Viewer perception can always change though. A strong personality overwhelms generic looks easily. Although yeah, he does look like a baby Stannis. Wonder what the real one will look like in season two.

And believe it or not, the Rainbow Guard was unintentional :lol:

[Jon of the Wall]

This sort of terrible casting is quite typical.

[Ser Warpechowski]

Come on, the rainbow guard was unintentional? I doubt it.

Agreed, that character looks more of a young Stanis.

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

GRRM has said that it was - the guard was supposed to show his (Renly's) love of pageantry and colour (sometimes to the point of form over substance); it was not intended as any sort of allusion to the Rainbow Flag.