Was Lister really homophobic?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

For some reason I was thinking today of Series 7, for no particular reason, and alighted on Lister's bad reaction in "Duct Soup" to Kochanski talking about her dimension's Dave being gay. I've seen this brought up in discussions elsewhere, basically taking Lister (and Doug of course) to task for turning an otherwise tolerant and accepting character into a -phobe of some sort.

I feel like there's a far simpler explanation for why Lister reacted this way, that doesn't make him look like a bad person as some have indicated, who've said their opinion of him was lowered as a result of this episode. Perhaps the one most fanboys and others might accept is that he's afraid Kochanski will get the idea he's NOT interested in her, and never respond to his advances or take them seriously - so instead of just saying he's not and leaving it at that, he, like so many men before and since, overreacts, thinking this answers the question without any Unfortunate Implications to Their Character.

HOWEVER ... I think for our purposes and even within canon, there's a better explanation (I just kind of wish we didn't have to wait another episode to get to it, because as a standalone episode, it kind of makes him look bad). "Blue" immediately follows this episode; Lister spends the whole time moping over Rimmer. And as we know, it isn't the moping of missing a best friend - it's deliberately played as being a possibility of more than simply "missing a buddy." Lister is seemingly bothered by the implication he could find Rimmer attractive; my guess is this and "Duct Soup" are meant to be linked by the common thread of Lister worrying over this one thing, and not necessarily meant to show he's a homophobic man. Am I just stating the obvious, or has anyone else not considered this about "Duct Soup" before now, either?

Comments

[sunny-bexster.livejournal.com]

Duct Soup always feels to me like...a blip in Lister's character. It seems at odds with his declaration that he's an "enlightened 23rd Century guy" and does not seem to fit with his usual liberal, all-accepting character.

The entire 'Bent Bob' discussion makes me wince a bit, as it seems so out of sorts.

I think also, by that point in the season, Lister must be aware there's literally hundreds of universes, each with their own Listers - would it be such a surprise that one of them turned out to be gay?

Additionally, there's that little deleted scene from Series 1, where Lister is giving a funeral service for the crew-members and he puts Sam and Rick together in the same cannister, as they were dating. Such an action just doesn't seem to gel with the comments and the reactions from Duct Soup.

I always feel a little sad about Duct Soup - Red Dwarf proposes a future that appears to have moved past prejudices to a certain degree. Yes, it's a comedy show, so it's not exactly going to make light of discrimination, but it's never shied away from the heavy stuff. Today, Liverpool has a friendly, vibrant gay community and hosts a yearly pride parade which is attended by a considerable number of people and boycotted by only a few. Part of me likes to think this mentally carried on well into Lister's time and afterwards.

...I guess I have issues with Duct Soup :S

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, as a Lister fan. It's a bit like "Meltdown" for some Rimmer fans in its OOC-ness. :/

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

The Bent Bob reference didn't bother me much, since from what I've seen, guys have a tendency to insult each other casually if they're friends - but not maliciously. Who knows, Bob might have called him Dirty Dave or some such, for his appalling hygiene. ;-)

But everything else, I agree. It just seemed odd to me that he'd be like that; I too remember the canister thing (though maybe that's not "canon" since it was a cut scene - technicalities).