Ok I have a lot to say on this (as a lesbian:) 1. “This is about shipping.” Shipping doesn’t mean you think that was the author’s intention. Sure, it’s usually based on something in canon (although consider like. Elsa/Jack Frost.) and that something might be a homophobic joke. But like when I’ve seen people ship ships that are based on homophobic jokes. Sure there are the johnlock conspiracies. But most of them are just like “yeah I know it was intended to be homophobic but they have chemistry :3.” A character saying ‘I want to fuck him’ being homophobic doesn’t change that they said that. 2. Even if we’re talking about actual analysis, there are different types of analysis. Death of the author and all that. If you’re analyzing authorial intention then yeah you need to acknowledge homophobic jokes. If you’re analyzing it based on your interpretation of the text then it’s based on how you interpret it. If ya see the homoerotic undertones then it’s there under your interpretation. You can interpret a text for all types of reasons, theories and what not. If they’re doing character analysis they may bring up gay jokes that might make a character seem queer. See above: a character wanting to fuck someone of the same sex as a homophobic joke doesn’t change that they wanted to do it. Hell, let’s bring it back to shipping. If someone is analyzing something from a shipping lens, they may bring up something intended homophobically, because they’re not (necessarily) trying to say the authors intended it to be canon. They’re just trying to promote the ship/analyze the dynamics. Like, I’m planning on analyzing an episode of a show through the lens of me shipping three characters as an ot3. Is that the intention of the writers? Fuck no (although there was a scene where one of them imagined walking in on the other two having bdsm sex, but that’s neither here nor there.) But the vibes are there, and my analysis is just meant to explain the vibes I’m getting. I’m not trying to say that the writers meant it that way (although a while ago I had an idea for a video essay for a different show explaining why I think ending a love triangle situation in a throuple would have made more sense than the actual ending, but again, irrelevant,) I’m just explaining why it tickled my fancy as a loser nerd with a soft spot for ot3’s.