Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: "I am gay and I am insulted"

The latest news of Disney’s live action remake of Beauty and the Beast is that Gaston’s right hand man LeFou will represent Disney’s first explicitly gay character, who apparently bears a lustful attraction to the film’s antagonist. Some might see this as progress. I, however, do not. And here’s why.

To begin with, this reeks of tokenism. The most insulting thing about this is that it bears no meaning to the overall narrative. There’s no justifiable reason why LeFou should adopt the role of ‘the homosexual’ other than to depict him as ‘the homosexual’. In terms of the plot, we know he and Gaston aren’t going to get it on anyway (well, they might, but if they did, it would frankly be an insult to the original story). Assuming that LeFou’s infatuation will end in misery, this is merely another gay filmic portrayal with a tragic conclusion, which is not progressive.

Disney, 2017

Regardless of how LeFou’s story ends, what filmmakers and television writers don’t seem to quite understand is that merely transforming a previously straight or sexually ambiguous character into a gay character is actually more regressive than it is revolutionary, in exactly the same sense as whenever a character’s ethnicity is altered for the sake of encouraging ‘equal representation’ (I’m looking at you, Thunderbirds Are Go…).

In addition, something nobody seems to mention is the fact that, whenever a gay character is represented, they are almost always depicted in a romantic or sexual role, which is, again, insulting. Portraying gay people in subtle ways that merely acknowledge their sexuality as a minor detail is far more appealing and effective than flaunting our apparently uncontrollable lustful behaviour in roles such as this.

The problem with the media today is that there is too substantial a focus on equal representation and conforming to 21^st Century PC policies and expectations, all at the expense of the conveyance of a good story. Now, obviously I can’t yet comment on this film’s narrative as I’ve not yet seen it, but already I am fuming at the headlines. This is not progression, people. This is an affront to minorities in general; tokenism at its worst. For those who don't already know, I am gay and I am insulted.

Beauty and the Beast is released in UK cinemas on the 17^th March.