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,’ CHILDHOOD IENDSHIP AND THE DISURSE AROUND GAY FISH
- DO DISNEY’S ‘LU’ HAVE A GAY CHARACTER?
- LU MAY NOT BE A GAY NARRATIVE, BUT ’S ABSOLUTELY A QUEER ONE
- 'LU' DIRECTOR ADMS THEY 'TALKED ABOUT' MAKG THE LEADS GAY BUT CID TO FOC ON A 'PRE-ROMANCE' IENDSHIP
- LU FANS ARE NVCED 'S A GAY LOVE STORY AND THE MEM ARE INIC
- GAY FISH
- SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY
- WA A SEC — ARE THE MA CHARACTERS PIXAR’S ‘LU’ GAY?
- OWEN IS A GAY FISH
- 'LU' DIRECTOR ADMS THEY 'TALKED ABOUT' MAKG THE LEADS GAY BUT CID TO FOC ON A 'PRE-ROMANCE' IENDSHIP
‘LU,’ CHILDHOOD IENDSHIP AND THE DISURSE AROUND GAY FISH
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. * does luca mean little 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.
DO DISNEY’S ‘LU’ HAVE A GAY CHARACTER?
* does luca mean little gay fish *
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.
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?
LU MAY NOT BE A GAY NARRATIVE, BUT ’S ABSOLUTELY A QUEER ONE
Pixar’s newt film, ‘Lu,’ featur two sea creatur hidg their te inty orr to blend , and some people thk ’s about beg gay. * does luca mean little gay fish *
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.
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!
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' DIRECTOR ADMS THEY 'TALKED ABOUT' MAKG THE LEADS GAY BUT CID TO FOC ON A 'PRE-ROMANCE' IENDSHIP
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.
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. 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.
GAY FISH
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.
SORRY, FOLKS, PIXAR’S LU ISN’T GAY
Watchg the close relatnship the ma characters Lu and Alberto have, many even went and clared the animated versn of the gay g-of-age 2017 drama, "Call Me by Your Name, " starrg Timothée Chalamet and Armie "Lu" director Enri Casarosa has always said while dog prs that the story is based on his straight relatnship wh his bt iend growg up Italy, a recent terview wh The Wrap he did adm that for a moment while velopg the story they wonred if Lu and Alberto should be more than jt iends.
"It's a shame that this cisn has e when a gay romance uld have so easily and naturally be explored, " he wrote. "Makg Lu and Alberto explicly gay or queer wouldn't have felt ntrived, would have been a meangful nfirmatn of what is already a story rich gay subtext. "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. One person tweeted: "Jt saw Lu, & I don’t re what anyone else says, ’s the first gay animated film by Disney/Pixar.
WA A SEC — ARE THE MA CHARACTERS PIXAR’S ‘LU’ GAY?
"Another person tweeted: "Jt watched Lu and now I’m cryg over gay fish what the fuck. Jt saw Lu, & I don’t re what anyone else says, ’s the first gay animated film by Disney/Pixar. Also me, watchg Lu: gay?
OWEN IS A GAY FISH
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..
i KNOW #Lu isn’t an explicly gay movie. Jt watched Lu and now I’m cryg over gay fish what the fuck— ? Kiiwi ? ONGOING DTIYS (@kiiwistu) June 18, 2021.
Lu asks the age old qutn: Are they gay or jt alian— Mar Mozzarella (@MarGractti) June 18, 2021. Hi, the characters Lu are more queer than any of the other 97 first openly gay characters the Disney/Pixar non, and if you don’t thk so then don’t talk to me or my mermaid son or his mermaid lover ever aga, happy PRIDE.
'LU' DIRECTOR ADMS THEY 'TALKED ABOUT' MAKG THE LEADS GAY BUT CID TO FOC ON A 'PRE-ROMANCE' IENDSHIP
It's also worth notg that even though Casarosa said that Lu is not a gay love story, he hasn't explicly said if Lu and Alberto are queer or not. 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.
"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.