Monday, 13 August 2018

Disney Just Cast A Straight Dude As Their First Gay Character, And Twitter Is Effing Pissed

So, I have some good news and some very-not-good news.

Disney is finally having its first openly gay character! We had fairly high hopes for LeFou in Beauty and the Beast, but it was always just hinted and never confirmed.

But now, we have a solid "yes"! The movie Jungle Cruise is set to come out in 2019 and stars Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson. They've also just announced the casting of Jack Whitehall.

Yup, that's where the bad news comes in: Jack, who is very much straight, has the role of the gay character. I say "bad," but I certainly won't say it's surprising.

As soon as word got out about the casting, Twitter was all over it.

Like, I think this news breaking was bigger than the movie itself because I hadn't heard of the movie. But you can bet the Twitterverse did.

The most common reaction is basically "Yaaaaas!" because, like, yes, we are excited. A gay character! Finally!

BUT WHY NOT A GAY ACTOR, THOUGH? LIKE, DISNEY, COME ON! They had the chance to make something big even bigger and, well...they did not.

Don't get me wrong, it's a big moment!

But it's a big moment that's quickly being overthrown by casting a straight actor when it could have very easily gone to a gay actor instead.

Plus, it doesn't help that the little we do know about the character is that it will largely play on stereotypes.

Twitter is here for the visibility but not down if it's not positive. And TBH, same.

And that's what basically caused this movie, which isn't even out yet, to turn into a flaming garbage dumpster.

Or, as some would put it, a sinking ship.

So basically, all in all, this is a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of situation for Disney.

And Twitter really has no patience for it.

It's not like this is the first time a casting has caused outrage, and I'm so sure it won't be the last.

And yes, I'm talking about every Scarlett role ever.

After Twitter caused his name to go trending for maybe the worst reason, I wouldn't be surprised if Jack stepped down from the role.

But apparently, it's "a huge gig for Jack and has landed him his biggest ever pay cheque," according to a source, so I highly doubt he'll be stepping down.