A Gay Perspective on the Jinn and Salim Love Scene

Published May 22, 2017 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey guys, just listened to the Head Full of Snow episode, and wanted to give a gay male perspective on the love scene. Little bit of a long email:

I agree that it’s huge to see a tender, hot, and complex gay love scene in the current climate. And Kudos to Bryan Fuller for wanting to depict a real gay sex scene!

On another note, on your debate of tender love scene vs power play, why can’t it be both? My friends and I talk about sex a lot, and both topics come up frequently. With gay men, especially “masculine” gay men, sex can include a lot of notions of power- the act of penetration is aggressive, figuring out who is penetrated, flipping someone over on their stomach, forcing someone down to their knees or as the jinn does, having them a stop blowing you, etc.

The scene between Salim and the jinn also struck me as a very tender very loving scene, shown in the small moments- Salim touching his shoulder in the cab, grabbing his hand in the elevator, the stare into his eyes before they kiss, the tender way the jinn moved Salim back on the bed. It also definitely involved power- I would compare it in a certain way to the Bilqis “worship” scenes. Salim is giving himself over to a god figure and giving his body as worship. For all we know, this could also be Salim’s first real gay experience. He seems nervous but twitterpated, excited and hesitant. In my perspective and through conversations with other gay men, the first time you engage in gay sex can be terrifying and revelatory, which I think they reflect in this scene.

With your read of this scene being set in the 80s during the height of the AIDS crisis, even the act of the jinn cumming inside of Salim is both a power move and a loving act. In my opinion, cunning inside of someone is one of the most intimate acts gay men can perform, and having Salim allow that to happen during the AIDS epidemic with a stranger, and “giving his body as worship” to be jinn, is at once an extremely vulnerable and loving act, and a power move on the part of the jinn given that impending sense of danger and the unknown present in gay sex due to the high risk of exposure.

I think it’s even further reflected in the morning after- Salim is left alone and robbed of his identity, the jinn pulling the power move of having left before Salim woke up, but still giving Salim a final gift for his worship- a chance to start over. It’s a little give and a little take. Salim’s little smile in the cab at the end really sealed the deal for me on this whole scene.

Drew

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