On March 17th, Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast will be released and it could break box office records. But that’s not the biggest news emerging out of Disney this week regarding the movie.
According to Attitude Magazine, the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast will be Disney’s first ever movie with an “exclusively gay moment”. That is indeed massive news.
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens will star as Belle and the Beast respectively and they spoke with Attitude recently about the movie, while director Bill Condon revealed information about the big moment.
The scene involves Josh Gad playing LeFou, the sidekick of film antagonist Gaston (played by Luke Evans).
“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.”
Here is a clip of a scene involving LeFou and Gaston:
The news of this scene and the subplot as a whole is big news for Disney. The company took a bold step to remake the original animated movie as a live-action remake after the success of The Jungle Book.
To re-do some of the plot and make such a bold statement about LGBT representation and rights is a step in the right direction for Disney.
“It may have been a long time coming but this is a watershed moment for Disney,” Attitude editor-in-chief Matt Cain said.“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 added: “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.”
With the issue of LGBT rights consistently being in the news today, a major movie with a wide-ranging audience in terms of age addressing the issue is important. In their interview with Attitude, Watson and Stevens talked about the importance of fitting in.
“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,” Emma said. “I certainly felt watching the original that I wanted to know more about why Belle feels that she’s different and why she wants to be different and why she’s naturally different.”
Watson isn’t new to advocating for ideas and rights she believes in. In 2014, Watson was named the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador.
Beauty and the Beast is slated to hit theaters on March 17th.
[Attitude]
