Josh Gad Shar Regrets About Gay LeFou 'Bety and the Beast' - Variety

Contents:

• PIXAR’S ONWARD FALLY GETS THE “EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT” RIGHT
• 'BETY AND THE BEAST'S 'GAY MOMENT' MAY HAVE BEEN MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHG
• WHY DISNEY+'S HOWARD IS THE STUD'S FIRST TE "EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT"
• AN EXCLIVELY GAY BREAKDOWN OF BETY AND THE BEAST’S WOULD-BE QUEER MOMENT
• ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ DIRECTOR TALKS OF ‘EXCLIVELY GAY’ MOMENT
• WHY DISNEY'S "EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT" DON'T DELIVER AT ALL
• “EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT” CREAT NTROVERSY
• “BETY AND THE BEAST” WILL FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST-EVER “EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT”
• BETY AND THE BEAST DIRECTOR SAYS 'EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT' WAS 'OVERBLOWN'
• NEW ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ TO FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST ‘EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT’ FILM
• JOSH GAD SHAR REGRET OVER GAY LEFOU ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’: ‘WE DIDN’T GO FAR ENOUGH’
• ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’: JOSH GAD PLAYS DISNEY’S FIRST-EVER GAY CHARACTER
• THE “EXCLIVELY GAY” CHARACTER THE BETY AND THE BEAST REMAKE IS NOT AS REVOLUTNARY AS DISNEY THKS IT IS
• ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ TO HAVE DISNEY’S FIRST-EVER ‘EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT’
• THE ‘EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT’ ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ PROV THE DANGER OF OVERHYPE
• LEFOU'S GAY MOMENT "BETY AND THE BEAST" IS A MAJOR LETDOWN
• LEFOU EMBRAC LE FEY: DISNEY GO GAY IN ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’
• JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
• DISNEY TO FEATURE S FIRST GAY STORYLE ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ REMAKE
• DISNEY’S 'EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT' IS LONG OVERDUE

PIXAR’S ONWARD FALLY GETS THE “EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT” RIGHT

From the “exclively gay moment” the live-actn Bety and the Beast to a kiss between two mor female characters last year’s The Rise of Skywalker, each baby step has been preced by a flotilla of verage proclaimg the advance—and each has been followed by the evable sense of nfn and betrayal when viewers see the movie and realize, That’s ? The makers of Star Trek Beyond were eager to make sure you knew that s versn of Sulu was gay, even though they eded out the only physil sign of his affectns. Or would Lawrence have been trotted out for a seri of fensive terviews explag that her character really was gay, but movi are plited and you have to serve the story—and who knows, maybe they’ll clu the leted scen.

It’s important not to make too much of Onward’s exclively gay moment—or even to make too much of the movie not makg too much of . After all, children’s animated movi, pecially those om gay filmmakers—cludg ParaNorman and the How to Tra Your Dragon films—have been quietly cludg moments like this for years, whout anyone pattg themselv on the back.

They're not talkg about the overall film, which is gettg great reviews (three out of four stars om USA TODAY) and breakg box office rerds wh a $170 ln but, the hight ever for March and the seventh-hight of all unrwhelmed reactn has been to the so-lled "exclively gay moment" the film, which has ed ternatnal ntroversy sce director Bill Condon first mentned an terview wh Attu the terview, Condon said the character LeFou (Josh Gad) would be portrayed as gay. The "gay moment" that Condon was referrg to is a blk-and-you'll-miss- shot the film's fal sends. "If nobody had said that #LeFou had a 'gay moment'  #BetyAndTheBeast, I really don't thk would've even been a thg, " wrote one Twter er.

'BETY AND THE BEAST'S 'GAY MOMENT' MAY HAVE BEEN MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHG

"Watched the new #BetyAndTheBeast movie last night, hontly don't unrstand what the outrage (about) there beg a gay character was (about), " wrote another.

WHY DISNEY+'S HOWARD IS THE STUD'S FIRST TE "EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT"

"Bt part of my day was when half the theater clapped and cheered when the gay uple me on screen #BetyAndTheBeast, " reported one dience who supported the film appld how much money was able rack spe reported "boytts.

AN EXCLIVELY GAY BREAKDOWN OF BETY AND THE BEAST’S WOULD-BE QUEER MOMENT

"Though the moment was well-received or unrwhelmg to many dience members, there were some the LGBT muny who thought the reprentatn of a gay character did not go far enough. Also LeFou is not gay enough, " one Twter er sentiment was shared by some LGBT crics and wrers.

"Disney n pat self on s back all wants for turng a villao buffoon that was d as gay the origal film to a morally ambiguo buffoon who is more obvly gay, nfis a teapot, and tri out dancg wh a man, " wrote Vulture. "Although I adored the movie overall, part of my tratn wh is that I had hoped for more out of Condon’s 'exclively gay moment, '" The Huffgton Post explaed. Disney's first steps to LGBTQ+ clivy – LeFou's "exclively gay moment" 2017's Bety and the Beast and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's gay kiss – were a ltle Bambi on ice.

That is to say,, pany boss Bob Chapek promised "creased mment" to LGBTQ+ reprentatn back March and new Disney+ documentary Howard marks a genue turng pot as celebrat Disney's greatt-ever gay talent – one of the chief archects of the Disney Renaissance, Howard Ashman. )We now know Ashman's mob song 'Kill the Beast' is a metaphor for homophobia and HIV and AIDS stigma ("we don't like what we don't unrstand"). We nvened two Slate wrers to dissect Bety and the Beast’s ballyhooed “exclively gay” moment and the ensug fallout.

‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ DIRECTOR TALKS OF ‘EXCLIVELY GAY’ MOMENT

Jefey Bloomer: Sorry, David, but I need to lock you my stle to discs a matter that Bill Condon, Josh Gad, and pecially Disney wish we would jt fet: the “exclively gay” moment the new Bety and the Beast. The one where LeFou, the bumblg sikick to beloved villa Gaston, be the supposed first gay character a Disney movie. Bloomer: A few weeks ago, Condon ma prumably advertent headl around the world by suggtg to Attu, a Brish gay magaze, that LeFou would be love wh Gaston the new movie.

WHY DISNEY'S "EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT" DON'T DELIVER AT ALL

But then there’s the flipsi: LeFou is the ic relief for much of his screen time, and feels as if Condon treats his gayns as a punchle. Bloomer: Right: It’s hard to separate buffoon LeFou om gay LeFou, and the movie often nflat the two. My dience lghed awkwardly at each eyebrow flutter and hip shake, as if to say: We get , he’s gay.

“EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT” CREAT NTROVERSY

It’ll be a while before a young prce march to a hnted stle searchg for the boy he’ll love one day, but I’m not bothered by how Bety and the Beast took up s particular gay agenda. Put another way: Given the very standard, slightly patronizg gay readg of LeFou (so many longg glanc! In an era when many blockbters have real, breathg (if barely out) gay characters—Inpennce Day 2 and Star Trek Beyond, for recent exampl—Condon’s self-ngratulatn the gay prs seems ridiculo.

“BETY AND THE BEAST” WILL FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST-EVER “EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT”

But as you smartly poted out, the movie self is actually richer s gay ntent than I’d expected. It do some smart thgs and tak some signifint stris, so ’s puzzlg that Condon chose to sgle out a scene that’s neher mendably nor “exclively” gay. Bloomer: On that note, Le Evans, who plays Gaston, has said he thks the gay read of LeFou and Gatson’s dynamic is wrong altogether.

Which is awkward for an entirely different reason: In 2011, the gay media had some … thoughts when Evans’ publicists appeared to force him back to the closet after he nfirmed he was gay a 2002 Advote terview. Evans retreated right around the time he seemed poised to bee an (openly gay) actn star movi like The Immortals and Fast & Fur 6.

BETY AND THE BEAST DIRECTOR SAYS 'EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT' WAS 'OVERBLOWN'

It’s funny: This all started bee Condon dared to highlight the movie as relatively gay-iendly for Disney, which is probably te. ) Malaysia is a ty film market, but 20th Century Fox apparently removed a chaste gay embrace om Inpennce Day 2 to appease the untry last summer. But he also helped spark eper discsns around cln—not jt about the prence of an explicly gay character a blockbter release but about what our expectatns n and should be 2017.

And so seems to have tiptoed toward open homosexualy s new live-actn versn of “Bety and the Beast. ”Bill Condon, who directed the film, and is openly gay, told the Brish magaze Attu that the manservant LeFou, played by Josh Gad, has “a nice, exclively gay moment” the movie, which has s premiere here on Thursday and arriv theaters the Uned Stat on March Condon ntued: “LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston.

” The Daily Dot, whout havg seen the movie, stomped s foot, sayg that a gay LeFou was “hardly a high pot for posive L.

NEW ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ TO FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST ‘EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT’ FILM

LeFou sure seemed to have a csh on Gaston Disney’s 1991 animated versn of “Bety and the Beast, ” ntug a tradn of Disney sikicks that seem to be gay whout statg . A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn C, Page 3 of the New York edn wh the headle: ‘Bety and the Beast’ to Have ‘Gay Moment’. A few weeks ago, news broke that the new live-actn Bety and the Beast would feature s first openly gay character.

" While the announcement led to evable backlash om some, others lled to qutn this claim that LeFou would be Disney's "first" openly gay character. In fact, not only is LeFou cidly not an openly gay Disney character, but the "exclively gay moment" hardly earns that we dive to the mutiae of the problem, let me expla how this "exclively gay moment" go down. " Which seems like a non filmmakers felt the need to troduce a send gay character, but who?

Stanley trots gleefully down the stairs and exs the when do our "exclively gay moment" happen?

JOSH GAD SHAR REGRET OVER GAY LEFOU ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’: ‘WE DIDN’T GO FAR ENOUGH’

In realy, an dividual's homosexualy is not nfirmed unls they explicly mentn their romantic attractn to dividuals of the same genr. Are they even attracted to each other, or are they jt shoved together bee they're both gay?

Why uldn't LeFou and Stanley peck on the lips or say somethg unniably gay their "exclively gay moment" together? In fact, as the ter has duly noted, there are plenty of implicly gay characters Disney history. Judgg by how groundbreakg they thought this whole oral would be, though, we're que far om a Disney character who exclaims, "I'm gay!

‘BETY AND THE BEAST’: JOSH GAD PLAYS DISNEY’S FIRST-EVER GAY CHARACTER

The live-actn versn of “Bety and the Beast” has been out for ls than a week, but even before h the silver screen garnered worldwi praise and cricism for one thg: Disney’s cisn to make LeFou nonilly gay. The cisn to give a si character the story an “exclively gay moment” has already ed the film to be banned om at least one Alabama drive- theater and ma Disney pull all screengs om Malaysia entirely when the pany found out that censors had cut the moment om the versn that would be showg the untry. Activists and actors like Sir Ian McKellan, a gay man himself, have spoken out agast the censors and crics.

“People who don’t like the ia of gay characters appearg fairy stori should thk what they would thk if they were gay themselv and why they should be exclud, ” McKellan said at the film’s New York premiere.

The problem wh havg potentially not-straight characters’ sexuali only hted at subtextually is that people who don’t want, say, animated Lefou to be gay don’t have to see him that way, and th productn pani n ny his inty to dodge ntroversy by tellg fans of subtextually queer Lefou “you’re readg too much to .

THE “EXCLIVELY GAY” CHARACTER THE BETY AND THE BEAST REMAKE IS NOT AS REVOLUTNARY AS DISNEY THKS IT IS

Consir the state of unrreprentatn of explicly queer characters and the tradn of queer-dg though, would have been nice for a character who is clearly a protagonist to have gotten the first “exclively gay moment” a Disney film.

When to theaters March 17th, Disney’s live-actn Bety and the Beast will clu a historic gay moment for the stud. Speakg to Attu, director Bill Condon there will be what he’s llg an “exclively gay moment” for LeFou’s character. Attu go so far to say the film, which “might seem like the ultimate celebratn of heterosexual love” is “actually harborg a treasure trove of gay secrets.

LeFou, played by Amerin actor Josh Gay, is effectively the sikick of the film’s primary villa Gaston (Le Evans), and a small but important subplot revolv around his sexualy. Bety and the Beast director says 'exclively gay moment' was 'overblown' Bill Condon is walkg back ments he ma over LeFou's g out.

‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ TO HAVE DISNEY’S FIRST-EVER ‘EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT’

The director first announced Josh Gad’s LeFou would e out of the closet a recent issue of Attu magaze, givg Disney s first openly gay character. At the time, he referred to as “an exclively gay moment, ” but has sce downplayed his past remarks durg an terview wh ScreenCsh. ” BBC further reports the film may not screen Rsia, given the untry’s law that bans what Rsian officials em “gay propaganda” to mors.

Gad remarked to USA Today on the film’s premiere, “There was nothg the script that said ‘LeFou is gay. Josh Gad recently told The Inpennt that he has some regrets over how Disney’s 2017 live actn “Bety and the Beast” remake handled makg his character a gay man.

THE ‘EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT’ ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ PROV THE DANGER OF OVERHYPE

The movie’s director, Bill Condon, announced USA Today ahead of the film’s release that his “Bety and the Beast” would troduce Disney’s first openly gay character. Condon said Gad’s LeFou had “an exclively gay moment” the movie, but all that turned out to be was a blk-and-you’ll-miss- shot of LeFou dancg wh a man.

’ My regret what happened is that beme ‘Disney’s first explicly gay moment’ and was never tend to be that.

LEFOU'S GAY MOMENT "BETY AND THE BEAST" IS A MAJOR LETDOWN

It was never tend to be a moment that we should ld ourselv for, bee ankly, I don’t thk we did jtice to what a real gay character a Disney film should be.

LEFOU EMBRAC LE FEY: DISNEY GO GAY IN ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’

Once the film opened theaters, Condon and Gad were wily cricized for pattg themselv on the back when the movie ntaed virtually no gay moment whatsoever. Gad told USA Today at the film’s 2017 premiere that while the script did not nfirm LeFou is gay, he was “honored” to have the chance to epen the character the live-actn versn.

The upg live-actn Bety and the Beast remake will be the first Disney movie to feature an openly gay character, acrdg to director Bill Condon—and no, ’s not Lumière or Cogsworth.

JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Condon revealed an terview wh Attu that Josh Gad’s characer, LeFou (the sikick to villao Gaston), will have what he lls an “exclively gay moment” the film. Attu’s own edor--chief, Matt Ca, seemed to offer more specifics about what, exactly, nstut an “exclively gay moment, ” while praisg the news.

“By reprentg same-sex attractn this short but explicly gay scene, the stud is sendg out a msage that this is normal and natural. Even settg asi the obv ntradictns at work here—the scene will be explicly gay but also “subtle, ” somehow—this is not que the groundbreakg, rah-rah, LGBTQ-clive moment Disney seems to believe is. And if the stud believ gay dienc n’t intify wh a character unls that character is explicly queer, they’ve missed the memo, bee, as Akash Nilas poted out a 2014 piece the Atlantic, between g-out anthems like “Let It Go, ” outsir villas who have been rejected by society, and protagonists who fd solace found fai, Disney has been subtly but surely promotg the “gay agenda” for years.

Bety and the Beast don’t necsarily need a gay character, bee the animated movie is already a queer story which the hero are outsirs who are shunned for their differenc. ” And the Beast’s story, of a man who is physilly transformed, shunned by an ignorant public, and slowly fadg away, beme an allegory for the movie’s openly gay lyricist, Howard Ashman, who had jt been diagnosed wh AIDS when he began workg on the movie and died jt months before s 1991 release.

DISNEY TO FEATURE S FIRST GAY STORYLE ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ REMAKE

(If you still doubt the gay parable at play here, jt thk of the lyrics of the mob’s song the movie: “We don’t like what we don’t unrstand/ In fact sr / And this monster is myster at least. Condon, who is openly gay himself, seems aware of and sensive to Bety and the Beast’s backstory, explag elsewhere Attu that was Ashman who expand the Beast’s role, as he sympathized wh a character whose 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. But sce the film has chosen to do that by cludg a character who is lerally gay, ’s worth examg their choice.

Y, marks a tone queer visibily, but is a far cry om givg , say, the first gay Disney Prcs, and the Bety and the Beast gay subplot will almost certaly be mor the grand scheme of the larger, hetero romance at the center of the movie’s narrative. There will be some marked chang to the forthg live-actn “Bety and the Beast”: Acrdg to the director, the movie will break ground as Disney featur an openly gay ’s sikick LeFou, played by Josh Gad, will have a small subplot relatg to his sexualy, Attu magaze reported. An episo of the Disney Channel show “Good Luck Charlie” clud a character who had two the live-actn “Bety and the Beast” will brg an overt pictn of a gay man to the big, the actor playg LeFou, has also spoken out about the nature of the role.

In rponse to a lol TV host who tweeted that “this would mean a lot to me, and gay kids everywhere. ”As The Post’s Jsi Contrera has prevly wrten, some Disney fans have argued would have been hugely helpful to see gay characters such movi when they were young, and studi suggt posive pictns of gay characters entertament n help crease prejudice. “There is no doubt that kids seeg posively portrayed gay characters uld have a signifint effect that would ntribute to such children’s learng about the world and who is , ” said Edward Schiappa, a profsor of parative media studi at the Massachetts Instute of dog so is a risk for children’s entertament pani, who have a fancial centive to make movi as wily accsible — and therefore as non-ntroversial — as possible.

DISNEY’S 'EXCLIVELY GAY MOMENT' IS LONG OVERDUE

”Ahead of "Frozen 2, " many fans are hopg creators give Elsa a girliend, makg her the first gay Disney prcs.