Just a little over halfway through Pride Month, we are seeing people flock to Twitter to present their theories on why and how the lead duo in Disney and Pixar’s latest coming-of-age animated feature film, Luca, is, in fact, gay. So does Luca have a gay character after all, or is this just a case of fans creating a headcanon that’s gaining traction and online clout? The answer just may be somewhere in between, so read on to find out more about this new hit adventure comedy film.
What is Luca about?
On the Italian Riviera, an unlikely but strong friendship grows between a human being (Emma Berman) and a sea monster (Jacob Tremblay) disguised as a human. Determined to have the best summer of his life, Luca (Tremblay) is joined by best friend Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) as they share adventures, laughs, and challenges whilst trying to blend in on land, all the while hiding the fact that they are actually fish-like creatures who dwell under the sea. What ensues is a heartwarming adventure about friendship, fitting in, and finding oneself that you’ll immediately love and want to watch again and again.
Does Luca have a gay character?
Technically, the answer is no. HOWEVER! While Disney has not come on the record saying that Luca and Alberto are gay, we (and many a Twitter user!) believe that the great minds at Pixar may have meant for the movie’s plot to be an overall metaphor for gayness and acceptance. If we strip away the fish factor, at its core, Luca is the story of two boys having to hide who they really are in order to protect themselves from potential harm, backlash, and judgment. The humans around Luca and Alberto fear those who are different, and it leads to interesting and thought-provoking depictions of confusion and self-discovery.
In addition to this, Luca and Alberto just generally have an adorable relationship full of acceptance, support, and genuine affection for one another that could very easily be the beginnings of the age-old friends to lovers trope we all know and love. So while no character in Luca has been identified by Disney outright as gay, we can very well read the subtext, metaphors, and straight-up visual evidence (all of those innocent touches!) present in the film as a subtle depiction of a budding same sex relationship, as well as representative of an allegory for queerness in today’s world.
