Great post. I'm a firm believer that people are born gay... I don't think people wake up one day and choose to be gay. I feel the same way about gender fluidity. If people think that just because young viewers are seeing gay couples kiss, dance, or be in a relationship, that their kid will turn gay (which I think is laughable), or they don't want their kids to see that because "ew", then they need to face reality and teach their kids about the world we live in today.
Representation in big films like these is important because it's about acceptance. Gay marriage is legal, gay couples can adopt kids, gay people have been given right against bigots/prejudice by the Supreme Court. The less *******s growing up being homophobic out there in our future = the better.
Hell, Christians should be more upset about Belle falling in love with an "Animal" more so than two guys dancing.
Agreed 100%.
It's no secret that if you're a liberal or an atheist or gay then chances are you'll think that it's "****y" to follow God's teachings in the Bible. That's a point that doesn't need to be made or countered. What's lame is that BatB was an all ages story that polarized no one and divided no one until Disney's last minute political propaganda with a subplot that never existed before. And that's what sucks.
I'd feel the exact same way if the tables were turned. For instance if some dude tried to dance with LeFou and he said "Ew! No thank you!" and then went off and danced with a girl. A dumb political statement that would have been just as out of place.
So again, even though in this case I'm on the side that doesn't agree with the "message," such divisive messages just shouldn't ever be shoehorned into a universally loved escapist story in the first place.
First, I am a liberal, and I do, indeed, find it "****ty" when people take things out of context to further a bigoted agenda. I'll also note that, after reading this, I made a concerted effort to research the subject. I wasn't kidding when I said I grew up around this stuff, either. Mom and Dad both worked, I was with the grandparents a lot, and, like clockwork, I'd be in the apostolic church Tuesday, Friday, and twice on Sunday. That being said, I'm no Biblical scholar, but what I found is a bunch of stuff that seemed to be up in the air, in terms of interpretation. The Old Testament said stuff about stoning people, but the Old Testament said a lot of **** about stoning people for a variety of reasons, many of which, in today's society, we consider utterly ridiculous.
Now, I'll be honest: not the biggest Christian, here. I tend to take a sort of universalist approach to religion, so, in a sense, I'm pretty much the hippie dippy millennial you'd expect me to be. Taking the general ideas of peace and love and acceptance from various religions and kind of shedding the more damning notions of fire and brimstone and control. Probably borders on blasphemy for a lot of people, but, at the end of the day, I believe in the core tenets of "live and let live." If it's happening between consenting adults and it isn't hurting me, then it's none of my damn business and folks should be able to live their lives to their heart's content happy as a clam.
Suffice it to say, Christ himself seems like a pretty different idea of "God" than his Old Testament counterpart, and, in that regard, I guess I would consider myself at least something of a Christian, as, for all intents and purposes, he seemed like my kind of guy. Now, I'll preface this by saying that I don't believe there's anything wrong with homosexuality. I think it takes a particularly bold brand of condescension to look at someone who says "I've felt this way my entire life; it's who I am," and say "no, you're wrong, and I know what's best for you, for the Bible tells me so," and that's why I cast away those preconceptions a long time ago. Playing devil's advocate here, for a moment, though, let's assume that homosexuality is a sin. Aren't we all just a bunch of sinners, though? I mean, what makes someone who's gay more of a sinner than someone who lies to his wife or someone who steals? Christ seemed to preach forgiveness and acceptance more than damnation, and that's something I can't understand.
I don't get it. Do you think people choose to be gay? Look at the social and historical consequences of being gay, not only in years past, but today, as well. Death, imprisonment; being disowned by one's family or community; there are no real upsides that lead me to believe that this is a choice, and that's not even taking into consideration the fact that other animals have exhibited traits of homosexuality, and that's where it all falls apart, for me, because if it's not a choice, and they were born this way, which I fully believe they were, then is their very existence a sin? And, if so, what kind of God does this? Is the LGBTQ community just a bunch of modern day Jobs, thrown unnecessary hardships in order to test their commitment? What is it, because, I'm honestly, at a loss? I don't know. I rant, I do, and forgive me if this is an inappropriate place to talk about things like this, but I just had to voice my beliefs. I realize that I can sound confrontational and, even, at times, condescending, and, if at any point you feel that way, I'll just issue a blanket apology for it, as my writing can, indeed, take that sort of a turn, at times, but, suffice it to say, I'm not opposed to hearing your views on the subject; quite the contrary, in fact.
Pocahontas
Hunchback of Notre Dame (kind of)
Princess and the Frog
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (if they go there with Rey and Finn, which they most likely will)
Beauty and the Beast (new version has two interracial couples:
https://www.glamour.com/story/beauty-and-the-beast-first-interracial-kisses-in-disney-history )
Lots of interracial couples on the Disney Channel shows
Oof. If we're talking representation in the sense crows was, I'm not sure I'd want to reference Pocahontas. That one seems like it has a lot of baggage, in terms of historical accuracy/romanticization/etc.
Women as leads, interracial couples, minorities as leads, all "progressive" movements that pretty much everyone can get behind. There's no need to divide, especially when our culture itself is already so polarized. Common ground is a precious commodity.
That's one of the things I loved about Rogue One. The way they utilized such a diverse cast was beautifully naturalistic. Honestly, it didn't even cross my mind until after the movie ended that the entire crew aboard Rogue One were either women or minorities, and, upon realizing that, I couldn't help but think "damn. Well done, Disney."
