Speaking of representation in media, I just thought I'd share something I found amusing today.
Apparently, even before the coronavirus pandemic began to properly sweep the globe and close down movie theaters, the Pixar cartoon movie Onward was banned in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait for including one whole line that implies a random secondary character to be in a lesbian relationship. The line, from a female character named Specter, goes: "It's not easy being a new parent. My girlfriend's daughter got me pulling my hair out." Talk about incendiary!! Also, the line was censored in Russia; the word 'girlfriend' was replaced with the ambiguous term 'partner'. (The case of Kuwait stands out here for the fact that, unlike in the other countries I just mentioned, lesbian relationships (and "propaganda!" 
) are legal in Kuwait. In theory.)
Here in the good ol' U.S. of A, my favorite homophobes the One Million Moms offered the kind of well-reasoned take you'd expect from them, explaining in a statement on their web site that "There have been numerous attempts by Disney to indoctrinate children with the LGBTQ agenda discretely and now more overtly. These scenes are subtle in order to desensitize children. But now Disney has traded its subtlety for intentionality. Disney has decided to be politically correct instead of providing family friendly programming. Disney should stick to entertaining, not pushing an agenda. Please share this with your friends and family to make sure they are aware of the gay character in ‘Onward’ and not blindsided by it. As moms, we all want to know when Disney is attempting to desensitize our children by normalizing the LGBTQ lifestyle." (Reference in link above.)
I watched the movie recently since it had been released on video and I'm just the kind winner who watches Pixar cartoons as a grown adult without the justification of having children to view them with. (I found it passable, but not one of Pixar's finest works; while it has a genuinely satisfying conclusion that puts the whole adventure in a better and much-needed new perspective, the 'cute' underlying premise makes the film frequently as awkward and uncomfortable as you'd suspect it would.) The line in question was so fleeting and narratively insignificant that I didn't even notice it until I read the linked article afterward, drawing my attention to it. As much has been the pattern for Disney. For some four years now, Disney films have thrown in the occasional "gay reference" or gay background character, most often in simply a fleeting, forgettable way like this. It gets slightly annoying to me because, after a certain point, it feels cheap and canned, like they're just throwing you a bone so you'll stop complaining that they only depict heterosexual relationships on the big screen where millions of people will see, and I mean in the very, very laziest, most pitiful and begrudging way humanly possible. After a while these two-second blips start to feel almost like they're being included in bad faith that way. So yeah, I have to admit finding it hilarious that one of them, just a single line from a secondary character, somehow managed to provoke reactions this strong about the entire movie. The line feels like nothing to me. I was not "blindsided" by it. It's apparently way more meaningful to homophobes than it is to actual lesbians.
Last edited by Jaicee - on 23 May 2020
