Disney, being the obsession of thousands of white girls on Tumblr, has recently been part of a boycott of Georgia. Georgia has recently introduced a "religious liberty" bill which totally isn't about legal discrimination of gay people but just so happens to be a major part of why the bill was made in the first place. In other words, the state will protect most minorities from being mistreated by businesses but if you happen to prefer the company of your own gender you're out of luck because the flimsy excuse of "it's against my religion" is just such a good argument you guys.
Joining the old mouse is companies like Time Warner, Viacom, and the NFL of all people, because human atrocities like domestic violence and dog fighting can be overlooked but homophobia is where the line is drawn. Today, though, we're focusing on Disney.
Why is Disney so up in arms about gay rights and discrimination? Well, Disney and the gay community have been awfully good pals even before Hillary Clinton flipped her stance and started half-heartedly supporting gay rights for the good of her campaign. Disney World even has nonofficial Gay Days that has been going on since 1991 and it's grown to become one of the largest gay pride events of the year. So what gives? How has the corporation who produced "Song of the South" become so progressive?
Disney films are characterized by bright, vibrant colors and are oftentimes full of musical numbers as well as characters struggling with their budding identities. It doesn't take a genius to start seeing some parallels. The gay community is known for vibrant colors and music to celebrate being out and proud. And while we have yet to see a straightforward gay character or couple in any Disney movies, we definitely see gay stereotypes in their films.
You ever notice how Timon and Pumbaa are really fond of each other? Like, really really fond of each other? And Timon is played by gay actor Nathan Lane? You ever notice how Scar separates himself from the masculine traits of his brother and rival Mufasa and is never seen with any interest in any of the female lions? What about Terk in "Tarzan," a character who is female but hates traditionally female traits and is also voiced by Rosie O'Donnell? How about the flamboyant nature of the Genie who seems particularly fond of young Aladdin? How feminine Jafar is in his mannerisms? Or how the romantic tension between Mulan and Li Shang begins before Mulan is outed as a woman? Did you know that Ursula was designed after a famous drag queen named Divine? And Hades has had attractive Megara under his control for how long and sees her as nothing more than an errand girl? What about the foppish villain in "Pocahontas" who is obsessed with fashion? Even that fat pig character in the disastrous "Chicken Little" movie really seems to prefer music and dance over anything other young boys his age typically care about.
Does that make any of these characters gay? No, but they do tend to take on characteristics found in gay stereotypes. Even if they aren't exactly out of the closet, they defy their gender expectations and are very distinct from their heteronormative peers. Intentional or not, the connotations are there. And a large portion of Disney's audience has picked up on this.
Oftentimes, characters who are rumored to be gay have a love interest written in or something just to shut those rumors up. If "Batman - The Complete History" is to be believed, it's why Batwoman was created in Batman comics and apparently why Sheldon has Amy in that godawful sitcom your parents think is just so hilarious. But Disney has made little to no effort to convince us otherwise that Timon and Pumbaa aren't romantically involved.
So of course Disney now adamantly defends gay rights. A large portion of their audience is made up of the LGBT community. The LGBT crowd celebrates the Disney corporation and the Disney corporation has began celebrating its diverse audience. So they work with LGBT actors and support LGBT interests. Woody appears in the "It Gets Better" campaign, and the Jim Henson corporation drops a partnership with Chick Fil A.
As much as I criticize the Walt Disney Corporation, one thing I can commend them for is their welcoming diversity and standing up for basic human rights, even if that means changing the expensive shooting locations.
If only they didn't have such a huge rap sheet.
