#representation compilation

A large reason I ended up making this blog (aside from I was hype for the movie even just based on the trailer) is because I knew this would happen and I wanted to create a space where people who actually saw themselves in the character could express how the character and movie as a whole make them happy and they could find positive posts and not be constantly reminded of all the bad faith takes. I don't talk about these bad faith takes a lot for this reason (I have some posts tagged #representation compilation where I discuss all of this) but I whole-heartedly agree with you anon.

a lot of people, me included, were really touched by MacGregor's coming out, saw themselves in his struggles, appreciated what a well-rounded character he is, and I suspect many more people would feel the same if they gave the movie a chance. But unfortunately "disney's 200th first gay character" jokes get more likes so they overshadowed any good feeling anyone might have been having. and I got messages from people who were absolutely crushed by this too. it feels like people are mocking them for seeing themselves in it, shaming them for liking a gay character that was arbitrarily deemed bad by people who never even saw the movie. (there is also a larger conversation to be had about the sense of moral superiority derived from deeming certain portrayals of a minority "bad" and shaming others for enjoying them in an attempt to appear more enlightened when in reality none of this really matters and personal enjoyment of media is not indicative of someone's morality or ability to treat people well and respectfully irl, whereas publicly shaming and mocking people constantly is kinda indicative of a failure on both accounts)

honestly?? I thought the same thing. when people were outraged that he's "effete" in the movie I thought that is the dumbest thing ever cause that's what Jack is like. And then watching the movie I realised he was a lot less camp and feminine than in a lot of other stuff- because he was mostly copying his dad in the role. All that attitude and whatever that people somehow viewed as a gay stereotype was very clearly posh English and I'm not surprised that a lot of (especially) Americans don't know the difference, just disappointed they think attacking a supposedly straight man for being effeminate is valid somehow.

I must admit I feel the same way. It means so much to me seeing this character, especially after growing up in a world where gay characters couldn't be in Disney movies because it was "inappropriate" or "dangerous" and seeing that we actually get the acceptance we deserve was so emotional.

people reblog the coming out scene directly from me, trash talking it like I didn't just open up about how much it meant to me, telling me THEY think it sucks and therefore it's bad. That hurts ngl.

And all the headlines about an "outrage" make me afraid of the same thing. This movie could develop into a franchise, a franchise where MacGregor is one of the main characters, a franchise that could really dive into his sexuality but seeing so many people attack the character for the stupidest reasons makes me afraid that if it does become a franchise, he'll get sidelined or his sexuality ignored. Not to mention other movies in general.

And it's not about blaming the community for the lack of representation that might result from this since we're not the ones making decisions. But if the people who don't want gay characters because they're homophobic send hate and boycott movies AND the people who are gay also send hate and boycott movies over a gay character, why would a media company include them then if none of the audience appears to want them. And then we're back to square one where everyone asks why Disney has no gay characters.

Yeah I absolutely agree with you 100% on all of that.

not to sound all "disney isn't evil uwu" bc it absolutely is but I think saying MacGregor should've used the word gay, otherwise it's a bad coming out scene is p unfounded criticism imho.

if you look at his characterisation as this posh englishman who tries to live up to his family's expectations but just bc he's gay they want to cut ties with him bc this english upper class is so bigoted that they'd never accept a gay man as part of it, it makes absolute sense he would talk about it like that. he was raised in this repressed society that taught him only what a shameful topic this is, so it makes sense that he'd still only allow himself to talk about it like these uptight people who refuse to ever address anything "shameful" directly.