Beauty and The Beast will feature Disneys first openly gay character
I feel like such a bad gossip right now. I love fairy tales, I am a huge Disney fan and I have been covering and reading stories about Beauty and the Beast and I had no idea this was happening. However, now that I do, I am so very excited to see the film. Do you guys remember last summer there was a Twitter movement to get Queen Elsa a girlfriend in Frozen 2? The LGBTQ community identified strongly with the themes presented in Frozen and asked Disney to confirm Elsa as gay for the sequel. At the time, many of us doubted they would, even though Disney does have a pretty good reputation within the LGBTQ community. Well, it’s not a Disney princess but LeFou, Gaston’s sidekick in Beauty and the Beast, is openly gay. The film’s director Bill Condon, who is also openly gay, spoke about the decision and its execution in the film in April’s Attitude Magazine.
Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast has quickly become one of the most eagerly anticipated movies in history, smashing records when its first trailer racked up more than 127 million views in just 24 hours last November.
While the reimagined romantic classic, featuring Emma Watson and former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens, might seem like the ultimate celebration of heterosexual love, it’s actually harbouring a treasure trove of gay secrets – and is set to make history with Disney’s first ever “exclusively gay moment” on film.
Played by US actor Josh Gad, the character of LeFou serves as the sidekick to the film’s primary antagonist Gaston (Luke Evans), and is set to feature in a small but significant subplot of his own when it comes to his sexuality.
“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” reveals Condon.
“He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realising that he has these feelings. 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.”
As Attitude’s April issue arrives on newsstands and the world prepares for Beauty and the Beast to hit screens on March 17, Attitude editor-in-chief Matt Cain has welcomed the news as a landmark moment for LGBT representation.
“It may have been a long time coming but this is a watershed moment for Disney,” he says.
“By representing same-sex attraction in this short but explicitly gay scene, the studio is sending out a message that this is normal and natural – and this is a message that will be heard in every country of the world, even countries where it’s still socially unacceptable or even illegal to be gay.
Matt adds: “It’s only a first step towards creating a cinematic world that reflects the one in which many of us are now proud to live. But it’s a step in the right direction and I applaud Disney for being brave enough to make it – and in doing so hopefully helping to change attitudes and bring about real social progress.”
The headliners Emma Watson and Dan Stevens are featured on the cover (below) and they, too, discuss the homosexual allegory in the film. Emma said, “I think it was really important for Dan and I to develop and understand why each of our characters feel as if they don’t fit in.” Further, this is all piggy-backing on the underlying theme of the 1991 film. Apparently, the animated film was not originally a musical. When Disney presented lyricist Howard Ashman with the story ideas, he had just been diagnosed with AIDS. He not only had the idea to make the film a musical but to make the story, which up to that point was mainly about Belle, also Beast’s story and that that story would be a metaphor for AIDS.
I feel like I am on a voyage of discovery, I had no clue about any of this! But I am so glad I do now, especially before I see the film. As mentioned, Josh Gad plays LeFou. Josh is heterosexual and married with two kids so I would understand the argument that it would have been nice to have the role go to a gay actor. I’ll admit bias, I adore Josh. I was lucky enough to see him in The Book of Mormon and think he will be a blast as LeFou. It’s not perfect, I recognize that, but it is progress and I love what Matt Cain said about how “the studio is sending out a message that this is normal and natural… “ Imperfections aside, I am giving both Disney and Pixar thumbs up for moving things in the right direction.
I am, however, fairly convinced that Luke Evans will steal this movie from everyone else.
Photo credit: Disney, Attitude Magazine and WENN Photos
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