Bi-Curious Tingle Revealed In New DS Game
It looks like Nintendo isn't too much of a fan of Tingle's reputation as a gay videogame icon, as they are going out of their way to assert Tingle's hetero-ness in the new Tingle game for DS. The new game, which had previously been teased has now seen its official reveal in Famitsu magazine. With a title that roughly translates to Color Changing Tingle's Love Balloon Trip, the game will be a direct sequel to Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosey Rupeeland. And while the theme of the first game was "money," the theme of this new Tingle game is summed up with a single word: "woman."
Now I know that there are cultural differences in how homosexuality is perceived between Japan and the Western world, but come on. Maybe Tingle has some bi-curious tendencies, but don't try to pass him off as straight now.
Although, upon thinking about it I'm not sure which I should be more upset about, that Nintendo created a borderline offensive stereotype of a character, or that they are now surgically removing the gay from their games. Maybe I'm making too much of an issue out of it, but something about this doesn't seem quite right. Gaygamer community I ask you, does Tingle swing both ways? Or is he just putting up an act to appease parents that just don't understand?
NaviFairy
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 24 June 2009
· Comments (19)
Other stuff like this: bi-curious, color changing tingle's love balloon trip, DS, Nintendo, Tingle
I don't care what sexuality he is, I just want them to stop making games about him. I freaking hate that stupid character.
I agree with Bearfamily. That character is so damn annoying, I really wish Nintendo would surgically remove HIM from their games.
I will admit that he is probably gay as of Wind Waker, but in Majora's Mask he comes off as more 35 year old Virgin, or possibly a man child with no interest in girls. And we have to remember that we're dealing with a series famous for multiple reincarnations. Perhaps this Tingle is straight, since he technically isn't the tingle, but a tingle, a person cursed with a unnatural passion for money. Think of Rosy Ruppeland as the origin story for the first ever Tingle, not the Tingle from Wind Waker.
Putting tingle on a completely pink background where he's supposed to be straight. You know what I think? Famitsu laid out the spread before they got the copy and screenshots.
I hate the thing...too stereotypical. How about a gay character who looks and acts just a bit less "fierce and fabulous"? How about giving the new Max Payne a toned, athletic, male capoeirista as a potential love interest? (Yeah, like that would ever happen). No offense to my drag-loving and festive fellow gays (hey, it's part of our culture, after all).
That being said, I guess I'm actually in FAVOR of Tingle having a girlfriend! See, he's NOT gay! Or at least no exclusively gay.
Actually, flamboyance and campiness is a common staple in Japanese humor. Just like Haado Gay, Q, and that Happatai band, Tingle isn't meant to be flat-out gay. He's just meant to be flamboyant, which is a common Japanese comedy theme.
This really isn't something to be offended by.
Actually, flamboyance and campiness is a common staple in Japanese humor. Just like Haado Gay, Q, and that Happatai band, Tingle isn't meant to be flat-out gay. He's just meant to be flamboyant, which is a common Japanese comedy theme.
This really isn't something to be offended by.
@Kenshi
I could go on a whole tirade about how the Japanese perception of homosexuality is harmful to gays in Japan.
The short version: I understand the cultural difference in perception of homosexuality, and that it is used as a common comedic gag in Japan, but that doesn't make it ok. If anything it's more offensive that they treat homosexuality as a joke since it creates a general attitude toward homosexuality where the idea of someone actually being gay is met with the response "oh, but you're not really gay."
I'm with the people who thik he's a horrible character. I'm rather glad that he turns out not to be gay.
And I'm sure there's a lesson in here somewhere about homosexuals using stereotypes of themselves to assume someone is homosexual.
I always thought tingle was a quaint waste of time in any game he was a part of. I mean, if you just want me to trade rupees for items why not just make a vendor like all the other LoZ games? My question is kind of in line with NaviFairy's: If you're going to make a character that stereotypically screams gay from every stitch in his green body suit why would you try to make him something else later on?
But to answer the original question, he's twirlier than a party dress.
@kenshi
The "sissy" was also once a common stock character in vaudeville and early cinema, doesn't make it any less offensive.
That being said, I always kinda liked tingle...in very small doses.
...And he is totally not straight
I like the "origin story" theory about Rupeeland. So maybe this game tells the story about how Tingle went from flamboyant to flaming. The final boss will be a female tentacle monster, after which Tingle will decide he's had enough.
But I guess Nintendo isn't real big on disturbing tentacle porn.
Either way, here's hoping for low sales and an end to this particular spinoff series.
Problem solved: that "woman" is a drag queen. :P
Tingle was never gay to begin with.
You just assumed he was because in American culture, effeminate men are always assumed to be gay. Which is a stereotype.
In reality gender is only loosely associated with sexual orientation, and there are masculine and effeminate heterosexual men, just like there are masculine and effeminate homosexual men.
None of that stopped me from dedicating a Tingle drawing to this website though. :)
What most of you are pretty much saying is that all the prejudices and stereotypes about homosexuality must be true. Do you really want to be perceived like that? As if you are the same as Tingle? Saying that he fits a stereotype shouldn't matter. It has never been stated that Tingle is gay. It is only peoples assumptions that he is. Taking offence is just plain silly. What makes him gay anyway?
@ NaviFairy
I think you are taking homosexuality as humour out of context. You are singling it out and making an assumption on it based on doing that. It is not always used as humour neither is it they only thing that they do use as humour. Saying that it is not alright to use homosexuality as humour shows more about your personal view on the subject. Why isn't it alright? Why should that be exempt of where other subject aren't? It doesn't create "a general attitude toward homosexuality where the idea of someone actually being gay is met with the response "oh, but you're not really gay."" That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Saying that it is not alright to be a topic of humour is singling it out and creating more obscurity. Lighten up.
Personally, I only didn't like Tingle in Wind Waker because I always had to go out and search for a ridiculous amount of rupees. I enjoyed Rupeeland and I am looking forward to this new game.
@ Mr NaviFairy
I am ever so sorry, but i do believe you are wrong. The portray of gays in Japan are not as bad as you make it out to be. There is a whole genre of manga [roughly the equalivant of comic books in Japan, but adults read them as well] that is dedicated to gay love stories. There are also many implied gay couples in anime, far more than appear in American comics. So, the concept character of a gay character is not always offensive. Such characters include some of the strongest & most masculine characters in the anime.
& Tingle is just flamboyant, which is a stock character used for humor, but because it is stock and overused does not in itself make it offensive. If we were to do away with stock characters, Zelda, Link, Ganandorf, Maple, & nearly every damn person in Hyrule would not be in the game. I personally find him funny, & do not see any strong indication of that he is gay. I agree with some people who posted earlier that said it is the American perception that flamboyant = gay that leads many to believe Tingle is gay.
I never got the gay thing from Tingle. I understand why most people would: because everyone loves to stereotype. But to me he's not gay until he comes out and says "I like dudes inside me." I just figured dude was kind of crazy.
Which reminds me I still need to import Tingle's Rupeeland game from Europe and find a copy of Tingle's Balloon fight. That dude always cracks me up.
Tingle isn't gay in Rosy Rupeeland, at the beginning of the game you see him fantasizing about himself having a good time with two women by his side.
That doesn't mean that Nintendo wants to remove everything gay from the game: there's also a character named Duke, who is clearly based on Hard Gay - he wore a police hat, sunglasses and hot pants and shook his pelvis pretty much in the same way Hard Gay does.
Very stereotypical but also very acceptable within the context of the game in which every character is a caricature.
There is a complete difference between being a gay-friendly society and having some characters in animes who may or may not be in gay relationships with one another.
I totally agree with NaviFairy - Japan treats the gay stereotype like a huge joke, and it does indeed create a 'no one is actually gay' feel. Because the stereotypes (not talking about anime characters here, but more like camp characters and talent on tv) are so overblown, it makes everyday Japanese people think of a gay person as a 'character' rather than a real person.
I would also argue that the characters in manga and anime often aren't exactly the best examples of gay people either - it's pretty common for there to be a very masculine and a very feminine member of the pair. This doesn't help with the stereotypes - how many gay couples do you know where there is such a huge masculine/feminine divide between the partners? I don't know many.
I live in Japan and I have a dark sort of joke with some friends - "There are no gay people in Japan." Obviously this is not true, but I *have* been told this by Japanese people before.