For the past three years, Disney's live action adaptation of the 1991 masterpiece "Beauty and the Beast" has been building excitement and anticipation. The all-star cast and talented filmmaking crew are responsible for bringing to life one of the most celebrated fairy tales of all time while also rebooting one of the most ground-breaking films cinema has ever seen.

The incredible legacy of "Beauty and the Beast" truly is a tale as old as time, as audiences young and old have embraced the epic story of a beastly prince falling for his beauty for nearly three hundred years. Now, however, we have the new live-action adaptation to add to the "Beauty and the Beast" legacy. Along with a brand new film to add in to the story, we also have, arguably, the first major controversy of the year--homosexuality.

In an interview with director Bill Condon, Condon discussed the character LeFou, played by Josh Gad, admitting that the character would be the first openly gay character in Disney history and have "an exclusively, gay moment."

As the internet is prone to do, the initial reaction was absolute chaos on both sides. The ones condemning the decision to include a character as gay were just as deafening as the ones praising the decision. News stories began to circulate as the parent groups, theater chains, Disney corporate execs, and even the film's actors all began to speak out. LeFou actor Josh Gad commented on the issue stating:

"As subtle as it is, I do think it's going to be effective and I do think it's important."

In response, Russia is considering banning the film, citing that the film is "a shameless propaganda of sin," while a drive-in theater in Alabama hasbanned the film due to the gay character.

“We will not be showing Beauty and the Beast at the Henagar Drive-In when it comes out,” the theater posted. “When companies continually force their views on us we need to take a stand. We all make choices and I am making mine. If we can not take our 11-year-old granddaughter 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 cannot be the only person to see how silly both sides are being on this issue, right?

As somebody that has seen the film already, please believe me when I say that this "exclusively gay moment" is so subtle and insignificant, myself and the people around me had to take time to discuss and pinpoint the moment in the film the controversy was referring to. After finally reaching a unanimous agreement for what we think the moment was, an immediate "you have got to be kidding me" reaction enveloped the room.

"That was it? That was what everybody was making a big deal over?"

"Had nobody made an issue about this, I wouldn't have even noticed."

"The fact that people are boycotting this movie or praising this movie solely because of this gay character is absolutely ridiculous."

I'll refrain from spoilers, obviously, but to anybody out there that is seeing this movie solely for this moment, you will be met with a spectacular disappointment. To those that are boycotting this film, you will be met with a pleasant surprise. It's a cute moment for a lovable character, but after the massive controversy surrounding it, many will be shocked to see this moment so lacking in sexuality, intimacy, and romance.

But whether or not the moment is too sexual or not sexual enough is only half of the problem. Had the filmmakers not released this info and had the world not made such a big deal regarding this barely even noteworthy moment, none of this chaos would have happened.

The fact that we still treat race, genders, and sexuality as this big issue proves that we are not as tolerant as we think we are. Instead of enjoying the adventures these characters go on in the film, news stories must be written and people must vocally express their celebration for the LGBT community.

I get it, it's really awesome to see a class of people be given their time and included in the spotlight. As somebody that has personally witnessed homosexual family members be treated poorly simply because of their sexuality, it's a topic I am passionate about. I sincerely understand the praise for wanting to celebrate something like this.

What I don't understand, however, is the decision to create worldwide controversy surrounding something as small as this. Targeting a specific type of people--whites, blacks, men, women, heterosexuals, homosexuals, transgenders, Christians, Muslims, etc. is such a colossal waste of time. It's a battle you are going to lose. If history has taught us anything it's that humanity is too strong to trap one specific class of people.

Had this movie just been released and audiences discovered LeFou's character arc, the reaction would be much more genuine and sincere. While the intolerant would have commented, the rest of us normal people would have just said "oh, that was sweet!" and moved on. The fact that we spent about twenty minutes discussing what the "moment" could have been proves just how easy it is to simply be swept up in the character's story rather than pointing to specifics about a person's sexuality.

One day, I hope I can live in a world where all of this discussion about transgendered bathrooms, race relations, unequal pay for women, and gay rights can just be a thing of a past. It is so completely obvious to me what is morally and ethically right: being a human being to another human being.

I should not be living a privileged life just because I am a straight, white male much like we should not be celebrating gay people on the sole reason being that they are gay. We are all human beings that deserve to be treated equally. We need to start normalizing these things so we can move past them and enjoy the world we live in together.

One of the meanest human beings I have ever encountered was a gay man. Do I hate him because he's gay? Of course not. I hate him because he poured beer on my friend at a bar and proceeded to make fun of the clothes he wore. One of the most fun dates I ever went on was with a black woman. Was it fun because she was black? Of course not. It was fun because she was a genuinely terrific laser tag partner and her laugh was astonishingly adorable.

I look at people as people and not based off of their race, gender, or sexuality. LeFou's journey in "Beauty and the Beast" was endearing because his character was so sympathetic, not because of the journey itself. Sure, some will attach themselves to LeFou because of his journey, but the "exclusively gay moment" that concludes this character's arc is a satisfying conclusion to the story and not an answer to some political agenda that the news keeps referencing.

When all is said and done, films are not PSAs and they should not have to abide by a certain agenda. It was ridiculous of the studio to attract attention to the controversy ahead of it's release, and it is ridiculous for people of both sides to be up-in-arms about their stance on the issue. I promise you that the world will not end because of this character and I'd be willing to bet that those that don't know about this controversy might not even notice.

While this film isn't all that great, especially when being compared to the original masterpiece, it is a perfectly adequate time killer with some high-highs and low-lows. Part of me suspects this entire controversy to be cooked up to give this otherwise forgettable movie some kind of memorable and relevant edge to it. Much like last year's "Ghostbusters," I suspect this film will be forgotten shortly after its release with the controversy fading away not far behind it.

Now stop making a big deal about this and enjoy the film. Or take my advice and just skip it altogether to go see "Get Out" again.