Portal is gay, as gay as something really gay, like Christina Cox shaking her booty at Lilith Fair with Carrie-Ann Moss (honest, we don't lie, check your Lilith DVD). So how did this come about? Well Bonnie Ruberg (all hail!) over at Heroine Sheik puts forth the proposal that Portal is for lesbians. How so we hear you cry? According to the article because it's an all female game (we know, we'll get to 'cube' in a moment) and because of the relationship between Chell (female protagonist and playable character) and GLaDOS (silken tongued voiceover mage).
We'd like to take this article a step further and suggest that this deconstruction may be right, but to also suggest that deconstructing Portal may also fall into the 'predatory lesbian' category. We've got the young, innocent Chell, trying to find her freedom and the lying and deceitful GLaDOS leading her astray, why it almost sings The Killing of Sister George and The Children's Hour, doesn't it? As for cube, given he is referred to as 'he', Bonnie suggests he's feminized because of his hearts and appearance. We'd take it a step further and suggest he's not only feminized, but also a euphemism for the vagina.. 'box'. And we could even suggest the more obvious 'love box', given the hearts.. it just goes on and on.
So let's see, we have innocent young girl, predatory position of power woman, a 'box' that opens new doors when it's used in the right way.. and that's without even touching on the phallic portal gun that opens holes for our young innocent to enter, only to be either lost, confused or indeed free.
Amazing what you can make out of something seemingly so innocent isn't it ladies. Now go open some holes, use your boxes to get what you want and don't listen to women who seem to know it all. Rules for life some might say-- not us here at LesbianGamers obviously. ;)
Addendum: Oh and it all takes place in Aperture Laboratories, with a sort of iris valve that looks like the letter 'C' at the start, making it Caperture Laboratories.. or 'Capture Laboratories'.. We're sure we could run with this predatory lesbian thing for weeks - thanks Bonnie lol.