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Disney Puts ‘Gay Scene’ In ‘Beauty And The Beast’ Remake [Watch]

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 01:48 PST, Mar 1, 2017

Disney put its first “gay scene” in a movie. The “gay moment” comes when the characters of Gaston and his manservant LeFou are at a pub. The Beauty and the Beast live-action remake film stars Emma Watson, Josh Gad, Luke Evans, and Dan Stevens.

Manservant LeFou explores his feelings for Gaston in the “exclusively gay scene,” Beauty and the Beast director Bill Condon, said, according to a Daily Mail report. Josh Gad plays Gaston’s servant in the film. The beast is played by Dan Stevens and brought to life using computer generated technology. Luke Evans plays Gaston.

“He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. It is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie,” Condon said during an interview with Attitude.“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh [Gad] makes something really subtle and delicious out of it.”

The Disney gay scene unfolds as LeFou sings to Gaston to cheer him up. Gaston is sad in the scene because Belle rebuked his romantic advances. To cheer up his boss, the manservant sings, “No one’s quick as Gaston, no one’s neck’s as incredibly thick as Gaston’s. For there’s no man in town half as manly. Perfect, a pure paragon,” the song continues.

The Beauty and the Beast director went on to deem the interaction between the characters as a “watershed moment” for Disney.

“The studio is sending out a message that this is normal and natural – and this is a message that will be heard in every country of the world, even countries where it’s still socially unacceptable or even illegal to be gay,” Condon said.

The move was a risky one for Disney. Fans of the Beauty and the Beast story, not only around the world but in the United States, may not agree with the studio and director’s message about homosexuality — and boycott Disney far into the future. Offended parents could opt to stop taking their children to Disney animated movies and leave the multitude of themed merchandise and toys sitting firmly on store shelves. Heated debate over the altering of a classic story is already happening on social media.

The Disney gay scene is not the only new take on the classic fairytale. In the live-action film, Emma Watson’s characterization of Belle is also transformed. Belle is no longer a beautiful bookworm. The character now boasts a far more feminist demeanor and is an inventor.

Disney has been urged by LGBT activists for several years to include a gay character in an animated movie or live-action film. Campaigns to have specific characters engage in a same-sex relationship have garnered steam on social media. Some have expressed a desire for a romance between Timon and Pumba in The Lion King. Musings over whether or not the character of Ursula, the sea witch in The Little Mermaid, was inspired by a drag queen, have also been voiced online.

“I think it was really important actually for Dan and I to develop and understand why each of our characters feel like they don’t fit in,” Emma Watson said, the Daily Mail reports. “I certainly felt watching the original that I wanted to know more about why Belle feels that she’s different and why she wants to be different and why she’s naturally different.”

What do you think about the Disney gay scene in Beauty and the Beast?

[Featured Image by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP Images]

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