[Ragtop]

Their relatiuonship is actually based on British Officers and their "Bat-Men" during WWI. Tolkien who had served in the war had seen this first hand. If you watch the special features disc one on the extended version of "Return of the King" the very first documentary explains quite well. At least I think it's "Return of the King".
There is no gay overtones, if there are any, it is only the figment of people's twisted imagination. Tolkien's prose was very British, and they talked to each other this way. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens, who adapted the novels into the screenplay, though wanting to capture Tolkiens prose, were also very aware of the way audience may interpret it. For the movies, they actually toned it down quite a bit.

[SaltyJoe]

"Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens, who adapted the novels into the screenplay, though wanting to capture Tolkiens prose, were also very aware of the way audience may interpret it. For the movies, they actually toned it down quite a bit."

Thanks for informing us. Many don't have childhood friends. Many don't have familiar brothers to speak of. Personally, I loathe "male bonding", but I do value that it exists without polluted sexual predation.

Perhaps we'll have a rebirth of friendships likened to the bond that J.R.R. Tolkien had with his long lost mates--a romantic fellowship without the strain of perversion.