By now, unless you’ve tuned out the Disney noise or you’re living under a rock, you know about Disney’s live-action film Beauty and the Beast’s inclusion of a gay character. (That’s right. A gay character. Not a canon it-actually-really-happens-on-film LGBTQ+ relationship, just a single gay character). Many people are up in arms about it because of the same tired arguments of “how am I supposed to explain to my child that people do this kind of thing?” Which, is kind of a loaded question considering the same parents saying this were initially planning on taking their children to the movie, with full knowledge of the premise that Belle was supposed to fall in love with a hideous animal-monster. But parents took their kids to see Zootopia when the furry community was bursting out of the quiet taboo off-limits regions of the internet so I guess more bestiality undertones are to be expected from Disney. But I digress.
The other people up in arms about this are actual LGBTQ+ people. I am unabashedly one of them. Don’t get me wrong at all – I am a person who applauds the idea of normalizing the LGBTQ+ community. Encouraging discussion with children about the LGBTQ+ community and about the different forms of love and gender is crucial to decreasing the negative stigma, misunderstandings, and depression, anxiety and suicide rates about and in the members of the community. I am a person who applauds the steps taken to familiarize LGBTQ+ to people who are not LGBTQ+, to understand that “their form” of love is real and just as worthy of being proud of.
And the matter of pride is exactly why I am up in arms about our first gay Disney character. How can I be proud of representation for such a diverse group of people who have been ignored, shoved aside, discriminated against, oppressed, murdered, in which the character meant to be a part of this diverse group is literally named “The Fool”?
That is not to say funny people are not LGBTQ+. That is not to say foolish people are not “allowed” to be LGBTQ+. I say these things to keep my message from being twisted and used against the members of my community. My message is that it is downright offensive to have a villain whose villainy only exists through silliness and association and hyping up a violent misogynist.
Maybe the film is going to have a twist ending where Gaston doesn’t fall off a tower and die, where he realizes his romantic feelings for his small underling he constantly flings around, ditches and bullies. Or maybe there will be a heartwarming moment where LeFou, first realizing his feelings after the ultimate hype song “Gaston,” confesses his feelings to Gaston. Gaston will laugh and mock “The Fool” and charge the Beast’s castle, fall off the tower and die, leaving LeFou to wallow in misery over the loss of his abusive friend and dead unrequited lover. But it’s okay, because LeFou is “the bad guy.” He deserved to be treated terribly, rejected in a humiliating fashion and be alone in the world after the man he loved died because he sided with Gaston in the beginning.
I call bullshit.
This film will be a child’s first Disney movie. This film will be a movie that kids who are starting to question how they feel about their close friends, or how they feel in general. This film will be a movie where closeted children will go with friends or family to enjoy themselves. I don’t see how they could enjoy themselves with a character created as a joke, as a bumbling fool, is meant to represent them. LeFou’s sexuality is unlikely to be taken seriously, and will either be reduced to “queer-baiting” (leaving subtle and small hints of LGBTQ+ traits and identification in characters but nothing more to confirm it), or outright stating it and playing it off as a joke, or the butt of a joke. I’m sure we want our LGBTQ+ children to see that portrayed on screen by Disney, especially when our slime ball president is ruining the lives of LGBTQ+ students across the nation.
As the first gay Disney character, this is not progress. This is not a step in the right direction. This is gross negligence with no care to consider what could be worthy or amazing to have as the first gay character. Disney has been criticized before by not yet having a clear confirmed LGBTQ+ character despite having the safety net of being Disney and this is the character they chose to be “The First”? All I can say is that I hope I’m wrong about what I and other people are worried about what will happen.
