There have already been complaints about the new Beauty and the Beast movie but not for the reasons you might think. On March 2nd, Henagar Drive-In located in Henagar, Alabama posted an upsetting statement on their Facebook page:
As of December 16, 2016, the Henagar Drive-In is under new ownership. Movies scheduled prior to that date and four weeks after this date were not scheduled by the new owners. That being said... It is with great sorrow that I have to tell our customers that we will not be showing Beauty and the Beast at the Henagar Drive-In when it comes out. When companies continually force their views on us we need to take a stand. We all make choices and I am making mine. For those that do not know Beauty and the Beast is "premiering" their first homosexual character. The producer also says at the end of the movie "there will be a surprise for same-sex couples". If we can not take our 11 year old grand daughter and 8 year old grandson to see a movie we have no business watching it. If I can't sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. I know there will be some that do not agree with this decision. That's fine. We are first and foremost Christians. We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches. We will continue to show family oriented films so you can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language. Thank you for your support!
Are these people serious? It’s 2017, and they can’t handle seeing a gay character in a Disney film? Claiming they can’t take their grandchildren to see it just because there is a gay character in it is frustrating to say the least, but banning a whole movie from their theater is over the top. By doing this, they are creating an unsafe environment for their grandchildren. I mean, what would happen if one of their grandchildren turned out to be gay? They definitely wouldn't feel safe talking to their grandparents about it if they weren’t even allowed to watch movies with gay characters in them growing up.
The character of interest is LeFou, played by Josh Gad, who voiced Olaf in Disney’s Frozen. He will be Disney’s first openly LGBTQ character in its history. This is a huge deal for the LGBTQ community, as they are still very underrepresented in movies and on TV today. This occurrence is just one person's outrage over the character. I'm sure there will be more to follow in the coming months. But, this incidence is putting all of Alabama in a bad light as this act of discrimination becomes viral. Dear World, not all of Alabama is like this! Many of us accept others for their differences instead of treating them like freaks who children can’t be exposed to. I, for one, can’t wait to see this film.
Beauty and the Beast is coming to American theaters March 17, 2017.
