Recently on Gotham, Penguin expressed romantic feelings for The Riddler. This weekend, at Rhode Island Comic-Con, actor Robin Lord Taylor talked openly about Penguin’s sexuality and the root of his romantic feelings for Riddler.
“So, this is why I say he’s not gay. I find him to be a very emotionally-fractured person, emotionally-vulnerable. And after the loss of both his mother and his father — coincidentally both dying in his arms, the only people he ever loved and trusted — the person who was there who gave him respect and really there for him was Edward Nygma. And I truly believe that had it been Barbara, or Tabitha, or Butch… Yes, Butch! I believe that if it had been anyone else that had been there in that same capacity that he had that connection with, regardless if they were male or female, he would’ve had that same obsession with.”
Taylor also addressed fans who have been telling him how they don’t have a problem with his sexuality, but rather with the canon divergence. Taylor is not having that and his response regarding these so-called concerns is pretty good.
In the superhero genre, diversity matters (be it race, sexuality, etc.) and Taylor isn’t ashamed or afraid to stand up for his character. His response is honest and open.
“I also want to address the people who say, ‘I have no problem with him being gay or queer or anything, I just have a problem with you guys changing or altering the canon.’ And I have to say, that’s a bunch of horsesh-t. You can’t say that to me if you didn’t have the same amount of consternation about Batman ’89, where The Joker killed Batman’s parents. That is a total departure from the canon characters. You can’t tell me unless you were just as upset that in our own show we had Batman and Catwoman growing up together, running around Gotham City. If you weren’t equally upset about that, which is changing canon characters, but you come to me and you say to me, ‘I’m okay with you being queer, but I’m upset you’re changing a canon character.’ What you’re saying to me is, ‘I’m homophobic, and I am afraid of gay people and queer people.’ That’s exactly what you’re saying! So, everyone should really check themselves. Check their privileges and check their prejudices, I would say.”
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Source: YouTube
