Were they or weren’t they?
S&H fans, both slash and gen, have disagreed about the nature of the guys’ relationship since forever. Many slash fans believe they were lovers throughout the series while others feel they got together after the events of Sweet Revenge. And some slash fans believe the canon relationship was platonic and turn to fanworks to get their slash fix.
But for gen fans, who most likely greatly outnumber slash fans (judging from FB group membership), S&H’s relationship is that of brothers or platonic best friends. They insist that S&H were definitely NOT GAY (technically, no one said they were) because they date women. But as we saw with John Blaine, simply dating or marrying women isn’t proof of sexual orientation or desire.
And why can’t both scenarios be equally true at the same time? It’s possible to watch an episode and not see anything other than platonic, brotherly love. It’s also possible to watch the exact same episode and see evidence of a romantic or sexual relationship just beneath the surface. It’s like watching a 3D movie – you can see things better when you put on the glasses. And wearing slash goggles really does show things which are invisible to gen viewers.
My personal headcanon is that Hutch is gay and Starsky is bisexual. But even that changes depending on the mood I’m in, particularly when I’m writing a story.
So instead of slash and gen fans arguing about which answer is correct, why don’t we all just agree that all interpretations are equally valid, sometimes at the same time! Because I think that what we all love the most about the guys is their friendship and closeness, both in terms of physical intimacy and emotional intimacy. Both gen and slash fans alike squee in delight when Hutch cradles Starsky’s head in ACFS in the alley when Starsky says it hurts. We all collectively go “Awww” when Hutch falls into Starsky’s arms in the alley at the end of the Fix. Well, at least the female fans do. I still don’t know what straight male fans think about those scenes.
I think the series purposely left their relationship ambiguous so that (as David Soul once stated) it could be whatever people wanted it to be. Still, some of the gestures of physical affection went clearly beyond what North American culture would consider as “normal” platonic, “buddy” affection between men. And preparing a candle-lit dinner goes beyond these norms as well. DS said in an interview that the series was about a “love story between men” and PMG said “what true friendship is not a love story?’ (I am paraphrasing both of them) when talking about the series.
Even in some of the photo shoots or other public photos, there are gestures of physical affection btwn DS and PMG that go beyond usual “buddy” affection. Were these gestures “staged” so as to incite intrigue and interest or were they genuine? In recent interviews PMG has added to the ambiguity by saying things like “even if you do have some feelings of attraction, you don’t have to act it out” (I am paraphrasing him).
I personally would have loved S&H to be getting it on as a backdrop to the series. They could have been bisexual. Why not? As for PMG and DS, I find it very heartwarming that they are still close friends today after all these years. That kind of true friendship is very hard to find.
This is the article where PMG talks about the homoeroticism.
https://pagesix.com/2021/06/01/starsky-hutch-star-paul-michael-glaser-on-homoerotic-hints/