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Josh Gad's LeFou is Disney's first officially confirmed gay character

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The "nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie" is a dedication to the animated film's late lyricist Howard Ashman.

It's certain as the sun — Josh Gad's character in Beauty and the Beast is gay.

In the live-action retelling starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens — Gad plays LeFou, the comical sidekick to antagonist Gaston (Luke Evans). Thanks to a subplot alteration, LeFou will be Disney's first-ever LGBTQ character.

“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” director Bill Condon tells Attitude. “He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its payoff at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."

Gad tweeted that he is "beyond proud" to lead the major Disney benchmark, which is in dedication to the original film's late lyricist Howard Ashman, who died before the animated hit premiered in theaters. He saw the Beast's circumstances as a "metaphor for AIDS," Condon explained. "He was cursed, and this curse had brought sorrow on all those people who loved him, and maybe there was a chance for a miracle and a way for the curse to be lifted. .. It was a very, very concrete thing that he was doing."

The 1991 animated film centered on the theme of ostracism, and the cast explained that their live-action retelling will do so as well. "I think it was really important for Dan and I to develop and understand why each of our characters feel as if they don’t fit in,” said Watson, who plays Belle. “I certainly felt watching the original that I wanted to know more about why Belle feels that she’s different and why she wants to be different and why she’s naturally different.”

"It's about that sense of persecution," added Stevens, who plays Beast. "Belle is seen as a bit of a freak within her community, this girl who reads and invents things and is a bit too clever for the local Establishment. And Beast is obviously persecuted because of his appearance."

Kevin Kline, Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Audra McDonald and Stanley Tucci are also featured in Beauty and the Beast, which hits theaters March 17.

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I mean.. chi1

I don't know, my first reaction was "of course it had to be the fat, funny sidekick" bey2 I'd rather they just left this out. LeFou was not an outcast in the original movie, and the main tension between Belle as someone who doesn't fit in and is looking for adventure and romance, and gets it, but in an unexpected way for which she actually has to make an effort, and the Beast who's dealing with a similar challenge of compromise and self-adaptation was a superior subtext to explore with far more social relevance imo than this "omg they're all persecuted outcasts poor them" bore ari1 We got that, who cares, there's more interesting stuff to develop. Why didn't they make a backstory for the persecuted and demonized wolves in the story then, it looks like they're leaving them untouched brit13

I dunno, everything I saw from this movie seems like a total downgrade from the original I am not pleased feb1

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1 minute ago, Earth Ripper said:

I mean.. chi1

I don't know, my first reaction was "of course it had to be the fat, funny sidekick" bey2 I'd rather they just left this out. LeFou was not an outcast in the original movie, and the main tension between Belle as someone who doesn't fit in and is looking for adventure and romance, and gets it, but in an unexpected way for which she actually has to make an effort, as well as the Beast, was a superior subtext to explore rather than this "omg they're all persecuted outcasts" bore ari1 We got that, who cares, there's more interesting stuff to develop. Why didn't they make a backstory for the persecuted and demonized wolves in the story then brit13

I dunno, everything I saw from this movie seems like a total downgrade from the original I am not pleased feb1

 
 

this. Is it really empowerment? Not to be nitpicky...

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3 minutes ago, Earth Ripper said:

I mean.. chi1

I don't know, my first reaction was "of course it had to be the fat, funny sidekick" bey2 I'd rather they just left this out. LeFou was not an outcast in the original movie, and the main tension between Belle as someone who doesn't fit in and is looking for adventure and romance, and gets it, but in an unexpected way for which she actually has to make an effort, and the Beast who's dealing with a similar challenge of compromizing self-adaptation, was a superior subtext to explore with far more social relevance imo than this "omg they're all persecuted outcasts poor them" bore ari1 We got that, who cares, there's more interesting stuff to develop. Why didn't they make a backstory for the persecuted and demonized wolves in the story then brit13

I dunno, everything I saw from this movie seems like a total downgrade from the original I am not pleased feb1

I mean I've assumed my whole life that LeFou was gay? So for me this is less about empowerment and visibility and more about consistent character development.

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20 minutes ago, QUINN said:

I mean I've assumed my whole life that LeFou was gay?

Why tho ari1

Because of his voice or something? That reeks more of homophobia than open-minded tolerance imo ayumi1 LeFou clearly functions as the opposite of Gaston purely for entertainment purposes. Instead of being tall, handsome and muscular he's short, ordinary and fat. It just makes for a funny sidekick character who has absolutely zero narrative merit. If Gaston had another handsome looking sidekick, the whole "Gaston is the concentrated evil" effect would've been broken, that's the only reason he is how he is aretha1 He's just comic relief. Which is why I'm rolling my eyes at this inclusion of the pro-gay narrative, just like I rolled my eyes at the Billy Elliot musical making a "pro-gay" statement by including an appallingly offensive effeminate ballet director who makes a gay joke, eliminating all of the beautifully subtle and actually provoking gay sentiments in the original movie chi1

It just reinforces all the same anti-gay dominants: gays should be laughed at because of their entertaining ways, we don't want them to be visible as main characters, and they should look different from those main characters, preferrably being overly theatrical and/or clumsy and/or fat, so we don't have to consider the horrifying possibility that gay people are just like everyone else, and god forbid my kids would see the gay character as a role model ew2 And when they do have their moment of emotional substance, it should always be balanced with an overwhelmingly heteronormative romantic climax anyway. It's bs and not progress at all.

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I mean, LeFou could've easily been just one of the guys who happens to have a romantic connection with Gaston, but just look at this fucking clip chi1

He actually actively stands out as being an effeminate entertainer gay compared to the other men, which was absolutely not the case in the original even if you believe he was already gay in there jay1 So how exactly is this gonna be a step forward? This just reinforces the age old stereotype of gay people as a source of entertainment, voluntarily or not.

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1 minute ago, QUINN said:

Oh wow. Thanks for implying I'm homophobic, @Earth Ripper! It's more about his adoration of Gaston and me figuring out the difference between obsession and genuine admiration as a kid, but slay with your essay I guess! 

I guess all guys with Ronaldo posters on their bedroom walls are gay too now jay1

He adores Gaston because he's everything he's not and can never be. That's why he tries shit like eating all those eggs like Gaston and comically failing. And why would he help Gaston get married to Belle if he was inevitably jealous? Definitely doesn't show that once katy2 

But like I said above, even if he was gay in the original, he was not effeminate nor theatrical, while in the remake he is, which is enough to be offended by in my opinion, since that is a deliberate, unnecessary choice meg1

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Just now, Earth Ripper said:

I guess all guys with Ronaldo posters on their bedroom walls are gay too now jay1

He adores Gaston because he's everything he's not and can never be. That's why he tries shit like eating all those eggs like Gaston and comically failing. And why would he help Gaston get married to Belle if he was inevitably jealous? Definitely doesn't show that once katy2 

But like I said above, even if he was gay in the original, he was not effeminate nor theatrical, while in the remake he is, which is enough to be offended by in my opinion, since that is a deliberate, unnecessary choice meg1

I don't want to discuss this with you anymore, sorry. You're being overly defensive and coming at me like I'm the enemy here, when I'm just as entitled to an opinion as you are. You should consider thinking twice about throwing arrogant accusations at people if you intend to have rational discussion with them. Good luck!

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Just now, QUINN said:

I don't want to discuss this with you anymore, sorry. You're being overly defensive and coming at me like I'm the enemy here, when I'm just as entitled to an opinion as you are. You should consider thinking twice about throwing arrogant accusations at people if you intend to have rational discussion with them. Good luck!

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but you refuse to defend that opinion which I don't understand when you quote someone with it who's clearly already agitated about the subject and will want to discuss it gaga12 Me asking you why LeFou seemed gay to you with that homophobia comment attached wasn't meant as an insult or an accusation (that was just an ironic comical touch to me), I just genuinely didn't get it, for you to take immediate and grave offense at that (again ironic in the context of this thread) and throwing a personal remark at me without responding to the arguments I presented in good conscience is actually the far better example of someone being overly defense, coming at someone like they're the enemy and acting like their opinion doesn't count dead7 I just wanna have a conversation here, if you interpreted it as arrogant or an attack, then I'm sorry, but reacting back with the same behavior you're accusing me of is a pretty lame solution.

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4 minutes ago, Earth Ripper said:

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but you refuse to defend that opinion which I don't understand when you quote someone with it who's clearly already agitated about the subject and will want to discuss it gaga12 Me asking you why LeFou seemed gay to you with that homophobia comment attached wasn't meant as an insult or an accusation (that was just an ironic comical touch to me), I just genuinely didn't get it, for you to take immediate and grave offense at that (again ironic in the context of this thread) and throwing a personal remark at me without responding to the arguments I presented in good conscience is actually the far better example of someone being overly defense, coming at someone like they're the enemy and acting like their opinion doesn't count dead7 I just wanna have a conversation here, if you interpreted it as arrogant or an attack, then I'm sorry, but reacting back with the same behavior you're accusing me of is a pretty lame solution.

You ran out the gate with an assumption about my reasoning, and then stated that you thought your assumption was homophobic. You set the tone for the conversation by forcing me to defend myself against something I did not and would never say, and unlike some people around here, I have no interest in creating a debate in a thread about insignificant things. I also don't care if you want to assume that your fabricated explanation for why I assumed he was gay is fact. If it helps you feel better and supports your indignation over this, then cool! Have fun! I'll be over here enjoying life and not being pressed over a Disney character.

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1 minute ago, QUINN said:

You ran out the gate with an assumption about my reasoning

I did not ok omg katy2 That was a fucking joke. We're basically on a gay forum here, why would I accuse anyone present of homophobia.. I thought the added emote would be enough to clarify that the rest of my post was far more important argument wise, but I guess you chose to be offended all the same, just like I chose to be offended by this news bey5

I mean, my first post wasn't even about LeFou being gay or not, so if we're gonna analyze responses, your first reply was 100% off-topic already, I didn't argue against LeFou being gay, I argued against the imo more interesting narrative arc shifting to a more superficial one, gay elements or not lj1

4 minutes ago, QUINN said:

I have no interest in creating a debate in a thread about insignificant things.

But I never wanted to talk about it lol. You brought up LeFou's sexuality first of all, and I dropped the issue immediately afterwards, preferring to talk about how LeFou's homosexuality was going to be presented in this remake movie, why are you pretending I made this big fuss about something that occupied one sentence in an "essay" about a completely different topic to use your own terminology? moo6

5 minutes ago, QUINN said:

I'll be over here enjoying life and not being pressed over a Disney character.

But then you are clearly pressed over something as insignificant as me making a joke while ignoring all of my actual arguments which I think are actually significant enough to be discussed since it's about an important subject, you know, tolerance towards homosexuals ny12 But go on and pretend I'm the one who cares about something insignificant to an embarrassing degree and you're showing the right example lmao.

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I had always assumed that Lefou was gay as well, but as a Disney super-fan I really don't think that this is a step forward for them at all. I already said this in the Rep Lounge last night, but I'm just disappointed that the first case of explicit queer visibility in the Disney canon happens to be the villain's bumbling idiot sidekick. I know we're not there yet culturally and Disney would never risk it, at least for the foreseeable future, but I would much prefer a gay prince or princess. I will not be lauding this move as a small victory tbh.

 

Screaming at the essays in here though lmfao2

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I don't know shit, since I'm myself straight, but although I always enjoyed Disney villains and sidekicks, after reading some quzi-academic stuff on the depiction of "might-be-gay" characters, I also caught the vibe of subliminal homophobia, especially considering how most of those characters I'm about to name were born in the aftermath of AIDs epidemic and following debate on homosexuality in the society.

 

Ursula (an obvious Divine homage/parody) and Scar (a non-father and a recluse) were so fantastic, but the whole evil angle was way too obvious. Maybe it's matter of perception: if you like the characters, you like them, but if you don't - then it might get in your head for a bit.

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Oh wow. Thanks for implying I'm homophobic, @Earth Ripper! It's more about his adoration of Gaston and me figuring out the difference between obsession and genuine admiration as a kid, but slay with y

I always thought he was gay anyway. He was always way too obsessed with Gaston. Even more so than the blonde chicks that followed him around everywhere. And it's not like this changes the movie at

I don't want to discuss this with you anymore, sorry. You're being overly defensive and coming at me like I'm the enemy here, when I'm just as entitled to an opinion as you are. You should consider th


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