Excellent 'Metal Gear Solid' shirt commemorates the series' undeniable homoeroticism
From the outside looking in, Metal Gear Solid might look like just another stereotypical straight male power fantasy in video games.
But that’s just for the f***ing noobs.
Artist androphonos (AKA lukas) is selling custom-made t-shirts consisting of 200 forums that not only document the undeniable truth that Metal Gear Solid is possibly the most homoerotic video game series ever -- but also the opposition to this fact.
The homoeroticism of the Metal Gear Solid series is well-archived by the LGBT fanbase. However, others have tried to meekly argue against these obvious undertones. In one such instance, a kiss between Ocelot and Snake in MGS 3 was justified as "a Russian taunt."
The MGS LGBT community immediately took to the phrase as a way to make fun of these noob excuses. And now, androphonos has plastered it all over his beautiful t-shirt, emblazoning it across the center and the collar.
If the concept of an action-adventure video game containing gay characters makes you uncomfortable, you're probably on the wrong side of history (in more ways than one). If it makes you angry enough to argue with people on the internet about it, you're on the wrong side of life.
Consider the simple fact of the protagonist of MGS is named Snake (the most phallic animal on planet earth). But there's not just one Snake. There's a whole mess of Snakes writhing around and sometimes wrestling each other. Sometimes you play as the more soft Liquid or Naked Snake. Then you grow big and strong and become Big Boss Snake.
Yeah can't imagine where everyone's getting all these homoerotic vibes from.
Don't believe me or the MGS LGBT community that the series is littered with characters of various sexual orientations? Then take the game at its word.
Just look at this snippet of dialogue from Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty, pointed out on the Gaymer base:
Raiden: So that’s why they call him “Vamp”... Pliskin: No. “Vamp” isn’t for vampire. It’s because he’s bisexual.
It's hard to see why anyone would argue against the homoerotic undertones of MGS at this point. But here we are.
As the t-shirt description boasts, "have you ever wanted a shirt that is literally just over two hundred comments of people arguing whether or not metal gear characters could possibly be gay? now you can own one."
To that we say: Yas. Plz. Must. Have.
Because we all need to admit that many character in MGS just want some big ol' Snake. And what better way to commemorate that than with this glorious, truth-telling t-shirt?
Topics Gaming
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
