Tinhat - Fanlore

Derived from the stereotype of conspiracy theorists and other paranoid people wearing tin foil hats to protect themselves from radio transmissions or the government, a fannish tinhat is a person who believes that their favorite celebrities are really a couple, forced by The Powers That Be to keep their relationship a secret. This is generally because the celebrity couple they are fans of, giving rise to both RPF (real people/person fiction), RPS (real people slash), which are explicitly disclaimed as not true. But others have fantasies of closeted actors unable to be openly gay in their profession. The term can refer to the stylish accessory or, by metonymy, to the fan who wears it.

Origins

Versaphile invented ^[1] the term tinhat to refer to the fanatical shippers of Lord of the Rings actors Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan on the DataLounge discussion boards. ^[2] On that forum, in early 2003, anonymous posters who claimed to be movie industry insiders promised inside information on "the boys" and message passing by subtle gestures and James-Bond-style secrets. Then, the words 'charchuse' (sic) and 'burnt sienna' were mentioned, amongst other colours. When pictures of Dom and Lij at a Sims party in yellow and light orangish brown shirts (respectively) turned up, euphoria abounded. The threads exploded, and people who had hitherto wavered on the fringes started to get sucked in^[3] That is, started to believe that these actors really were "shouting out" to their supporters by their color choices, ring wearing or non-wearing, and song choices. Expectations were high that these two men would eventually "come out" as a gay couple.

Responses to Tinhat Rumors

Dom and Elijah explicitly denied being a couple, making fun of the various rumors. Dom at one point said (paraphrased by fan reporter): they read rumors of a contract they signed with New Line that they wouldn't come out as gay until after ROTK. Laughs again and adds in a sarcastic tone that they're thinking of walking down the red carpet holding hands for Return of the King. ^[4]. Nothing like that, or any other kind of public announcement ever happened, and the actors have continued to deny any romantic involvement^[5]. As of October 2008, these actors have had acknowledged romantic relationships with other people.

General Use in Fandom

Shippers in any fandom may be called tinhats, but it's mainly used for fans of celebrities, such as those who believe in romance between actors Dan Radcliffe and Emma Watson, of Harry Potter movie series.

The term tinhats is used by both the shippers and their detractors, for example, about those who think that Adam Lambert and Kris Allen of American Idol are secretly in love. A Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan community on LiveJournal, tinkilts, parodies the idea of fans so devoted to their ship that they read romantic connotations into every interaction between their favorite celebrities.

Fear that film industry executives will find out about their love affair and separate them for the sake of PR is a frequent theme in LotR RPS stories, especially Dom/Lijah fans.

RPF shippers sometimes use the tinhat terminology ironically or self-deprecatingly; when they are squeeing especially loudly over some piece of celebrity gossip, they may type *dons tinhat* or *polishes tinhat*. They seldom mean that they really believe that their preferred OTP is a couple in real life.

References

1. ↑ versaphile in journalfen DL_Anon thread, 2003-04-01 in answer to a request by Cesare for "a snappy sobriquet for the hardcore tru believas". (accessed 2008-10-02)
2. ↑ Wikipedia entry (accessed 2008-09-30)
3. ↑ Sanity, Please page, on archive.org (accessed 2008/10/03). Note that Sanity, Please was specifically created to argue against the tinhat gay romance theory.
4. ↑ Fan report, October 5, 2003 (archived at TheOneRing.net, accessed 2008/10/3)
5. ↑ Sept. 12, 2005 Newsweek interview with Dominic Monaghan (accessed 2008-10-24)