However, having a woman fall in love with a beast is perfectly OK with Russia. These censors are acting as if Beauty and the Beast was turned into Moonlight. They're jumping the gun over something which isn't even obvious. I find it a non-issue because the scene in question is ambiguous enough to avoid any suspicion. In fact, if Bill Condon hadn't said anything, I doubt the public would have realized the character was supposed to be gay.
Either way, Russia is a bigoted country where the gay community has a history of being endlessly persecuted. Homophobia runts rampant over there, it's part of their DNA, it's in their blood. So, I'm not shocked.
Earlier yesterday I wrote:
"Beauty and the Beast" is not entirely a failure, but what it does fail at is in its supposed attempt to have the first gay Disney character, Josh Gad's Le Fou. There are barely any hints that he is even gay. Le Fou is curiously un-changed from the original film's pages. I'm dumbfounded by Disney claiming this is their first gay character. I then stumbled upon a Time magazine article which had Gad saying he actually had no idea reading the script that the character was even gay. Of course, now Bill Condon saying his comments were taken completely out of context aren't surprising. Neither is the fact that a theater in Alabama is banning all showings of the film (Link) due to its "compromise on what the Bible teaches." Don't you just love this country?"
"Beauty and the Beast" is not entirely a failure, but what it does fail at is in its supposed attempt to have the first gay Disney character, Josh Gad's Le Fou. There are barely any hints that he is even gay. Le Fou is curiously un-changed from the original film's pages. I'm dumbfounded by Disney claiming this is their first gay character. I then stumbled upon a Time magazine article which had Gad saying he actually had no idea reading the script that the character was even gay. Of course, now Bill Condon saying his comments were taken completely out of context aren't surprising. Neither is the fact that a theater in Alabama is banning all showings of the film (Link) due to its "compromise on what the Bible teaches." Don't you just love this country?"
Here's what The Wrap has to say about this:
“Beauty and the Beast” could be banned in Russia if it’s found to violate a Russian law prohibiting “gay propaganda,” the BBC reports.
Vitaly Milonov, an MP of the United Russia party, has asked the country’s culture minister to screen the film prior to its March 16 Russian release and to “take measures to totally ban” it if the film contains “elements of propaganda of homosexuality.”
Vitaly Milonov, an MP of the United Russia party, has asked the country’s culture minister to screen the film prior to its March 16 Russian release and to “take measures to totally ban” it if the film contains “elements of propaganda of homosexuality.”
A Russian law enacted in 2013 prohibits the spread of “gay propaganda” to minors.
[The Wrap]