What’s Keeping Hollywood From Meaningful LGBTQ Representation in Blockbuster Movies Like ‘Star Wars’?

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The seconds-long same-sex kiss in TheRiseOfSkywalker is historic — and also the bare minimum for LGBTQ representation

,” Sulu greets his husband with a friendly hug. That same year, the internet was abuzz after sharp-eyed viewers claimed that there was a lesbian couple pictured in a crowd scene of “Finding Dory.

And indeed, movies like “Cloud Atlas” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” were forced to strip out all overt queer representation before getting approved for Chinese release. Other films with LGBTQ characters and overt expressions of same-sex affection and eroticism — like “Brokeback Mountain” and “Call Me by Your Name” — have been prevented from screening at all in the country.denied that China had ever played a role in determining whether or not the studio will include gay characters in its films..

It’s unclear, however, how far concerns about restricting LGBTQ characters for international distribution ultimately trickle down into the creative process. Screenwriters who have worked on several major tentpole movies for multiple studios say the notes they received concerning foreign tastes were more about writing roles for actors who have international appeal than anything regarding content.

 

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Did they have any in 2019 except those two easily cut out background cameos

ladyofishtar Disney doing queerbaiting? Who would have guessed 🙃

Com o dinheiro que a Disney tem, ir contra os conservadores chatos uma vez na vida nao ia fazer nem cócegas no bolso deles. Na hora de colocar casal hetero, colocam ate quando nao tem necessidade ou química. A Disney nem esconde 🙄🙄🙄

DatelineDisney Funny how this group walked past me. Two girls holding hands, a black girl, and two other girls or maybe guys, I had worn my Jedi robes and they proceed to laugh at me as they walked by....really?

Homophobia

Not every studio has to have LBGQ in their films. Stop shoving this down people’s throats. Geez!

So you’re gay, so what, don’t need to see what you get up to in the bedroom in a Disney movie, we have enough porn stations for that

Can’t please all the people all the time. Our world is out of control. Come on, people! Get a brain! Have some sense. Everything and everyone can’t be represented all the time!!

Because contrary to popular believe, the LGBTQRSTUV does not need to be in every movie or tv show

The unnecessary demand for it.

It’s China.

What. Fans like me just wanted the love story of Finn and Rey. Didn't get that.

Perhaps as a % of the boxoffice

larrynemecek How do we know? I’m just glad there aren’t stereotypes.

finnpoe DESERVED

Kids are hungry, homeless, sleeping on the floor in America, and this is the best topic?

Amazing so now your supposed to force a gay character into a movie to appease the LGBTQ community not that i'm against it but seriously if you need that fix so bad watch CW DC stuff everyone is either coming out or becoming a super hero even though they had ZERO Power

Oh well

2018 is almost 2yr old news.

Because Disney doesn't believe in sexualizing children who is the target audience for most of their movies.

MouseInfo Why must a family entertainment company be pressured to include more sexuality in it’s movies? I can understand other studios that don’t focus on entertainment for children, but Disney? Why must they take the innocence out of everything?

What’s keeping Disney from going 🏳️‍🌈 FULL OUT is the possible alienating of a percentage of those Billions they keep making. Same goes for Saturday Morning Cartoons or anything else relating to FAMILY and the building blocks of life. They flirt with the idea of it. That’s all.

You’re forcing it

larrynemecek It’s Disney, I am not certain they were ever comfortable with women’s suffrage.

How many more of these screeds are you going post on the same subject?

If people ever want to know why Trump was elected all they have to do is read articles like this. I can’t stand the man, but his followers will point to the never ending PC culture that has taken over this country that he despises + use it as a rallying point. ENOUGH, toughen up!

Disney productions are for children. Do children have to be obsessed with vice and sex just like you?

Good pic choice

So, this Rise of Skywalker still was taken from a 2019 movie. Did your guys Editor in Chief approve this tweet before you posted it?

The thing particularly annoying with Disney is how close they come to almost having good LGBT representation. “Oh, Lando’s pansexual! We just only acknowledge it after the fact and not in the actual film” “Valkyrie’s actually bisexual! But it’s just a deleted scene”

Finn made it clear he was attracted to Rey in TheForceAwakens. Maybe the Reylo morons should’ve accepted that instead of trying to EMASCULATE the black character. adambvary BrentALang

LGBTQ Community: We Should Be Represented on Films Arabs:

I'm so used to it. It doesn't matter to me. The only thing I like from Disney is Mickey.

I know that it’s considered cool to use the term “queer” by gays, liberals, etc....but I think that the term demeans an entire segment of society.

China. China is very anti-lgbt and will cut those scenes out of movies. Unfortunately, since China has an economic hold on most industries, lgbt characters have to be sacrificed for a profit. It's not because of the small amount of homophobia in America, it's just China

Intense widespread reinforcement of gender roles and biases.

Nobody should have to think that hard about who is and isn't being represented when they are playing pretend for folks to watch. Why does everything have to be complicated?

Finn and Poe are clearly gay for each other

Don’t have to have queers in every movie. Go cry about it

Wait. They had an on screen lesbian kiss in a major Star Wars film...

Trump by a landslide in 2020. Keep this bullshit going..

WWG1WGA

China.

So what. Complain. Complain. Complain..

With Rise....it has a whole lot more problems than that.

China money

NEOLIBERALISM

The horror...

Could be China.

The hell does Gaston have to do with any of this

“Economic anxiety”

China

China

Mostly china

China.

China

Capitalism. Both in the homegrown 'Homophobes will complain' and foreign 'We'll just ban your film so you make less money'. I'm fucking sick of it. I've been complaining for a decade that I don't exist and I don't want to complain for another decade.

Schmoney

...”Christians”. Damn y’all slow.

Homophobia

Homophobia and transphobia. And you know damn well that's why.

ok, gonna try a more serious answer. all the business and image aside, I think it's highly difficult to accurately depict queer relationships especially when you're not queer. it's even more compounded by how they used to be pre-2014 to how it is now

maybe because no matter how fanciful movies are, they're not that fanciful?

maybe cus gay rights

Most people aren't gay and just aren't interested in gay characters.

Man I sure wonder

Simply put. There isn't a mainstream audience for it. Hollywood is a business. You don't feed a chicken dinner to a vegetarian audience.

China and the Middle East, just to name a few.

It's always catering to the international box office, like for Marvel movies, China makes nearly equal to what the US profits are. It doesn't have to be that way, take some chances, you don't need a 250 million dollar budget for every movie. Modest budgets can earn big profits.

this is in response to the the last Jedi lesbian kiss I’m guessing. Get a life people nobody cares

is that even a question?

Homophobia and boomers being in control of Hollywood

Is queer an accepted term now?

Common sense

homophobia

homophobia

Well China obviously but what if film directions genuinely don't want gay people because it doesn't fit their story 🤔

Whats funn about the photo that it includes two characters. One of them is played by a gay actor. The gay character is not played by the gay actor.

The fear that they might lose a buck at the box office. (Like anyone would actually avoid a new Star Wars or Avengers because of a gay character in it. They'd bitch about it but still go see it.)

Homophobia is certainly part of it. Territories that are a little behind the times and wouldn't respond well, like China, are another. I also think people are just afraid they won't be able to get it 'right' and end up getting shredded for it. Hopefully this all changes one day.

Homophobia

The southern states' governments, selling their products in China and Russia, the Christian Church, tbh the US Government, extremist groups threatening to blacklist movies. You know, Homophobia which they'd try to combat if they had guts or passion Quote Tweet

Wǒ ài Běijīng Tiān'ānmén, Tiān'ānmén shang tàiyang sheng

1) foreign countries 2) religions 3) taking existing characters who are beloved by (fans) and changing their sexual preferences to pander to different people because no one can come up with a good idea.. this is only if you are trying to make a billion dollars

It seems like you are required to be a douchebag to work in Hollywood. There aren't any good guys there

Cowardice

TF? Moonlight, Brokeback Mountain, Philadelphia, The Bird Cage...Been making them for years to great success.

Homophobia.

Entertainment isnt democracy where every political, gender, and sexual orientation has to be represented. Its a business, its merit based. Gays should form a political party and run for office if they want representation. Dont use entertainment to sneak in your radical ideology .

Maybe we’d rather be entertained than subjected to an agenda

boring characters to begin with

China

because that's gay

🇨🇳

China and third and second world countries that don't like disgusting gay shit because it may anger the religious population

China money.

It’s the homophobia.

I enjoy this headline as if there a perfectly good reason why they haven’t

you might want to ask TheCWSupergirl , they know all about it .” Kara Danvers ( aka Supergirl and Lena Luthor’s scenes keep being written with a lot of romantic undertones ( background music and everything) in them for who knows what purpose. Supercorp is queer bait or OTP?

Seriously? Everybody’s gay. What more do you want? Literal butt fking in a Disney movie?

The Chinese market

1.2% of the population is a very small percentage irrespective of their outsize impact on popular culture.

Because homophobia. Is this even a question?

Uh, the Southern part of the USA.

The excuses are running out. 'Its too controversial'; Disney's most controversial 2019 blockbusters have made an average of $1 billion. 'China'; Joker made a $1 billion without China. 'Too much gay in media'; said only by bigots who fume at the mere mention of homosexuality.

Is josh gaad portraying them? That could be part of it

Homophobia

If it’s 2 chicks I’m down, but 2 dudes naw

China. And homophobia.

Bigots.

International markets, and low box office for lgbtq lead movies domestically.

The majority of people aren't queer

Economic cowardice.

Cowardice.

Good question ! Until then , we are creating our own shows & content on platforms, like YouTube.

China.

Everyone in these replies somehow making this China’s fault as if Americans don’t constantly flip their shit when it’s mentioned an established property might include a lgbt+ character ......

Because even when they do, you whine that they did it wrong.

Good question.

Hopefully one day we can get to a point where we can have representation without making a big deal out of it.

Perhaps it's not commercially viable yet?

In one word - Philadelphia - best movie ever

wow i fuckin’ wonder

Capitalism and homophobia

China, Russia, profits in general, your conservative aunt Bertha.

There's plenty of gay and lesbian movies just nobody is interested. People prefer to see 'gay' comic book movies.

Bigots. All the rich white men investing in or producing entertainment are bigots. There's still a lot of loud, organized bigots out there consuming entertainment as well.

booknerdgirl101 Middle America

China.

BS there are countless movies and real cinema surrounding gay characters. DafuqUTalkinBout Milk ILoveYouPhillipMorris capote etc

There is a fear of huge international markets like China which don't respond well to gay stories or characters. But there is now also this expectation that a film 'has to' have queer or other types of representation & that shouldn't be a requirement.

China

China.

Homophobia and bigotry.

They aren’t front and center already? Every time I turn on the TV I see same sex couples making out.

Right wing “Christians”

China

Insecure, homophobic men.

the general public homophobia that still exists and the fear that big companies have of losing money from this homophobic audience, period.

This must be a fake tweet from Putin

Sure

mla28 Why is a Black man front and center in this conversation, as per your article picture?🤔

No one wants this nonsense crammed down their throats. It's pushed by 1%-er cosmopolitan transnational elites on people who don't want it, worldwide. That's why the box office is crashing.

TV treats it’s LGBTQ characters better?

Idiots

How much is 'meaningful'? What's the number that everyone is aiming for? Is it 5%, which would probably be higher than the number of LGBTQ people in the actual population? More? Just trying to determine where the goal line is.

Cishet white dudes

Much of Asia is accepting and comfortable with the spectrum of sexual identities and orientations. The worst ones are those who were infiltrated and brainwashed by Christian missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries. That's the case, sadly, on the African continent too.

Money. Wanting the biggest audience by saying the right things but not actually showing it in theatres.

Because you want to force things into movies that have absolutely nothing to do with the narrative being told.

Well why was the scene cut in the China release?

This still doesn’t have a historic influence, no matter how many times you repost it!

If Disney had released TRS as a digital download at $64.95 (the price of a UFC ppv event) they would have cleared $1B this weekend alone. And this is coming from someone who bought tickets in September.

Haaaa! JJ sucks! I told you Andy! Benioff&Weiss too! I put their butts to shame at writing, yet I'm the one kept outta the club. Even Jon on Mandalorian is a weirdo, tracker fobs that Vader could have used to find Luke in Empire, dragging some baby yoda around on jobs, etc

This star wars is a so terrible film, that no LGBTQ+ character could make it better

Is this the fourth or fifth time you're tweeting that damn story?

It's a sci-fi movie from Disney. The movie isn't about gay people. If that's what you wanted, make your own movie.

I know, right? What fans of all ages REALLY want to see is some galactic guy-on-guy mustache wrangling!! NoNotReally 😆 StarWokes WhatILearnedToday PutThatInYourPipe TheRiseOfSkywalker

Anyone obsessed by that is a homophobe. I had to be Uber-obsessed to catch it. It barely registered. Give me a break.

Mike Pence and Betsy Devos and their special interest groups are preventing it idiot.

It’s not historic. Did you see Star Trek Beyond?

All the storm troopers could be LGTBQ for all we know...

Psh. Do an article on lack of asian representation. They wasted Rose! I thought she was a great character in the last one, and they basically side lined her here.

I knew I wasn't imagining things

Every page is peeing in pants about it, like, the movie has moments and y'all giving attention to this 😑

Are we going to hear this inane whining all week?

It’s not historic and it’s not representation

Not every film needs queer representation. But there is meaningful representation out there if you just look for it

This isn’t historic! Even Man of Steel featured a gay kiss seven years ago

We’re not extras in straight people’s stories and I’m also tired of studios wanting praise for seconds of representation from minor characters.

Was it not the same amount of time the Rey/Kylo kiss got?

Then don't call it historic.

maybe you should ask Hallmark what's keeping people from taking risks.

imagine believing that china isnt in charge

If China had its way they wouldn’t allow force Ghosts. Movies that depict ghosts are forbidden.

Laziness and fear

Unfortunately nobody should be surprised about this ..

Because Hollywood is run by homophobic, insecure straight men.

Because they want to make money.

You have to have a mental disability to be a queer

what a w t f moment

Here's how the internet works... Two women share a close friendship in film or tv: 'Yes! It's great to see two women support each other and share a close, uncompetitive friendship.' Two men share a close friendship in film or tv: 'They must bang immediately or it's homophobia.'

Dont forget Star Wars was more inclined to promote incest.

China

This is why i had to go out of my way to see it opening day and even then it seems people were going out of their way to spoil it days before, especially with just headlines and their opinions on the movie itself.

You only had to worry about your daughters getting pregnant before now with the new gender studies classes you have to worry about your sons getting pregnant as well. Holy shit what other science will this century bring.

Et tu, ? The weekend isn't even halfway over. NOT COOL

Not the stupidest kiss in the film

Was that the dark side or not?

Yo Twitter how in the h*ck is this in my feed if I muted “Skywalker”

Quite possibly that one of the biggest global financial market for American movies will not tolerate homosexuality in its media, so large movies have to sideline it, or face not making money there.

None of the 3 movies had anything to do with sexual relationships, straight or gay

some historical queerbaiting

Its been 2 days. Some of us haven't seen it yet, assholes

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