By Sam K.
The Walt Disney Company has found itself in an unenviable position. Pissing off both sides of the political spectrum. In an attempt to stay neutral on the controversial and discriminatory “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would ban teachers in Florida from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students until after third grade, Bob Chapek, the current CEO of Disney for two years, in response to the bill wrote in an internal memo “I want to be crystal clear: I and the entire leadership team unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities. And we are committed to creating a more inclusive company — and world.” He did not condemn the bill and would not address political donations made by the company to legislators who support the bill.
This caused outrage from folks from within and outside of the company. People of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. The news even came out from employees within Pixar that Disney does censor scenes of overtly gay affection in their films. This news especially made them look so bad that they have allegedly restored a lesbian kiss scene in the upcoming movie “Lightyear.” Chapek would apologize for not condemning the bill sooner and has said that the company will withhold donations to either political party for the time being. They have also committed to doing better in the future with representation, such as aiming for 50 percent of its characters to be LBGTQ+ or people of color or changing their park greetings to being non-gender specific. Of course, some of these things have made those with more right-wing views upset, calling for a boycott of Disney. This is most definitely what Chapek wanted to avoid, but his short-sided attempt at being neutral on a bill going against human rights ended up blowing up in his face.
It’s good that Disney wants to do better with LGBTQ+ representation going forward. But if their past work is any indication, they have to do way better than they did before. There is a term I heard from a video from RedLetterMedia, that term being “Passive Progressive.” This term was used in their review of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” in reference to a scene towards the end of the film in which two women kiss and it is so brief you would be forgiven for missing it (or even remembering it). “Passive Progressive” is doing the bare minimum for representation so you can pat yourself on the back for being inclusive but not too inclusive so you can censor those scenes in countries that condemn same-sex attraction and the like.
Their past attempts include the aforementioned kiss scene from “Rise of Skywalker” with two characters who had barely any involvement with the plot. There was Lefou from the live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast,” where we saw him dance with another man for like two seconds in the end. Do you remember the cyclops cop (cycop?) lady from “Onward”? Did anybody see “Onward”? Anyway, she makes one mention of having a wife, which was cut out in versions of the film in certain countries. Other movies with brief and I mean brief, moments of LGBTQ+ representation are Zootopia, Toy Story 4, Finding Dory, Avengers Endgame, and maybe Frozen?
Now, even though these examples might not be great, to be fair to Disney there have been some things they have done that are a step in the right direction. Disney Channel’s animated series “The Owl House” features Luz Noceda and Amity Blight, two characters who have been identified as queer. One episode shows Amity has a crush on Luz and the two later share a dance together. They officially become an item in season two. “The Eternals” has a character named Phaistos who is married to a man, and they have a child. Their onscreen kiss was censored in certain countries but the fact they were married was kept in. So that’s… progress? Sort of?
At the end of the day, Disney is a business. Businesses exist to make money. Unfortunately, they will do the wrong thing if it makes them a little more money. Bob Chapek claimed he wanted to “create a more inclusive world through the inspiring content we produce.” But the past work they have produced has not done much to create an inclusive world. What would help is condemning a bill that takes away civil rights, not taking a neutral stance. Look, I like Disney’s movies, shows, and lots of stuff they produce. But you must criticize the things you like if you want them to improve. If they censor scenes with gay affection and romance, that sucks. Who does that inspire? And your work does not exist in a bubble. Having (little) LGBTQ+ representation in your films rings hollow when you support politicians who want to take away their rights. Do better Disney.