[Topher_Lydon] Darien "Straight or Gay" ?

[Topher Lydon]

Ok,

 

So I have heard a few arguments here and there on both sides of this argument.

 

For such a stubborn, opinionated SOB that he is... what do you guys think?

 

Or that matter on the whole crew?

[David Peavy]

Ok,

So I have heard a few arguments here and there on both sides of this argument.

For such a stubborn, opinionated SOB that he is... what do you guys think?

Or that matter on the whole crew?

 

From my reading of the story, Darien was presented as asexual, or more like non-sexual, prior to his relationship with Elias. While on Earth, Darien expressed no interest, nor desire in dating women. Given the homophobic nature of the repressive regime, and Darien's law enforcement position, then his behavior would be consistent with a closeted gay man living in such an environment.

 

Darien's resistence to Elias' advances are supposed to be attributed to his cultural condition, not due to the fact that he sexually prefers women over men. From my POV, Darien is like many gay men who struggle with coming out to themselves, while living in a society that has told them that it is wrong to be gay. So, Darien being gay is my answer. I think if Darien was straight, he would have gone after Lauren, who would have reciprocated -- I think!

 

THat's my 2 cents!

 

David

[Guest aurorajackson]

Granted, I am still on TFB, but I've never thought of Darien as resisting Elias' advances, as such. I thought he came across as oblivious. Even at the beginning, he is sub-conciously comfortable with Elias in bed with him, and even puts his arm around the little engineer. Especially coming from a society where that kind of behaviour is illegal and abhorant, such a small, and seemingly insignificant, act says a lot about Darien's sexuality.

 

At least, that's my opinion.

[Navvilus]

There's evidence in the text that Darien is deliberately ignoring Elias's advances and refusing to think about them (ie in Chapter Ten, where the reference to the Code of Morality pops up). His apparent obliviousness is a tactic of resistance in and of itself, even if it's only a passive one.

[Guest RACECAR]

He is organized, intelligent, goodlooking, motivated, gentle, caring, and gets the job done. Only a gay man could be all that, HAHA, no but seriously, I think if he was straight, Lauren would have been a big distraction. Now granted that his parents had a loveless marriage and he was never shown what a man and woman who are in true love actually act like, he ignores Lauren's beauty, even though he acknowledges it. He had plenty of time to go after her but he didn't. Elias and Darien have a connection that not even they are aware of. They care about each other so much. It is almost instinctual. Both feel empty after being seperated. Even as Prince Edward, Elias still needs Darien without even knowing why. Darien may be asexual unless it comes to Elias. Hell Elias was used as a sex toy for men early on, so who knows for sure that he would have liked homosexual relations, had he the option at the start of his life. The bottom line is that Darien and Elias are gay for each other. Outside of that, there is not very much indication about where their true desires lie. Love is love.

[Navvilus]

his parents had a loveless marriage and he was never shown what a man and woman who are in true love actually act like,

 

That sounds like a weird assumption to me. Parents are rarely the only adults in a child's life. Most kids grow up surrounded by male-female couples. Personally, the only arguments based on 'lack of role models' that i find plausible involve people not realising they're gay 'cos they've hardly ever seen any examples of how same-sex couples act like (not that that would be any different, if, as you say, 'love is love'). That's especially true in this fictional context where anything other than one man and one woman seems to be against the law, and the only queer role models would be criminals, and Darien would be the cop...