'Lu' Director Says They 'Talked About' Makg the Leads Gay

Contents:

• DO DISNEY’S ‘LU’ HAVE A GAY CHARACTER?
• 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
• SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY
• HOW GAY IS PIXAR’S LU?
• IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
• WA A SEC — ARE THE MA CHARACTERS PIXAR’S ‘LU’ GAY?
• 'LU' DIRECTOR ADMS THEY 'TALKED ABOUT' MAKG THE LEADS GAY BUT CID TO FOC ON A 'PRE-ROMANCE' IENDSHIP
• PIXAR REPORTEDLY SCRAPPED GAY ‘LU’ STORYLE: ‘HOW DO WE DO THIS WHOUT A LOVE INTERT?’
• LU FANS ARE NVCED 'S A GAY LOVE STORY AND THE MEM ARE INIC
• IS PIXAR’S LUCA GAY? FILMMAKERS ANSWER THE BURNG LGBTQ+ QUTN

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.

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

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. 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.

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!

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

) 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!

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.

SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY

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. 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.

HOW GAY IS PIXAR’S LU?

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 dialogue. 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. Lu is a gay movie.

IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE

This movie is 1, 000% a metaphor for the growg up gay experience.

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

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. 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.

Alberto and lu not beg able to let go of each others hands is the most heart breakg thg omfg i love gays. 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.

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

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. \u201cCryg joyful gay tears for all the nfed LGBTQ+ kids who will watch Pixar's LUCA and have their ner world validated.

\u201d — ClassicMovieGay (@ClassicMovieGay). Are Lu and Alberto Gay? Therefore, even while no character the film intifi as openly gay, fans strongly relate to the story of Lu and Alberto.

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

Unfortunately, none of the tangible romantic chemistry between Lu and Alberto was ever ma official, and Lu director Enri Casarosa explaed that while makg the film's two lead characters gay was fely a possibily, he end up wantg to make the film about a "pre-romance" part of many children's liv. "That was somethg that I was terted as well bee there's jt that moment that maybe we're not thkg about boyiends and girliends yet, which is really more about iendships."The news of Giulia almost beg queer Lu on the heels of The Walt Disney Company beg hot water wh a lot of s LGBTQ+ fans for fundg and supportg legislators Florida who support the state's ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill.

In the same Variety report mentned earlier, was also revealed that Pixar animators jt rtored a same-sex between two characters the upg Lightyear movie after a group of ncerned employe released a statement earlier March claimg executiv at Disney had censored all attempts to portray stanc of "overtly gay affectn" om storyl var Pixar films.Lu is streamg on Disney+.RELATED | Lu Director Says Film Is About the 'Pre-Romance' Time Boys' Liv. They've been wonrg if "Lu" is a gay allegory and Pixar's first queer love story.

In fact, once the previews me out, many viewers started parg the film to "Call Me By Your Name, " a g-of-age gay romance that was crilly (via Rotten Tomato, wh a 94 percent Tomatometer sre) and mercially well-received (via Deadle) when Sony Pictur Classics released 2017. On Twter, fans are fely readg gayns the ma characters — and they're lovg the feels the movie giv them as a rult. "Lu is a gay Disney movie.

IS PIXAR’S LUCA GAY? FILMMAKERS ANSWER THE BURNG LGBTQ+ QUTN

Alberto is a homosexual and I love him, " said @lgbtommysnail. "The gay allegory Pixar's Lu was so poignant for my partner and I. Perfectly ptur the feelg of the bt iend you're kda love wh as a young gay kid, the nfn, the fear of beg different & hidg..

Not everyone was happy, of urse, bee they felt "Lu" was a gay film signed to be acceptable to the movie-gog public.

It's exactly like sayg ITS OKAY TO BE and then wrg the word gay lowerse cursive on a piece of paper and foldg that paper and stickg someone's pocket, " noted @absrdst. And @bgheluvr69 poted out, "dk where I thought I heard somethg about Lu beg gay so I got my expectatns up also c 's pri month I actually thought But was still a cute movie even if DisPixar are wards. Some posters wonred why this had to be seen as a gay relatnship vers a close boyhood iendship, although others noted that gay relatnships are often sexualized on-screen but n be as nocent as youthful heterosexual relatnships as well.