The live-action adaptation of the age-old fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast is one of the most-awaited films of 2017. However, the Disney film was roped into a controversy over the revelation of a certain “gay moment” in the movie. Earlier, director Bill Condon sparked an outrage when he spoke about a representing a certain character (LeFou) as a homosexual in the movie.
According to Condon, the character of LeFou (Josh Gad), who is a sidekick to the film’s villain Gaston (Luke Evans), “is confused about his sexuality.” Speaking about the “gay moment”, he stated, “It’s such a small, little smile moment, you know what I mean?” Overall, the controversy bout “appropriateness” seems to be blown way out of proportion since, as per Condon, the scene is subtle. Even Emma Watson, who plays Belle in the movie, confirmed it during a segment of SiriusXM. “I think it’s incredibly subtle, to be perfectly honest,” she said.
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However, a few others questioned the need to modify the plot and introduce a homosexual character to which, Condon says that anyone who saw the 1991 animated Beauty and the Beast should have noticed that LeFou is a gay character. He also argued that the character’s name is proof enough of his sexuality. “As (composer) Alan Menken says, it’s ‘LeFou!’ Absolutely,” he said.
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Josh Gad (right) will play the role of a gay man LeFou who has a crush on Gaston, played by Luke Evans (left). (Courtesy: Walt Disney Pictures)
Besides, Condon’s adaptation of the movie has several other changes pertaining to character designs including making Belle more headstrong than in the original version. If people didn’t take an issue with that, why is the introduction of a subtle, loving gay scene such an outrageous thing to do?
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Even Ewan McGregor, who plays the candlestick Lumière, defend LeFou’s sexuality when he recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “He’s a gay character,” he said. “It’s 2017, for fuck’s sake.”
