“Mac’s got gay nudes.”

[Cue Title Sequence]

Always Sunny is one of the greatest television comedies ever conceived, not least because of the ludicrous handling of Mac’s ever-present homosexuality. But we aren’t here to debate the merits of Sunny. If you disagree you can go ahead and be wrong and click on to something more your speed.

The gang’s treatment of Mac’s obvious gayness and Mac’s insistent denial that he was NOT gay (except when he was, and then wasn’t, and then was again. Then, again, decided he was mistaken) has been a perpetual source of laughs nearly from the show’s inception. Laughs which don’t come from the idea of someone being gay, but instead from Mac’s ultra poor handling of his own situation. What’s come along with those laughs for me though, is a weird, latent attraction that Mac (the character) fosters because of this back and forth confusion. I can’t explain it totally, but there’s something about the fact that he doesn’t get it – his own obliviousness – that I find alluring.

This quote from a Time Magazine article about Mac’s final outing in 2017 (which curiously misspells the name of the actor who plays Mac, Rob McElhenney) sums up some of my feelings about him as a character quite well:

“Unlike The Simpsons‘s dated stereotype Waylon Smithers (who himself came out in a torturously sentimental 2016 episode), Mac exists on the show for reasons entirely outside of his sexuality.”

And that’s the thing: the point of Mac isn’t that he’s a gay character. He’s a self-involved asshole (like all of the leads in Sunny), who happens to love penis. It doesn’t sound like a distinction until you begin to compare it to other gay characters on sitcoms (I was going to make a list, but really, pick any of them), who exist only to be gay in contrast.

Mac’s sexual appeal though, is difficult to clarify. It’s not really a ‘straight bait’ thing, since I find that kind of theatre mostly exhausting and repugnant (if that’s your bag, god bless. I just don’t have the energy to keep acting out high school fantasies in my 30s). And I’m not one to be super wrapped up in labels to begin with.

So it’s not so much that Mac “might be ‘straight’ but could be convinced to do ‘gay stuff’.” It is “Mac doesn’t fit easily into a box that he’s comfortable with, but it hasn’t stopped him from doing a bunch of stuff with dicks offscreen.”

I can relate to that pretty well. The difference is that I don’t care what anybody really thinks about it, so I don’t have to constantly proclaim that I’m this or that.

But Mac’s appeal is clear to at least a few other people out there, too. Which is why I’m excited to share a small gallery of

Mac’s Gay Nudes

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Many of these come from epic fake-nuder Combining Powers, and Chris Pratt fanatic Pratt-Is-Life over on tumblr. The tableau of Charlie blowing Mac while they drink beers and eat cheeseburgers in the dark is by Garik Aliev. And a couple of the others are unsourced. I always want to give credit where it is due (go follow those accounts!), so if your work is up here and you want it linked, or removed, reach out.

This one doesn’t fit the Mac post, necessarily (unless you imagine those are his hands rubbing Charlie’s hole), but it’s so epic and amazing that I couldn’t not include it:

Lastly, if you read this, Rob McElhenny, please find more reasons to be naked on that show. There’s guys tryina pound off out here and you’ve got shirts and pants on in every single photo. I’m not one for celebrity nudes, per se. But I’d look at yours, bro.

Thanks.

-t