IMO it is better story telling to just show the interaction and not have to SPELL IT OUT. It allows one to take away from it what they will - IMO good art allows for interpretation.
And finally, it shows gay or straight, people more or less act the same. Two straight warriors devoted to each other would act more or less like two gay warriors devoted to each other in most settings. It doesn’t rely on some tired trope to make it clear they are one way or the other.
This. There is a reason the black character in South Park is called Token. Too often minorities and people who are different in some way are sprinkled in as window dressing. They aren’t people, they are props.
Race or ethnicity or other background might be important for some stories, but but other times this aspect about them doesn’t really matter - they are just the hero or heroine who happens to be _______.
Absolutely, I can’t agree more. I’m all for representation in huge blockbuster movies, but I didn’t want Chirrut and Baze to kiss any more than I wanted Jyn and Cassian to kiss. Chirrut & Baze work just as well as “brothers in arms” as they do as a couple, which is great. I most definitely don’t need a “gay character” added to a movie for the sake of having one there – besides, C3PO’s been the resident queen since 1977.
A good example is Dumbledore in the Harry Potter books/movies. He’s gay and Rowling felt no need to make note of it or write around that aspect of him since it wasn’t a motivating factor for him and wasn’t integral to the story. The fact that he’s gay is just a bonus.
For all that Disney is very cynical and cold-blooded about its business decisions, it usually executes them very well in terms of artistic or media product. They hire ridiculously talented people. Judging by the absence of clunky dialogue and cute moppets and annoying and racist CGI characters in the movies made after 2012 that apparently extends to the company’s acquisition of the Star Wars franchise.
Another good example is, of all things, Finding Dory. Her short-term memory loss was basically a gag in Finding Nemo, but in the sequel, it’s treated as an actual cognitive disability in a really lovely compassionate way that never panders, and it’s been praised by parents of kids with disabilities for that reason.
It seems problematic to me to impose a sexual identity onto someone, even a fictional character, based solely upon stereotypical mannerisms.
If it’s just someone with that identity doing so for the purpose of identifying with that character themselves, than by all means: it’s of benefit to them, and of no harm to anyone else. Otherwise, it just seems to be reinforcing the stereotype, which, again, seems problematic.
Finding Dory is a weird one because characters also find the time to make fun of a seemingly slow seal, and a derpy seagull. However i didn’t see either situation as being done maliciously but it does muddle the positive message a bit for that movie. That said i loved Finding Dory and thought it was wonderful.
Honestly, The Force Awakens did the same with Rey and Finn. Yet another reason we should be glad to see this franchise out of Lucas’s hands.
In the books, it is hinted that he was in love with Grindlewald, before the fight that killed Dumbledore’s sister.
Sorry, it’s an old running joke that C-3PO has stereotypical effeminate, flustered gay mannerisms. I don’t actually think he and R2 are a gay couple any more than I think Bert & Ernie are. I didn’t mean to reinforce stereotypes.
Rogue One is plot-driven, not character-driven; all of the characters were pretty shallow. The Force Awakens was much better in that regard. That said, I thought that the diversity of the cast was handled very deftly. The characters may have been shallow but their race/gender/orientation felt organic, not gratuitous.
As a white male I didn’t really think about Cassian’s or Bode’s ethnicity; they just were who they were. I found myself wondering if Chirrut and Baze were a couple, but no more so than in other films where two men have a close relationship. (e.g. Frodo and Samwise in Lord of the Rings)
It didn’t make sense to me that, in a galaxy far, far away, the Asian guy would know martial arts. …that aside, I did enjoy them.
People have been making lots of images of their relationship. Some here: http://www.dorkly.com/post/81932/10-times-chirrut-and-blaze-gave-you-relationship-goals
True that.
Queen like behavior isn’t limited to only one sexual identity.
Acknowledged and agreed, in the general case.
The context to which I was replying:
In-context, the term was being used, in this case, to refer to “stereotypical effeminate, flustered gay mannerisms.”
But, yes, outside of that context, you’re quite right.
they were my favorite characters, haha. i hope there’s a future movie explaining their backstory and (b)romance 
I couldn’t imagine Disney passing up the chance to do some comics or a novel for them. Seems like a lot was left unsaid about Jedha.
i agree. i think this was just the first of many “star wars story” films. there’s literally an entire universe to explore, and they know it.
I spent most of the movie assuming they were just BFFs, right up until Baze holds a dying Chirrut in his arms . And then I went “OMG, they’re a couple, how did I not realize?”
