Changes

{{GlossaryTerm

{{GlossaryTerm

|synonyms= tin hat

|synonyms= tin hat

|seealso= [[wank]], [[RPF]], [[RPS]], [[The Lord of the Rings/RPF]]

|seealso= [[wank]], [[RPF]], [[OTP]]

}}

}}

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.

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. It refers to those who have fantasies of closeted celebrities (mainly actors) unable to be open about their relationship in their profession. The term can refer to the stylish accessory or, by metonymy, to the fan who wears it.  

==Origins==

==Origins==

[[Versaphile]] invented <ref>[http://www.journalfen.net/community/dl_anon/4387.html 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)  </ref> 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. <ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataLounge#The_Tinhats.2FPrancing_Ponies Wikipedia entry] (accessed 2008-09-30)</ref> 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''<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030803194729/sanityplease.diversesouls.com/history.html Sanity, Please page, on archive.org] (accessed 2008/10/03). Note that [http://web.archive.org/web/20030803194729/sanityplease.diversesouls.com/ Sanity, Please]  was specifically created to argue against the tinhat gay romance theory.</ref> 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.  

[[Versaphile]] invented <ref>[http://www.journalfen.net/community/dl_anon/4387.html 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)  </ref> the term '''tinhat''' to refer to the fanatical [[shippers]] of [[The Lord of the Rings]] movie actors [[Elijah Wood]] and [[Dominic Monaghan]]  

===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): <i>they read rumors of a contract they signed with New Line that they wouldn't come out as gay until after ROTK.</i> Laughs again and adds in a sarcastic tone that they're <i>thinking of walking down the red carpet holding hands for Return of the King.</i> <ref>[http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2003/10/05/25326-collectormania-qa-transcripts-2/ Fan report, October 5, 2003] (archived at TheOneRing.net, accessed 2008/10/3)</ref>.  Nothing like that, or any other kind of public announcement ever happened, and the actors have continued to deny any romantic involvement<ref>[http://community.livejournal.com/domreprints/5212.html  Sept. 12, 2005 Newsweek interview with Dominic Monaghan] (accessed 2008-10-24)</ref>.  As of October 2008, these actors have had acknowledged romantic relationships with other people.

A particular group of fans were communicating on the DataLounge (a GBLT forum), specifically a section called the "Prancing Pony"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataLounge#The_Tinhats.2FPrancing_Ponies Wikipedia entry], the name refers to a Hobbit tavern in [[The Lord of the Rings]]. (accessed 2008-09-30)</ref> 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 Elijah 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<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030803194729/sanityplease.diversesouls.com/history.html Sanity, Please page, on archive.org] (accessed 2008/10/03).</ref> That is, many additional fans 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 Rumors===

 

The actors explicitly denied being a couple several times, making fun of the various rumors. Dom said at a convention Q&A in 2003, that the actors had "read rumors of a contract they signed with New Line that they wouldn't come out as gay until after Return of the King." Dom laughed, and added, in a sarcastic tone that they were "thinking of walking down the red carpet holding hands for Return of the King." <ref>[http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2003/10/05/25326-collectormania-qa-transcripts-2/ Fan report, October 5, 2003] (archived at TheOneRing.net, accessed 2008/10/3)</ref>.  Nothing like that, or any other kind of public announcement ever happened, and the actors have continued to deny any romantic involvement with each other<ref>[http://community.livejournal.com/domreprints/5212.html  Sept. 12, 2005 Newsweek interview with Dominic Monaghan] (accessed 2008-10-24)</ref>.  As of April 2010, these actors have mentioned long-term girlfriends.

==General Use in Fandom==

==General Use in Fandom==

The term ''tinhats'' is used by both the [[OTP]] [[shippers]] and their detractors, for example, about those who think that [[Adam Lambert]] and [[Kris Allen]] of [[American Idol]] are secretly in love, or in a romance between Dan Radcliffe and Emma Watson, of the [[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]], [http://community.livejournal.com/tinkilts/profile 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 [[The Lord of the Rings/RPF|LotR RPS]] stories, especially [[Dominic Monaghan|Dom]]/[[Elijah Wood|Lijah]] fans.

Most authors of [[RPF| Real People Fiction]] and [[slash]] [[fanfiction]] explicitly disclaim any implication that they think the people in question are in any way a couple.

RPF shippers sometimes use the tinhat terminology ironically or self-deprecatingly; when they are [[squee|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.

Fans sometimes use the tinhat terminology ironically or self-deprecatingly; when they are [[squee|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==

==References==

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