DisverNet | Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Lu’ on Disney+, a Pixar Outg Which (Possibly Gay?) Fish-Boys Enjoy an Adventure on Land

Contents:

• ‘LU,’ CHILDHOOD IENDSHIP AND THE DISURSE AROUND GAY FISH
• SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY
• LU FANS ARE NVCED 'S A GAY LOVE STORY AND THE MEM ARE INIC
• I'M SORRY, BUT "LU" IS TOTALLY A GAY MOVIE, AND THE 18 TWEETS PROVE IT
• STREAM IT OR SKIP IT: ‘LU’ ON DISNEY+, A PIXAR OUTG WHICH (POSSIBLY GAY?) FISH-BOYS ENJOY AN ADVENTURE ON LAND
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

‘LU,’ CHILDHOOD IENDSHIP AND THE DISURSE AROUND GAY FISH

Young iendship wh d gay unrton? But is worth thkg about the implitns of this film and s potential as a gay narrative.

SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY

Relatnships between people sometim change as children grow to themselv; the love between Lu and Alberto is a strong platonic love, but even if they are not explicly gay, that do not mean they are straight. Lu is marketed as a "metaphor for anythg" but the sea monster setup is a perfect allegory for a gay story, and LGBTQ viewers n read that way.

Lu has arrived on Disney+ and, spe what Pixar says, the movie prents a strong allegory for growg up gay and fdg a nnectn wh other LGBTQ people.

LU FANS ARE NVCED 'S A GAY LOVE STORY AND THE MEM ARE INIC

This elis the fact that beg gay, queer, or LGBTQ+ is not simply a matter of partners or relatnships or sex. Young gay people often feel very different om others before such feelgs velop, which n occur squarely the age bracket the story plac Lu and Alberto. In the ments, Casarosa is enuragg such terpretatn, meang that, if you see there, Lu is a gay story, Pixar's first feature film wh LGBTQ+ leads.

The parallels of the boys secretly beg sea monsters and gay and LGBTQ+ people beg forced to hi their inti cuts closer than other mory groups, ratnalizg a queer readg of the movie.

I'M SORRY, BUT "LU" IS TOTALLY A GAY MOVIE, AND THE 18 TWEETS PROVE IT

So while Pixar ni Lu is a gay story due to s settg and the age of s characters, viewers should read the LGBTQ+ narrative for what is. When Pixar first revealed the plot synopsis of s upg movie Lu — a tale of two sea-monster boys named Lu and Alberto, and an “unfettable” summer on the Italian Rivera — many people quickly pared to Call Me By Your Name, the 2017 gay romance that also took place durg an unfettable summer Italy.

But 2020, Pixar released “Out” through s SparkShorts program, which centered around a gay uple. Eager for reprentatn, many fans have clung to the possibily that Lu might give them openly gay ma characters, and not jt one-note si characters.

Jt a ltle over halfway through Pri Month, we are seeg people flock to Twter to prent their theori on why and how the lead duo Disney and Pixar’s latt g-of-age animated feature film, Lu, is, fact, gay. So do Lu have a gay character after all, or is this jt a se of fans creatg a headnon that’s gag tractn and onle clout? Do Lu have a gay character?

STREAM IT OR SKIP IT: ‘LU’ ON DISNEY+, A PIXAR OUTG WHICH (POSSIBLY GAY?) FISH-BOYS ENJOY AN ADVENTURE ON LAND

While Disney has not e on the rerd sayg that Lu and Alberto are gay, we (and many a Twter er!) believe that the great mds at Pixar may have meant for the movie’s plot to be an overall metaphor for gayns and acceptance. I KNOW #Lu  isn’t an explicly gay movie. So while no character Lu has been intified by Disney outright as gay, we n very well read the subtext, metaphors, and straight-up visual evince (all of those nocent touch!) prent the film as a subtle pictn of a buddg same sex relatnship, as well as reprentative of an allegory for queerns today’s world.

In rponse to viewers who reacted to trailers by hopg the film might be a childhood gay romance, Lu director Enri Casarosa rapidly shut the notn down, sayg “I was really keen to talk about a iendship before girliends and boyiends e to plite thgs.”. The Deep is portrayed as horrible place of self-nial, but they’re willg to make him suffer to keep him away om what they see as immoral, a clear parallel to the nversn therapy or wilrns therapy that so many young LGBTQ+ people are subjected to by homophobic muni. His rponse was simple: “I’d say is meant to be terpreted by the viewer […] If you thk Le is gay, of urse he is.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

Judge Le by his character, not by who he lov.” Hal regnized that some people benefted om readg the character as gay, and acknowledged that there isn’t a sgle rrect terpretatn of Le. "LGBTQ+ viewers worldwi have nnected to the movie and the mem and reactns are both wholome and Lu gay?

Is Lu gay?

Discsg whether or not Lu is a gay love story, director Enri Casarosa told Polygon: "I was really keen to talk about a iendship before girliends and boyiends e to plite thgs.