Pixar director Enri Casarosa drew heavily om faiar g-out stori and other "gay narrative" trop for his animated movie Lu. (It’s all there, om nversn therapy to passg privilege.) But he’s still nyg any gay ntent, shuttg down queer viewers who see themselv the film. The bate mirrors other s, om Star Wars’ Le Skywalker to Anthony Mackie’s ments on The Faln and the Wter Soldier, where LBGTQ+ viewers terpret stori through their own lens, and the creators try to ny them. Here’s why eedom of terpretatn matters.
Contents:
- ‘LU’ DIRECTOR “TALKED ABOUT” THE FILM BEG A GAY LOVE STORY
- LU MAY NOT BE A GAY NARRATIVE, BUT ’S ABSOLUTELY A QUEER ONE
- I'M SORRY, BUT "LU" IS TOTALLY A GAY MOVIE, AND THE 18 TWEETS PROVE IT
- DO DISNEY’S ‘LU’ HAVE A GAY CHARACTER?
- IF LU AND THE FALN AND THE WTER SOLDIER ARE GAY TO YOU, THEN THEY’RE GAY
- 'LU' DIRECTOR ADMS THEY 'TALKED ABOUT' MAKG THE LEADS GAY BUT CID TO FOC ON A 'PRE-ROMANCE' IENDSHIP
- HOW GAY IS PIXAR’S LU?
- IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
- “LU” IS GAY AND YOU CAN’T CHANGE MY MD
- SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY
- LU FANS ARE NVCED 'S A GAY LOVE STORY AND THE MEM ARE INIC
‘LU’ DIRECTOR “TALKED ABOUT” THE FILM BEG A GAY LOVE STORY
LGBTQ people noted siari between Lu and gay drama Call Me by Your Name, somethg director Enri Casarosa has prevly rejected * luca gay moments *
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.
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.
LU MAY NOT BE A GAY NARRATIVE, BUT ’S ABSOLUTELY A QUEER ONE
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. The film's director said 's about iendships, but many viewers observed a strong gay subtext.
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.
I'M SORRY, BUT "LU" IS TOTALLY A GAY MOVIE, AND THE 18 TWEETS PROVE IT
"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. 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. When Pixar first released the trailer for animated film Lu, LGBTQ viewers were quick to note more than a few siari wh Osr-wng gay drama Call Me by Your Name.
DO DISNEY’S ‘LU’ HAVE A GAY CHARACTER?
So strong was the gay reactn to Lu that the film’s director, Enri Casarosa, was forced to go on rerd last year and say that was about iendship, not romance. Viewers noted siari between Lu (left), and gay drama Call Me By Your Name. READ NEXTTrixie Mattel’s ‘Trixie Motel’ is Gettg a Send SeasonYouTube Chef Confs to Murr of Gay LoverTrans Woman Asslted and Stripped Outsi California BarAdam Lambert Defends Boyiend From Onle Haters.
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.
” Hal regnized that some people benefted om readg the character as gay, and acknowledged that there isn’t a sgle rrect terpretatn of Le. Lu is a gay movie.
IF LU AND THE FALN AND THE WTER SOLDIER ARE GAY TO YOU, THEN THEY’RE GAY
This movie is 1, 000% a metaphor for the growg up gay experience. I'm jt stg here after watchg #Lu unable to stop thkg about how was a metaphor for beg gay. Jt saw Lu, & I don’t re what anyone else says, ’s the first gay animated film by Disney/Pixar.
'LU' DIRECTOR ADMS THEY 'TALKED ABOUT' MAKG THE LEADS GAY BUT CID TO FOC ON A 'PRE-ROMANCE' IENDSHIP
Watchg lu and giulia sayg all three of them "drs weird" when they llectively look like a gay iend group 2021................
Also me, watchg Lu: gay? Cryg joyful gay tears for all the nfed LGBTQ+ kids who will watch Pixar's LUCA and have their ner world validated.
HOW GAY IS PIXAR’S LU?
I feel like Lu will make a lastg imprsn on the LGBTQ muny bee even though the characters weren’t stated gay clearly draws on many experienc that gays face adolcence and even after speakg as a 19-year-old out guy I uld relate to #Lu #PixarLu.
IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
Alberto and lu not beg able to let go of each others hands is the most heart breakg thg omfg i love gays. 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!
“LU” IS GAY AND YOU CAN’T CHANGE MY MD
) 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!
Anthony Mackie, ver your ears: Lu is gay. While ’s not ma explic, Pixar’s latt—the sun-soaked tale about the transformative iendship between two young sea monsters who disguise their te inty to explore life on land among humans—mak for a rich parable for the queer g-of-age experience, and one that feels more genue and more heartfelt than any of the Disney rporatn’s meager attempts at “exclively gay moments” recent the ncern Mackie voiced last week, about “the exploatn of homosexualy, ” was a direct rponse to fans ’shippg a romance between his Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barn the MCU, ’s hard not to read as a crique of the broar culture: that LGBTQ+ dienc, particular, misterpret certa characters and stori to— his words—“make themselv relevant and ratnal. ” In that sense, ’s a funny cince Mackie’s statement was published the day prr to Lu’s release: Ever sce s Call Me By Your Name-que synopsis was first revealed, was speculated (sometim jokgly) that the movie would be gay, or at least a gay metaphor.
SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY
As director Enri Casarosa—who notably also receiv a “story by” cred—told our lleagu at 9, Lu wasn’t signed to be a gay allegory.
(Even the animated film’s tle seems like a nod to the gay romance, a reference to s director.
LU FANS ARE NVCED 'S A GAY LOVE STORY AND THE MEM ARE INIC
Lu’s protagonist is signifintly younger than Call Me By Your Name’s—he’s more boy than buddg young man—and the film’s story reflects that, never addrsg romantic feelgs at all, and certaly g nowhere close to the teenaged yearng of Timothée Chalamet’s Polygon put a cheeky but blunt headle: “Sorry, folks, Pixar’s Lu isn’t gay.
” So, sure, what velops between the two young sea monsters isn’t “gay, ” but then that don’t necsarily mean the movie’s “straight, ” eher—s story simply exists a time before those sorts of feelgs, romantic or sexual, beg to surface. The “sea monsters = gay” metaphor don’t hold up to scty when you nsir that Lu’s own parents, clearly genred male and female, are also sea monsters.
But that subtext is there regardls, and those who grew up closeted or qutng their own sexualy will almost certaly relate to aspects of Lu’s are many moments when Lu’s gay allegory is crystal clear. Performed homophobia as a fense mechanism is not unmon when we’re ndned to feel shame for who we are, and to see play out between Lu and Alberto—even as a murky metaphor—is achgly ’s worth mentng that we’re wadg to some tricky waters, that don’t feel particularly appropriate to pontifite on the sexualy of characters who are mors—fictnal and animated, y, but still adolcents. But that’s where we n to the larger issue wh Disney’s “exclively gay moments” th far, and the way society often talks about sexualy.