Disney really has a spotty history over the past several years with promising LGBTQ+ inclusion in blockbuster films but not really delivering that. We’ve seen characters teased. We’ve seen brief moments where there might be a same-sex kiss. But overall, there really has yet to be true representation in a major film. And perhaps the biggest offender in promised inclusion but not delivering it is with 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” remake. Now, years later, actor Josh Gad agrees that the film didn’t do right by its LGBTQ promises.
Speaking to the Independent, Josh Gad talked about dropping the ball with the inclusion in “Beauty and the Beast.” For those who forgot (and honestly, if you blinked, you would miss it), it was shown that Gad’s character in the film is gay. However, the publicity push before the film’s release made it seem as if it would be a part of the story and the character would be more open about his sexuality. That was, most definitely, not the case.
“We didn’t go far enough to warrant accolades,” Gad said. “We didn’t go far enough to say, ‘Look how brave we are.’ My regret in what happened is that it became ‘Disney’s first explicitly gay moment,’ and it was never intended to be that. It was never intended to be a moment that we should laud ourselves for because frankly, I don’t think we did justice to what a real gay character in a Disney film should be.”
He added, “If we’re going to pat ourselves on the back, then damn it we should have gone further with that. Everybody deserves an opportunity to see themselves on screen, and I don’t think we’ve done enough — and I certainly haven’t done enough to do that.”
Since “Beauty and the Beast,” we saw other supposed inclusive moments in films like “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and “Avengers: Endgame.” However, as mentioned, those brief mentions didn’t do much more than what was seen in “Beauty and the Beast.” Disney has promised better LGBTQ representation in the future.
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