The bad thing about large companies like Disney is that it puts making money first and the integrity of someone’s art second. It is understandable. As the Mouse eats up more companies and tries to survive a crippled tourism market, all products need mass appeal.
That appeal comes at a cost. It means trimming out things that countries like China and Russia don’t like. Like diminishing Finn’s appearance in advertising media. Or giving Luke’s force ghost that weird shade of blue. Or trimming out a kiss between two women in the background.
There are countries where a company like Disney will bend the knee to strip even the most fleeting bit of LGBTQ representation from a film. All for just a bit of cash. Well, the upcoming live-action romp with Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil is going to change that.
We Got This Covered posted a tweet from the filmmaker Grace Randolph. Although she is not associated with Craig Gillespie’s adaptation, she has seen the film. Within the tweet thread, she confirms that, without a doubt, Cruella will be the first Disney film to have an out gay character. A character that hopefully can’t be swept under the rug to appease less progressive countries.
It’s the character played by John McCrea – he has several scenes and plays a very important role, including saving another character! pic.twitter.com/zC1vMUngIT
— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) May 14, 2021
John McCrea’s character may not be the star, but it’s an improvement over the Riser of Skywalker kissing couple. In addition, this character sounds like he’ll be a far better example of representation than whatever the hell Disney was trying to do with LaFou in 2017’s Beauty and the Beast.
In case the tweet gets pulled, let us summarize. McCrea will play Artie, a member of Cruella’s miscreants. Aside from being “out and proud” in the film, Randolph gave some insight to the character saying, “…he has several scenes and plays a significant role, including saving another character!”
We will find out if this is all true on May 28th when Cruella premieres on Disney+.
Keep those comments civil!
[Source: We Got This Covered]
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