Funny you mention that, considering Elsanna is arguably the most popular Frozen ship, and some say that their on-screen portrayal would be unambiguously read as romantic if they weren't related. Then again, I'm myself an Elsanna shipper, so I'm biased.
In my ideal world, no romantic relationship would need to be stated more or less obviously than another, regardless of the genders of the participants.
Sikon's absolutely right. The Korrasami ending was a stealth blow and nothing more. People need to accept it and move on.
I would say that, even if we were to change the genders (switching Asami for Bolin for example) I still wouldn't see any romantic implications so that's not a case of gay-erasure or what have you, but then again I'm not a shipper at all.
Regarding "switch either woman out with [any] male and it’d obviously be romantic just at face value [...]":
I don't think that's a valid argument, ever. Swap Anna or Elsa for a guy and they'll look a lot more like a couple than Korra and Asami did. If you swap Timon or Pumbaa for a female character, they'll look like a couple. Same thing can be said for a lot of buddy cop movies. I'd even go as far as to say Wallace And Gromit would look like a couple if Gromit were a woman.
Male-male, female-female, and male-female interactions cannot simply be assumed to always hold the same meaning, even if what actually happens is precisely identical. That's not exactly a good thing, but it certainly can't be ignored.
Ceterum censeo Morbillivirum esse eradicandum. Hide / Show Replies