If you keep up with pop-culture news, entertainment news, or Disney movies in general, you may have stumbled upon the recent controversy surrounding the 2017 live-action remake of the timeless classic, Beauty and the Beast. The 30th Disney animated feature film, first introduced in 1991, was adored by audiences around the world and was one of the highlights of the Disney Renaissance period. It was about the relationship between a young prince who was cursed into a hideous beast for his arrogance, and a young French girl from a small village who is trapped in his castle. He learns to find love in the most peculiar ways, and turns back into a human after falling in love with a girl who loves him for who he is instead of his appearance. After 26 years, this tale will once again be told to a new generation of audiences, but is expanding on current relatable issues that wrong?
From the trailers, clips, and interviews of the cast and director, it can be confirmed that there will be small changes or ambiguities from the original film that are expanded on. For instance, Belle is a strong, independent, book-loving girl who wants more than what her town has planned for women. In the new adaptation, the writers and director expand upon this idea of Belle being a feminist in her small French town and gave her a job on top of all of her other qualities. Actress, Emma Watson, is (in my opinion) one of the best people who could play this iconic character. Being a feminist and UN ambassador, she is a great role model for empowering girls of this new generation into being strong and independent, just like Belle.
Although, expanding on Belle’s feminism isn’t the current issue that has arisen. Confirmed in the April issue of the British magazine, Attitude, director Bill Condon has confirmed that Gaston’s best friend and right-hand man LeFou will be Disney’s first openly gay character. As stated in this article, "LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," Condon said, "He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings," the director continued. "And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its payoff at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."
Now, before any of you haters out there rebuttal and complain as to why Disney would waste this opportunity on a character like LeFou, feel that Disney (as being primarily a child sensitive company) shouldn’t have made this decision, and refuse to see the film because of this “moment.” All I ask is, “Why is this so wrong?” Sure you can say it is “unnatural” or “evil,” but it is part of our culture now.
The first issue that I would like to address, is that I think it was a brilliant choice to pick LeFou (of all the characters) to be gay. I say this because (first), if you look back at the 1991 classic, LeFou was someone who always looked up to Gaston and even sang a song about how great he thinks Gaston is. It may not have been easily seen in the animated feature, but there may have been “something there that wasn’t there before.”
Additionally, if this is going to be Disney’s first openly gay character, the company knows that there will be some sort of backlash and controversy (as evident by an Alabama theater that is cancelling every showing of Beauty and the Beast and the new petition to boycott the movie.) It is better to have a minor character embodying this progressive action because it will be subtle and will not take away from the main plot of the film. With the LGBT community being such a sensitive subject, it will be easier to ease into this issue rather than taking the plunge with a queer lead character. With all the new disney films in the works and live-action remakes, I could see them potentially representing the LGBT+ community with more supporting characters, then lead characters. As Vincent Van Gogh once said, "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
Secondly, due to the live-action remake, I believe the writers, director, and actors were allowed to expand on the characters and bring them more to life than the original. I am not implying that the animated film was bad, I am just pointing out that more could be brought to the table with the live acting and new CGI technology. From actor Josh Gad’s point of view, he believed, "What was most important to me was taking a character that is wonderful and so iconic, but is defined by cartoon conceits in the (original) movie... and expanding on that, giving him dimension, making him human." From what I have seen from the trailers, clips, and behind the scenes videos, LeFou looks to be smarter, more confident, and well dressed than the original. So judging the character as he was first introduced would be unfair to the new rendition.
Lastly, this is a huge tribute to the openly gay lyricist Howard Ashman, who co-wrote the lyrics to the songs in Beauty and the Beast (and other Disney songs) with Alan Menkan. Unfortunately, Ashman had died before he got to see the finish product of Beauty and the Beast, due to his fight with AIDS. His lyrics to The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast were unforgettable, and his diagnosis actually became a metaphor for the "tale as told as time". In the song, “Kill the Beast,” Ashman’s lyrics expressed his feelings about AIDS and the surrounding stigma of this disease. As stated by Director Bill Condon in Attitude magazine, “He was really dealing with a debilitating disease, in an era when it was stigmatized. And so, there were so many of those underpinnings to the movie that people may not have seen.” To dedicate parts of the movie to Ashman, there will be unheard lyrics used in the song “Gaston” that were originally written by him, but never placed into the final animated film.
Ultimately, I am really excited for the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. I think this film will be phenomenal and all I ask is that you give this story a chance. Even if you are biased against the progressive issues or biased due to believing the original can be unmatched, it is always a good thing to keep an opened mind. I am sure the movie is not trying to push any political agenda or present a full on queer kissing scene, because they stated that it will be "subtle." It could be something that audiences might not pick up on the first viewing.
If you are having second thoughts about seeing this film, just remember that Disney wouldn't make this move if it was a bad idea. In fact, I think this is just step one. I can see them expanding on LGBT characters through the next few movies they have planned, like possibly Timon and Pumba being a gay couple who raises Simba in the live-action remake of The Lion King. Disney does have a long way to go, but taking the initiative to represent this community will be worth it in the end.
The Beauty and the Beast Live-Action remake can be seen in theaters on March 17th, 2017. Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Stanley Tucci, and Audra McDonald.
