THE SCARLET WATCH

from Elkie Atherton

DISNEY AND QUEER REPRESENTATION..

Disney has been at the forefront of our media for decades even more today with its ownership of Marvel, the Star Wars franchise and Hulu. However, its relationship with queer representation has been complicated. Over the years queer people have carved out a safe space in the Disney fandom. Disney was even awarded a perfect score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index created by the Human Rights Campaign reaching this for 13 consecutive years and becoming renowned for being a safe space for LGBTQIA+ people to work. However, Disney has recently been under fire and an increased focus has been put on Disney’s relationship with queer representation and the youth that discover themselves in these stories.

The Don’t Say Gay Bill is a recently approved legislation that bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade in the state of Florida. It has been opposed by many people across all states even being condemned by President Biden himself. Disney came under fire when it was shared that the company had donated nearly $300,000 to the people who backed the bill. They didn’t donate to the actual campaign, but many people believe they didn’t do enough to highlight how harmful this bill could be. It also struck a chord as Disney has shown increasing reluctance to have openly queer and trans characters in their children’s films. Disney employees walked out, and protests took place about Disney’s relationship to the bill in Burbank, California. In Florida, there wasn’t as much of an employee response speculated to be because they are union workers and have been advised it could breach their contract. Disney companies such as Hulu, ESPN and Disney+ have all publicly expressed their support of the LGBTQIA+ community in this time but only after the public outcry.

Villains are a fan favourite of queer people, but why? At the beginning of the boom of films, queerness and the traits associated with it were not just seen as undesirable and bad but also inherently dangerous. This is then linked to the idea of being a villain and opposed to the heteronormative hero. The Hays Code, industry guidelines on selfcensorship imposed between 1934 and 1968, made it impossible for the real stories of LGBTQIA+ people to be told so instead characters were coded with stereotypes of queer people. These characters often ended their stories in certain death (the birth of the bury your gays trope) or were made out to be villains. When the Hays Code was lifted, its legacy persisted. Queer stories were viewed as unmarketable, and villains were still coded with queer stereotypes. Nowadays, queerness is still associated with villainy as a kind of shorthand. This can be incredibly harmful and shows the long way we must go to come to terms with the way media has been corrupted through the years. This can be seen in Disney with Ursula – inspired by drag queen Divine – and Scar to name a few.

The first character I want to unpack is Elsa. A personal favourite of mine, Elsa has no interest in the same romance her sister Anna desires. After the release of 2013’s Frozen, the queer community latched onto the possibility of the first openly gay Disney princess but after the sequel, it seems less likely. Elsa can be viewed as a closeted lesbian with the fan community thinking she may have a romantic interest in another female character in the sequel. But Elsa can be viewed as asexual or aromantic with no interest in a future relationship. The possibility for Elsa to be an inspiration for especially young girls in the LGBTQIA+ community is exciting but requires Disney to make the first step.

Mulan is one of the best Disney movies ever (in my opinion). It is hard to see this movie and not link it with being trans or in some way outside the gender binary. Mulan’s ballad Reflection has struck a chord with many people and has been viewed as a very eloquent way to describe being trans. It is also important to see how this probably wasn’t the intention of the film-makers. Members of the LGBTQ+ community have an understanding that it is unlikely they will truly see themselves in media but by relating to these canonically cis het characters, songs, media and characters can be reclaimed when it personally relates to somebody’s experience as being part of a minority group.

Luca will be the death of me. My last breath will be about how this is the best metaphor for coming out ever made. This film’s allegory (intentional or not) can be separated into three separate themes. Self-discovery is the first theme as we see Luca develop a higher level of friendship with Alberto. They grow together and we can see how Luca feels like he belongs with Alberto in this newfound world he has discovered. He has to accept himself as a “sea monster” to live his most truthful and happy. The second theme is queer people and their relationship with their families. At the beginning of the film, Luca’s family wants to send him away, so he is not tempted to go up to the surface which parallels people’s experience with conversion therapy. Throughout the film, his parents are not hateful towards him but rather concerned he is putting himself in danger, a very real fear for many parents of queer and trans youth. In the end, they accept that the world won’t always be kind to Luca because of who he is but there will always be someone there for him. Alberto’s family abandoned him – a very real experience for young queer people – but he finds a found family. The last theme is queer people and their relationship with society. The town views the “sea monsters” as evil and will not accept them however throughout the movie they see that Luca and Alberto are not harmful. When Luca and Alberto essentially “come out” as “sea monsters” two older women follow suit. Showing that sometimes one person being brave can inspire others and create solidarity. Overall, I love this film but it is frustrating how I am sitting here furiously typing about deeper meanings so I can dream of some adequate representation rather than actually having queer stories young people can consume.

Howard Ashman was an American playwright and lyricist who worked on several major Disney titles in the Disney Renaissance. He wrote the full lyrics to two Disney titles: The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Howard was gay and eventually died due to complications of HIV/AIDS before the release of Beauty and the Beast. With this knowledge, people have looked back on his work on Beauty and the Beast - which he worked on aware of his positive status – and have viewed it as being an AIDS allegory. The public opinion of AIDS could be viewed as parallel to the viewpoint of the townspeople in The Mob Song. The portrayal of the Beast, lonely and isolated in his curse and illness has resonated with audiences in similarity with the experience of people who suffered with AIDS. This viewpoint is not shared by all. Some people say it's simply untrue, some say it might have been subconscious but it's important to see that the subtext of this whether intentional or not has had an impact on a lot of people. Howard himself has had a massive impact on Disney. He popularised the use of “I want” songs which are usually songs near the beginning of the musical about the protagonist’s intentions and desires. Howard also advocated for Ursula to be based on Divine and the Beast being the second main character of Beauty and the Beast. Ashman’s legacy is something we should continue to remember and celebrate. In any way you frame this, Disney has a long way to go in terms of its representation on screen. Its weak attempts in the past like LeFou in the live-action Beauty and the Beast and two different sets of unnamed background Lesbian mums in Finding Nemo and Toy Story 4 to name a few are entirely inadequate. The culture of the “first gay character” is frustrating. So many different characters have been said to claim this title when it doesn’t particularly matter who was first but rather in the future if there will be lead characters and meaningful stories and plot lines with queer and trans characters. Reclaim the media that resonates with you and imagine a future where we can all see ourselves in the media we consume.