Reasons why tumblr should calm the fuck down about Le Fou being gay
1. Luke Evans, Bill Condon, and Ian McKellen are all openly gay men. They were all very influential in the creation of the movie and character profiles (and given how respected Ian is, they will do what they can to make him happy) so you know they won’t resort to 90s stereotypes
2.The articles have at least stated that Le Fou will get a (probably redemption style) arc to himself where he comes to terms with his identity and goes through legitimate character development. While we do not know what will happen, we can at least be sure that he won’t just be a walking stereotype with three scenes and four homophobic jokes.
3. Did you REALLY think that Disney would go all out with an LGBT character? People freaked out over Gravity Falls and Star vs the Forces of Evil. You can’t just jump from that to something like a lesbian Belle.
4, We haven’t heard anything about Cogsworth and Lumiere. Yeah Lumiere is hitting on the maid, but who knows?
5. This movie will be shown in openly homophobic countries. They know that they have to ease people into this sort of thing.
6. A business is a business. Don’t expect them to make every character gay just to appeal to tumblr. These people need to make money, and they know that they will lose a certain amount either way by giving Le Fou screentime and an arc.
7. Many people have had experiences of unrequited love and abusive relationships-gay or straight. The articles at least implied that Le Fou will have a happy ending, so why do you care if part of that involves getting over an unrequited crush and shitty relationship? As long as they do it well (*cough cough* OUAT) and believably, I’m all for it.
8. It is much better for them to use a well-known character and have them come out in the movie than create a side, one note character just for pandering purposes. They are giving Le Fou an arc. I would be much happier with a well developed, morally ambiguous gay character than a side character in a random town scene.
9. A lot of conservatives and people from the more homophobic areas will boycott the movie because of this, and that will hurt sales. If people boycott the movie because of one character that doesn’t fit their moral standards, the movie will suffer and Disney will immediately (and rightly so) root out Le Fou as the cause of it. You will end up setting this shit backwards.
10. Not every queer character needs to be attractive or in a position of power. It is important to display a variety of characters who happen to be queer.
Now, I am still skeptical of all of this myself. I hope that they give Le Fou some more characteristics outside of his love for Gaston and sexual confusion. But it is way too early for people to be freaking out like this over the movie.
Beauty and the Beast was the movie that defined my childhood, as well as that of many other kids. And now, a new generation of kids will be introduced to Belle’s world and see different kinds of outcasts fall in love. The story at its core, is beautiful in so many ways. It makes me very sad to know that many people find so much offense in one gay character that they would boycott what otherwise looks to be a visually stunning, intelligently updated remake of my all-time favourite Disney movie.
Just give it a chance. Nobody really knows any details about it. For the next two weeks, this is still all just speculation.
And now…I humbly await your threats. Feel free to unfollow me at any time!
(in all seriousness though, I would be more than happy to debate this subject in a cordial manner. just message me with your thoughts!)
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