Disney’s new live-action remake of the classic Beauty and the Beast story will defy its romantic origins in heterosexual love by featuring an “exclusively gay moment” where two male characters kiss on screen.
Attitude.com is reporting on an interview with the film’s director, Bill Condon, who reveals that the movie might seem like the ultimate celebration of heterosexual love but it’s actually harboring “a treasure trove of gay secrets.”
This “treasure trove” comes in the form of a gay kiss between two characters in the movie. The scene involves the film’s primary antagonist, Gaston (played by Luke Evans) and his sidekick LeFou (played by Josh Gad).
“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 realizing 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.”
Condon told Vulture.com that he introduced this major change into the story’s plotline in honor of the late Howard Ashman who won a posthumous Oscar for his lyrics in the original film after he died of AIDS. Condon said that Ashman saw the Beast’s ostracism from Belle’s village as a “metaphor for AIDS.”
“He was cursed, and this curse had brought sorrow on all those people who loved him, and maybe there was a chance for a miracle and a way for the curse to be lifted,” Condon explains.
Not surprisingly, the movie, which debuts on March 17 and stars Emma Watson and former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens, is being met with much praise from certain quarters.
“It may have been a long time coming but this is a watershed moment for Disney,” said Attitude editor-in-chief Matt Cain.
“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.”
But not everyone is thrilled with the idea – not even in Tinsel town. As the Week reports, writer Philip Ellis is unimpressed by the fact that the gay moment belongs to LeFou, whose name means “the fool” in French and whose main role in the film is to crack jokes.
“‘Disney is making history.’ By making the comic relief character gay? Don’t waste my time,” Ellis tweeted.
The general public is reacting with its own kind of disdain.
“Oh, Lord have mercy,” wrote a woman named Pam who commented on a story about the movie in the Kansas City Star. “Why do you have to ruin a beautiful story to share with your children and grandchildren. Walt would turn over in his grave to see what you’ve done with his creations. God help us.”
Tom wrote: “Disney is in the sewer with the rest of Hollywood indoctrinating children with their liberal ideas of what they consider ‘normal’.”
Dave summed it up nicely: “Disney is about to make history. No, Disney is about to be history.”
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