Is Lu Pixar’s First Gay Movie? Maybe | Vany Fair

Contents:

• HOW GAY IS PIXAR’S LU?
• IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
• DO DISNEY’S ‘LU’ HAVE A GAY CHARACTER?
• “LU” IS THE GAY ALLEGORY I DERVED AS A CHILD
• PIXAR REPORTEDLY SCRAPPED GAY ‘LU’ STORYLE: ‘HOW DO WE DO THIS WHOUT A LOVE INTERT?’
• IF LU AND THE FALN AND THE WTER SOLDIER ARE GAY TO YOU, THEN THEY’RE GAY
• SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY
• LU MAY NOT BE A GAY NARRATIVE, BUT ’S ABSOLUTELY A QUEER ONE
• DISNEY INSISTS IT’S NOT GAY, BUT ‘LU’ IS ABOUT TWO BOYS IN LOVE SAVAS ABADSIDIS JUNE 25, 2021SHARE IN A WEEK WHERE LOKI ME OUT AS BISEXUAL ON HIS EPYNOMO SERI ON DISNEY+, PIXAR RELEASED THE MOST BETIFUL ALLEGORY FOR AT THE VERY LEAST ACTUALIZATN OF ROMANTIC LEANGS BETWEEN TWO BOYS LU.FROM TOPPS CARDS LU EDN.BUT DISNEY VEHEMENTLY NI LU IS GAY.AND I N’T HELP BUT WONR WHY?IF LU IS NOT OR DO NOT HAVE ANY “GAY OVERTON” AS DISNEY/PIXAR KEEP SAYG, THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS ?SO I WATCHED LU YTERDAY — YOUR FAVE IS MLM! (@FAVEISGAY) JUNE 20, 2021LU IS FACT ONE OF THE MOST BETIFUL STORI ABOUT TWO BOYS LOVE MASTERFULLY WROUGHT TO PTURE ADOLCENT NON-SEXUAL ROMANCE THAT I’VE EVER SEEN.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. AND THE TWO BOYS/SEA MONSTERS GO THROUGH A LOT TOGETHER, MIRRORG THE FDG OF FAY THAT OFTEN OCCURS THE LIV OF YOUNG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE. AS LU’S GRANDMA SAYS, “SOME PEOPLE, THEY’LL NEVER ACCEPT HIM. BUT SOME WILL. AND HE SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO FD THE GOOD ON.” AND THEY’RE NOT THE ONLY POTENTIAL QUEER CHARACTERS THE MOVIE – THE TWO SEPARABLE ELRLY WOMEN AT THE BEGNG OF THE STORY ALSO E OUT AS SEA MONSTERS THE CLIMACTIC SCENE AFTER THE RACE. NOT TO MENTN GIULIA’S POSN AS AN ALLY AND FENR OF THE BOYS AT SEVERAL POTS THE FILM.VANY FAIR: IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE A SUMMERY G-OF-AGE FABLE MIGHT BE LAN WH ALLEGORY, OR NOT? IN A DAZZLG ITALY SOME S AGO, TWO YOUNG MEN MEET AND EXPERIENCE A SWEEPG, HAPPY-SAD SUMMER OF SELF-REALIZATN TOGETHER. THAT MAY SOUND ROUGHLY LIKE THE PLOT OF LU GUADAGNO’S 2017 FILM CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, BUT IS ALSO THE STORY OF THE PERHAPS CINTALLY NAMED LU, THE LATT BTERSWEET ANIMATED FILM OM DISNEY AND PIXAR (ON DISNEY+ JUNE 18).THE FILM IS ABOUT TWO KIDS, LU (JAB TREMBLAY) AND ALBERTO (JACK DYLAN GRAZER), WHO SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME AS GILLED AND FNED CREATUR LIVG UNR THE SPARKLGLY WE-DARK LIGURIAN SEA. IF THEY MAKE THEIR WAY ONTO LAND, THEY MAGILLY TRANSFORM— APPEARANCE, AT LEAST—TO HUMANS, EE TO TERACT WH THE LANDLUBBERS OF A SMALL FISHG TOWN POPULATED WH WHIMSIL CHARACTERS. LU AND ALBERTO SHARE AN TENSE, FG, AND WORLD-CRACKG-OPEN BOND, BUT MT HI WHO THEY REALLY ARE THE PRENCE OF JUDGMENTAL, FEARFUL OTHERS.THAT OUTLE HOLDS AN OBV POTENTIAL FOR QUEER ALLEGORY, AND ED MANY PIXAR FANS TRACKG THE FILM’S VELOPMENT QUICKLY LABELED LU AS THE STUD’S “GAY MOVIE”—A G-OUT STORY TO BE PLACED ON PIXAR’S MANTLE ALONGSI S MEDATNS ON GRIEF, ARTISTIC EXPRSN, LONELS, AYN RAND-IAN OBJECTIVISM, AND PARENTG. FALLY, DISNEY MIGHT ACTUALLY VENTURE TO QUEER STORYTELLG, A VAST LANDSPE OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE THAT THE STUD HAS ONLY MEEKLY (AND SMUGLY) GTURED TOWARD RECENT YEARS.@ELMUNDOALVARONEWSLU PAGURO ##PIXARLU ##LU ##PIXARLUMOVIE ##LUPIXAR ##LUED ##DISNEYPIXARLU ##LUPAGURO ##PIXARED ##DISNEYLU ##PIXAR ##DISNEYPIXAR♬ SONIDO ORIGAL – PIXAR LUTHERE IS ENOUGH THERE TO GRAFT A QUEER READG ONTO—LU’S DOTG PARENTS (VOICED BY MAYA RUDOLPH AND JIM GAFFIGAN) ARE SRED ABOUT HOW LU’S INTY MAY BE GREETED BY THOSE WHO DON’T UNRSTAND HIM, FOR STANCE—BUT THE FILM ULD JT AS EASILY BE SEEN AS AN ALLEGORY FOR OTHER SORTS OF DIFFERENCE. THE BOYS’ WASHG ASHORE BRGS TO MD THE RECENT IMMIGRATN AND REFUGEE CRISIS GRIPPG EUROPE, AS PEOPLE FLEEG WAR-TORN LANDS ARE MET WH HOSTILY AND SHUNNED BY ERNMENTS AS THEY SIMPLY TRY TO SURVIVE. OR THE FILM ULD MORE BROADLY JT BE ABOUT A PARTICULAR TIME EARLY ADOLCENCE, WHEN KIDS TEND TO LEAPOG OVER ONE ANOTHER ON THEIR WAY TO YOUNG ADULTHOOD, SOMETIM LEAVG EACH OTHER BEHD AS THEY GROW TO THEIR TE SELV AND RACE DOWN NEWLY OPEN PATHS.WRER/DIRECTOR ENRI CASAROSA HAS EXPLICLY SAID THAT THE FILM IS NOT A QUEER STORY, THAT IS ALL “PLATONIC” AND TERMEDLY “PRE-PUBCENT.” THAT SUGGTS A LIMED UNRSTANDG OF GAY GROWG UP, PARTICULARLY OF WHEN OUR FEELGS OF AFFECTN AND SPECIAL CLOSENS AND DIFFERENCE N FIRST VELOP. IT WOULD SEEM, AS SO OFTEN DO, THAT CASAROSA’S (AND PERHAPS DISNEY’S) VIEW, QUEERNS MT SPECIFILLY VOLVE SEX TO BE QUEERNS AT ALL. AND, OF URSE, PIXAR IS NEVER GOG TO MAKE A MOVIE, OSTENSIBLY FOR KIDS, THAT EVEN HTS AT SEX.BY THE WAY CASAROSA ALSO EXPLAED THE LAST THG ALBERTO SAYS TO LU AT THE END, WHICH MANY THOUGHT WAS PERHAPS SOME SWCHG: “PIACERE, GIROLAMO TROMBETTA,” ALBERTO SAYS AS HE SHAK LU’S HAND.THE BOY LGHS AS HE ASKS, “SERLY, WHAT DO THAT MEAN?”“NO IA; GO FD OUT FOR ME, WILL YA?” ALBERTO RPONDS.THE PHRASE THAT ALBERTO SAID TO LU AT THE END OF THE MOVIE ROUGHLY TRANSLAT TO “NICE TO MEET YOU. MY NAME IS TWISTY TROMBONE.” THIS LU MOVIE ITALIAN TRANSLATN ALSO APPEARS THE FILM WHEN THE TWO BOYS MEET EACH OTHER.PIACERE GIROLAMO TROMBETTA.IT’S A SILLY KIDS THG OM WHEN I GREW UP. IT’S AT S BASE A PUN WH A HAND SHAKE THAT GO WH . IT’S ITALIAN ROUGHLY FOR“NICE TO MEET YOU MY NAME IS TWISTY TROMBONE!” AND AS YOU SAY YOUR NAME YOU MIMICK THE NAME THE HAND SHAKE MOVEMENT. — ENRI CASAROSA (@SKETCHCRAWL) JUNE 19, 2021AFTER TRANSLATG THE ITALIAN PHRASE THAT ALBERTO SAID TO LU AT THE END OF THE PIXAR FILM, VIEWERS ARE STILL NFED. WHY DID HE SAY THAT? THE TWO BOYS ALREADY MET, AND ALBERTO’S NAME ISN’T TWISTY TROMBONE. IT DON’T MAKE ANY SENSE. LUCKILY, THE DIRECTOR ENRI CASAROSA FIELD NUMERO QUTNS OM FANS ABOUT THE MOVIE AFTER DROPPED ON DISNEY+. HE EXPLAED WHY ALBERTO SAID THE ITALIAN PHRASE TO LU. “IT’S A SILLY KIDS THG OM WHEN I GREW UP,” CASAROSA TWEETED ABOUT THE PHRASE. “IT’S AT S BASE A PUN WH A HANDSHAKE THAT GO WH . AND AS YOU SAY YOUR NAME, YOU MIMIC THE NAME THE HANDSHAKE MOVEMENT.”BACK TO THE GAY STUFF:ASI OM WHO MAY OR MAY NOT REPRENT, THE FILM IS A NICE TRODUCTN TO SUMMER S TOXITG WASH OF BLU AND GREENS AND ORANG, THE WAY NJUR UP THE HEADY MOMENTUM OF YOUTH, THE THRILLG SH OF LIFE’S PAG TURNG. LU DO WELL THAT REGARD, THOUGH PERHAPS MAY BE MORE MEMORABLE FOR WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THAN FOR WHAT ACTUALLY IS.UPON RE-WATCHG LU KNOWG ALL THIS I STILL FEEL LIKE ’S SO GOOD AND I’M LIKE WHY NOT JT SAY … A MONTH WHERE NEARLY ALL OF RPORATE AMERI WENT GAY-FOR-PAY OR AT THE VERY LEAST “WOKEWASHG/PKWASHG-WHATEVER-THE-PHRASE” OF THE MOMENT IS— THIS SE, THIS IS A MOVIE THAT PIXAR, DISNEY AND ANYONE VOLVED S CREATN, N BE PROUD OF.SO WHY AREN’T THEY?WRER/DIRECTOR DEKKER DREYER SAYS, “THERE’S THIS WHOLE IA THEY’RE RIDG ABOUT THEM BEG TOO YOUNG TO HAVE SEXUAL FEELGS… LOOK, HERE’S THE THG… KIDS SHOULDN’T BE HAVG SEX, BUT THAT DON’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT KIDS AS YOUNG AS PRCHOOL HAVE ROMANTIC TERTS AND CLATNS.” A QUICK ANECDOTAL (AND SLIGHTLY TONGUE--CHEEK) CHECK LIST OF GAY SIGNAL VIRTUE-G LU: THE SCENE WHERE THEY MEET, THE SECRET OF THEIR SOLIDARY INTY, ALBERTO AGAST EATG RBS (THE PART WHERE THE PASTA EATG PART OF THE VPA PETN IS EXPLAED), WHEN ALBERTO IS OUTED, WHEN LU BETRAYS ALBERTO WHEN HE’S OUTED… THE LIST GO ON.@PIXARSLUDO YOU LIKE LU ##LUED ##LU ##PIXARSLU##DISNYLU ##VIRAL ##???? ##LUDANIELAPAGURO ##FYP ????????????♬ ORIGAL SOUND – PIXARLU“IT’S VERY CLEARLY AN ALLEGORY FOR THE ACTUALIZATN OF ROMANTIC LEANGS,” DREYER SAYS. DREYER BELIEV THAT THE RPORATE RPONSE IS A FEAR OF  BRAND PEDOPHIL. “BEE OF THE AGE OF THE CHARACTERS. THE THG IS THEY NEVER SAY ’S NOT GAY THEY JT KEEP SAYG ‘THEY’RE CHILDREN BLAH BLAH… NO SEXUAL OVERTON.’ SOMEONE THERE IS WORRIED THAT THEY’LL GET THE PEDOPHILIA STAMP IF THEY ENDORSE AN IA OF SEXUAL INTY UNRAGED CHARACTERS, EVEN IF THOSE CHARACTERS AREN’T HUMANS. FUCK, FOR ALL WE KNOW SEA MONSTERS SEXUALLY MATURE YOUNGER THAN THAT… THEY’RE SEA MONSTERS.”  “IT’S WEIRD THAT THEY’D MAKE THIS FILM THIS TIME AND PLACE WHOUT BACKG UP S SUBTEXT AND TO A VERY REAL EXTENT, S TEXT,” DREYER NCLUS.POLYGON, HOWEVER, THKS: IT ISN’T A ROMANTIC QUANDARY AT ALL. INSTEAD, LU PLAYS WH THE IA THAT ANYONE N HAVE DIFFERENT EMOTNALLY SATISFYG RELATNSHIPS WH DIFFERENT PEOPLE, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGG HOW HARD THAT N BE TO ACCEPT.WHILE MANY MORY GROUPS AND OUTSIRS ATTRACT THE KD OF REACTN THE SEA MONSTERS ELIC OM THE TOWNSFOLK OF PORTOROSSO, FEW FOLLOW THE PATH OF HIDG THE THG THAT MAK THEM DIFFERENT ORR TO F , SOMETHG QUEER PEOPLE STGGLE WH THROUGHOUT THEIR LIV – MOST CERTALY BEFORE G OUT, BUT OFTEN FOR A LONG TIME AFTER, TOO. THE PARALLELS OF THE BOYS SECRETLY BEG SEA MONSTERS AND GAY AND BEG FORCED TO HI THEIR INTI CUTS CLOSER THAN OTHER MORY GROUPS, RATNALIZG A QUEER READG OF THE MOVIE. SO WHILE PIXAR NI LU IS A GAY STORY DUE TO S SETTG AND THE AGE OF S CHARACTERS, VIEWERS SHOULD READ THE QUEER NARRATIVE FOR WHAT IS.
• WA A SEC — ARE THE MA CHARACTERS PIXAR’S ‘LU’ GAY?

HOW GAY IS PIXAR’S LU?

When director Enri Casarosa says he didn’t tend to make Lu a gay romance, I believe him. OK, but isn’t still a ltle b gay? Still, there have been so many siar discsns about queer inty Disney movi that you n almost predict the disurse ahead of time: “They’re gay!

” “But why do they have to be gay?

” “But why n’t they be gay?

IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE

For both live-actn and animated movi, the stud has overhyped what have bee known as “exclively gay moments, ” ty morsels of reprentatn that are eher so subtle you hardly notice them (a kiss between two women the background of a Star Wars movie) or so plot-irrelevant that they n be easily chopped or overlooked by ternatnal censors (here’s lookg at you, Endgame’s unnamed Grievg Man). Meanwhile, while Disney has ngratulated self and claimed to blaze new trails, plenty of other animatn studs have been ahead of them: Laika’s ParaNorman, for example, featured an openly gay character way back 2012.

Ironilly, the Disney movie that gave the term “exclively gay moment” the first place took a different tack: The live-actn Bety and the Beast’s LeFou is more the spir of the stud’s long-standg tradn of strongly queer-d, if not explicly gay, villas. Fans have sce picked up on homoerotic unrton Raya and the Last Dragon and the live-actn Mulan, but the movi rema rabow Rorschach tts, wh dienc havg to read between the l or project their own meangs to fd queer reprentatn.

How gay is ? Whatever the director’s stated tent, the answer seems to be: as gay as you want to be.

DO DISNEY’S ‘LU’ HAVE A GAY CHARACTER?

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.

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.

“LU” IS THE GAY ALLEGORY I DERVED AS A CHILD

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.

PIXAR REPORTEDLY SCRAPPED GAY ‘LU’ STORYLE: ‘HOW DO WE DO THIS WHOUT A LOVE INTERT?’

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. That outle holds an obv potential for queer allegory, and ed many Pixar fans trackg the film’s velopment quickly labeled Lu as the stud’s “gay movie”—a g-out story to be placed on Pixar’s mantle alongsi s medatns on grief, artistic exprsn, lonels, Ayn Rand-ian objectivism, and parentg.

IF LU AND THE FALN AND THE WTER SOLDIER ARE GAY TO YOU, THEN THEY’RE GAY

” That suggts a limed unrstandg of gay growg up, particularly of when our feelgs of affectn and special closens and difference n first velop. That character, played tartly but briefly by John McCrea, is slightly ls of a scrap than the embarrassgly ballyhooed “exclively gay moment” 2017’s Bety and the Beast—but Artie still barely registered amid Cella’s cynil clamor.

SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY

Last year, Disney punted Love, Victor—a seri spoff of the feature film Love, Simon, the first stud film about a gay kid g out—om Disney+ to Hulu, clarg the young adult show a better f for that more grownup streamg service. Greg Gayne/HuluThe first season of Love, Victor very much felt like a show tend for Disney+ that somehow wound up alongsi Handmaid’s Tale. Love, Victor season two admirably exam life post-g out, as Victor (Michael Cimo) navigat his nascent relatnship wh barista Benji (Gee Sear) and tri to get his mother, Isabel (Ana Ortiz, queen of playg TV moms of gay kids), to fully accept his inty.

LU MAY NOT BE A GAY NARRATIVE, BUT ’S ABSOLUTELY A QUEER ONE

Victor and Benji grapple wh tra-gay nflicts jt as much as they do wh the wary nsiratns of the straight world.

The film's director said 's about iendships, but many viewers observed a strong gay subtext.

DISNEY INSISTS IT’S NOT GAY, BUT ‘LU’ IS ABOUT TWO BOYS IN LOVE SAVAS ABADSIDIS JUNE 25, 2021SHARE IN A WEEK WHERE LOKI ME OUT AS BISEXUAL ON HIS EPYNOMO SERI ON DISNEY+, PIXAR RELEASED THE MOST BETIFUL ALLEGORY FOR AT THE VERY LEAST ACTUALIZATN OF ROMANTIC LEANGS BETWEEN TWO BOYS LU.FROM TOPPS CARDS LU EDN.BUT DISNEY VEHEMENTLY NI LU IS GAY.AND I N’T HELP BUT WONR WHY?IF LU IS NOT OR DO NOT HAVE ANY “GAY OVERTON” AS DISNEY/PIXAR KEEP SAYG, THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS ?SO I WATCHED LU YTERDAY — YOUR FAVE IS MLM! (@FAVEISGAY) JUNE 20, 2021LU IS FACT ONE OF THE MOST BETIFUL STORI ABOUT TWO BOYS LOVE MASTERFULLY WROUGHT TO PTURE ADOLCENT NON-SEXUAL ROMANCE THAT I’VE EVER SEEN.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. AND THE TWO BOYS/SEA MONSTERS GO THROUGH A LOT TOGETHER, MIRRORG THE FDG OF FAY THAT OFTEN OCCURS THE LIV OF YOUNG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE. AS LU’S GRANDMA SAYS, “SOME PEOPLE, THEY’LL NEVER ACCEPT HIM. BUT SOME WILL. AND HE SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO FD THE GOOD ON.” AND THEY’RE NOT THE ONLY POTENTIAL QUEER CHARACTERS THE MOVIE – THE TWO SEPARABLE ELRLY WOMEN AT THE BEGNG OF THE STORY ALSO E OUT AS SEA MONSTERS THE CLIMACTIC SCENE AFTER THE RACE. NOT TO MENTN GIULIA’S POSN AS AN ALLY AND FENR OF THE BOYS AT SEVERAL POTS THE FILM.VANY FAIR: IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE A SUMMERY G-OF-AGE FABLE MIGHT BE LAN WH ALLEGORY, OR NOT? IN A DAZZLG ITALY SOME S AGO, TWO YOUNG MEN MEET AND EXPERIENCE A SWEEPG, HAPPY-SAD SUMMER OF SELF-REALIZATN TOGETHER. THAT MAY SOUND ROUGHLY LIKE THE PLOT OF LU GUADAGNO’S 2017 FILM CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, BUT IS ALSO THE STORY OF THE PERHAPS CINTALLY NAMED LU, THE LATT BTERSWEET ANIMATED FILM OM DISNEY AND PIXAR (ON DISNEY+ JUNE 18).THE FILM IS ABOUT TWO KIDS, LU (JAB TREMBLAY) AND ALBERTO (JACK DYLAN GRAZER), WHO SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME AS GILLED AND FNED CREATUR LIVG UNR THE SPARKLGLY WE-DARK LIGURIAN SEA. IF THEY MAKE THEIR WAY ONTO LAND, THEY MAGILLY TRANSFORM— APPEARANCE, AT LEAST—TO HUMANS, EE TO TERACT WH THE LANDLUBBERS OF A SMALL FISHG TOWN POPULATED WH WHIMSIL CHARACTERS. LU AND ALBERTO SHARE AN TENSE, FG, AND WORLD-CRACKG-OPEN BOND, BUT MT HI WHO THEY REALLY ARE THE PRENCE OF JUDGMENTAL, FEARFUL OTHERS.THAT OUTLE HOLDS AN OBV POTENTIAL FOR QUEER ALLEGORY, AND ED MANY PIXAR FANS TRACKG THE FILM’S VELOPMENT QUICKLY LABELED LU AS THE STUD’S “GAY MOVIE”—A G-OUT STORY TO BE PLACED ON PIXAR’S MANTLE ALONGSI S MEDATNS ON GRIEF, ARTISTIC EXPRSN, LONELS, AYN RAND-IAN OBJECTIVISM, AND PARENTG. FALLY, DISNEY MIGHT ACTUALLY VENTURE TO QUEER STORYTELLG, A VAST LANDSPE OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE THAT THE STUD HAS ONLY MEEKLY (AND SMUGLY) GTURED TOWARD RECENT YEARS.@ELMUNDOALVARONEWSLU PAGURO ##PIXARLU ##LU ##PIXARLUMOVIE ##LUPIXAR ##LUED ##DISNEYPIXARLU ##LUPAGURO ##PIXARED ##DISNEYLU ##PIXAR ##DISNEYPIXAR♬ SONIDO ORIGAL – PIXAR LUTHERE IS ENOUGH THERE TO GRAFT A QUEER READG ONTO—LU’S DOTG PARENTS (VOICED BY MAYA RUDOLPH AND JIM GAFFIGAN) ARE SRED ABOUT HOW LU’S INTY MAY BE GREETED BY THOSE WHO DON’T UNRSTAND HIM, FOR STANCE—BUT THE FILM ULD JT AS EASILY BE SEEN AS AN ALLEGORY FOR OTHER SORTS OF DIFFERENCE. THE BOYS’ WASHG ASHORE BRGS TO MD THE RECENT IMMIGRATN AND REFUGEE CRISIS GRIPPG EUROPE, AS PEOPLE FLEEG WAR-TORN LANDS ARE MET WH HOSTILY AND SHUNNED BY ERNMENTS AS THEY SIMPLY TRY TO SURVIVE. OR THE FILM ULD MORE BROADLY JT BE ABOUT A PARTICULAR TIME EARLY ADOLCENCE, WHEN KIDS TEND TO LEAPOG OVER ONE ANOTHER ON THEIR WAY TO YOUNG ADULTHOOD, SOMETIM LEAVG EACH OTHER BEHD AS THEY GROW TO THEIR TE SELV AND RACE DOWN NEWLY OPEN PATHS.WRER/DIRECTOR ENRI CASAROSA HAS EXPLICLY SAID THAT THE FILM IS NOT A QUEER STORY, THAT IS ALL “PLATONIC” AND TERMEDLY “PRE-PUBCENT.” THAT SUGGTS A LIMED UNRSTANDG OF GAY GROWG UP, PARTICULARLY OF WHEN OUR FEELGS OF AFFECTN AND SPECIAL CLOSENS AND DIFFERENCE N FIRST VELOP. IT WOULD SEEM, AS SO OFTEN DO, THAT CASAROSA’S (AND PERHAPS DISNEY’S) VIEW, QUEERNS MT SPECIFILLY VOLVE SEX TO BE QUEERNS AT ALL. AND, OF URSE, PIXAR IS NEVER GOG TO MAKE A MOVIE, OSTENSIBLY FOR KIDS, THAT EVEN HTS AT SEX.BY THE WAY CASAROSA ALSO EXPLAED THE LAST THG ALBERTO SAYS TO LU AT THE END, WHICH MANY THOUGHT WAS PERHAPS SOME SWCHG: “PIACERE, GIROLAMO TROMBETTA,” ALBERTO SAYS AS HE SHAK LU’S HAND.THE BOY LGHS AS HE ASKS, “SERLY, WHAT DO THAT MEAN?”“NO IA; GO FD OUT FOR ME, WILL YA?” ALBERTO RPONDS.THE PHRASE THAT ALBERTO SAID TO LU AT THE END OF THE MOVIE ROUGHLY TRANSLAT TO “NICE TO MEET YOU. MY NAME IS TWISTY TROMBONE.” THIS LU MOVIE ITALIAN TRANSLATN ALSO APPEARS THE FILM WHEN THE TWO BOYS MEET EACH OTHER.PIACERE GIROLAMO TROMBETTA.IT’S A SILLY KIDS THG OM WHEN I GREW UP. IT’S AT S BASE A PUN WH A HAND SHAKE THAT GO WH . IT’S ITALIAN ROUGHLY FOR“NICE TO MEET YOU MY NAME IS TWISTY TROMBONE!” AND AS YOU SAY YOUR NAME YOU MIMICK THE NAME THE HAND SHAKE MOVEMENT. — ENRI CASAROSA (@SKETCHCRAWL) JUNE 19, 2021AFTER TRANSLATG THE ITALIAN PHRASE THAT ALBERTO SAID TO LU AT THE END OF THE PIXAR FILM, VIEWERS ARE STILL NFED. WHY DID HE SAY THAT? THE TWO BOYS ALREADY MET, AND ALBERTO’S NAME ISN’T TWISTY TROMBONE. IT DON’T MAKE ANY SENSE. LUCKILY, THE DIRECTOR ENRI CASAROSA FIELD NUMERO QUTNS OM FANS ABOUT THE MOVIE AFTER DROPPED ON DISNEY+. HE EXPLAED WHY ALBERTO SAID THE ITALIAN PHRASE TO LU. “IT’S A SILLY KIDS THG OM WHEN I GREW UP,” CASAROSA TWEETED ABOUT THE PHRASE. “IT’S AT S BASE A PUN WH A HANDSHAKE THAT GO WH . AND AS YOU SAY YOUR NAME, YOU MIMIC THE NAME THE HANDSHAKE MOVEMENT.”BACK TO THE GAY STUFF:ASI OM WHO MAY OR MAY NOT REPRENT, THE FILM IS A NICE TRODUCTN TO SUMMER S TOXITG WASH OF BLU AND GREENS AND ORANG, THE WAY NJUR UP THE HEADY MOMENTUM OF YOUTH, THE THRILLG SH OF LIFE’S PAG TURNG. LU DO WELL THAT REGARD, THOUGH PERHAPS MAY BE MORE MEMORABLE FOR WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THAN FOR WHAT ACTUALLY IS.UPON RE-WATCHG LU KNOWG ALL THIS I STILL FEEL LIKE ’S SO GOOD AND I’M LIKE WHY NOT JT SAY … A MONTH WHERE NEARLY ALL OF RPORATE AMERI WENT GAY-FOR-PAY OR AT THE VERY LEAST “WOKEWASHG/PKWASHG-WHATEVER-THE-PHRASE” OF THE MOMENT IS— THIS SE, THIS IS A MOVIE THAT PIXAR, DISNEY AND ANYONE VOLVED S CREATN, N BE PROUD OF.SO WHY AREN’T THEY?WRER/DIRECTOR DEKKER DREYER SAYS, “THERE’S THIS WHOLE IA THEY’RE RIDG ABOUT THEM BEG TOO YOUNG TO HAVE SEXUAL FEELGS… LOOK, HERE’S THE THG… KIDS SHOULDN’T BE HAVG SEX, BUT THAT DON’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT KIDS AS YOUNG AS PRCHOOL HAVE ROMANTIC TERTS AND CLATNS.” A QUICK ANECDOTAL (AND SLIGHTLY TONGUE--CHEEK) CHECK LIST OF GAY SIGNAL VIRTUE-G LU: THE SCENE WHERE THEY MEET, THE SECRET OF THEIR SOLIDARY INTY, ALBERTO AGAST EATG RBS (THE PART WHERE THE PASTA EATG PART OF THE VPA PETN IS EXPLAED), WHEN ALBERTO IS OUTED, WHEN LU BETRAYS ALBERTO WHEN HE’S OUTED… THE LIST GO ON.@PIXARSLUDO YOU LIKE LU ##LUED ##LU ##PIXARSLU##DISNYLU ##VIRAL ##???? ##LUDANIELAPAGURO ##FYP ????????????♬ ORIGAL SOUND – PIXARLU“IT’S VERY CLEARLY AN ALLEGORY FOR THE ACTUALIZATN OF ROMANTIC LEANGS,” DREYER SAYS. DREYER BELIEV THAT THE RPORATE RPONSE IS A FEAR OF  BRAND PEDOPHIL. “BEE OF THE AGE OF THE CHARACTERS. THE THG IS THEY NEVER SAY ’S NOT GAY THEY JT KEEP SAYG ‘THEY’RE CHILDREN BLAH BLAH… NO SEXUAL OVERTON.’ SOMEONE THERE IS WORRIED THAT THEY’LL GET THE PEDOPHILIA STAMP IF THEY ENDORSE AN IA OF SEXUAL INTY UNRAGED CHARACTERS, EVEN IF THOSE CHARACTERS AREN’T HUMANS. FUCK, FOR ALL WE KNOW SEA MONSTERS SEXUALLY MATURE YOUNGER THAN THAT… THEY’RE SEA MONSTERS.”  “IT’S WEIRD THAT THEY’D MAKE THIS FILM THIS TIME AND PLACE WHOUT BACKG UP S SUBTEXT AND TO A VERY REAL EXTENT, S TEXT,” DREYER NCLUS.POLYGON, HOWEVER, THKS: IT ISN’T A ROMANTIC QUANDARY AT ALL. INSTEAD, LU PLAYS WH THE IA THAT ANYONE N HAVE DIFFERENT EMOTNALLY SATISFYG RELATNSHIPS WH DIFFERENT PEOPLE, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGG HOW HARD THAT N BE TO ACCEPT.WHILE MANY MORY GROUPS AND OUTSIRS ATTRACT THE KD OF REACTN THE SEA MONSTERS ELIC OM THE TOWNSFOLK OF PORTOROSSO, FEW FOLLOW THE PATH OF HIDG THE THG THAT MAK THEM DIFFERENT ORR TO F , SOMETHG QUEER PEOPLE STGGLE WH THROUGHOUT THEIR LIV – MOST CERTALY BEFORE G OUT, BUT OFTEN FOR A LONG TIME AFTER, TOO. THE PARALLELS OF THE BOYS SECRETLY BEG SEA MONSTERS AND GAY AND BEG FORCED TO HI THEIR INTI CUTS CLOSER THAN OTHER MORY GROUPS, RATNALIZG A QUEER READG OF THE MOVIE. SO WHILE PIXAR NI LU IS A GAY STORY DUE TO S SETTG AND THE AGE OF S CHARACTERS, VIEWERS SHOULD READ THE QUEER NARRATIVE FOR WHAT IS.

Alberto and Lu's relatnship is laced wh gay subtextLu is immediately taken by the ee-spired Alberto when he meets a fellow sea monster off the ast of 're sually physil wh each other, sleepg si by si unr a star-filled sky, wrappg their arms around each other's waists, and watchg the sunset together. "This might seem rehg to some, to see a Disney movie explore iendships as opposed to a fairy-tale love story, but s a shame that this cisn has e when a gay romance uld have so easily and naturally be Lu and Alberto explicly gay or queer wouldn't have felt ntrived. It would have been a meangful nfirmatn of what is already a story rich gay subtext.

"Bety and the Beast" and "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" both featured blk-and-you'll-miss- "gay moments:" a dance between two men and a kiss between two women. Queer kids will still feel forted by this story bee the scene plays out like an allegory for g out and beg gay, even if Casarosa said isn't. —ClassicMovieGay (@jblikmovi) June 19, 2021What would have ma even more powerful, though, is if the movie explicly embraced the unniable queer subtext through will argue that Pixar ma the right ll to be more ambiguo, so that more people n take different thgs om the movie, but I feel queer dienc have been robbed of a goln opportuny for tangible reprentatn.

WA A SEC — ARE THE MA CHARACTERS PIXAR’S ‘LU’ GAY?

Instead, Disney seems happy to let dienc terpret the movie their own way — (almost) satisfyg LGBTQ dienc wh a movie that feels gay but actually isn't, whout beg brave enough to prent an openly queer story. 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? 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.