Amala Ekpunobi

Dear Hollywood: Sexuality Is Not a Substitute for Story

The topic of sexuality in entertainment has been at the forefront of many a recent Hollywood project. From Agatha All Along to Inside Out 2, character sexuality is being called into question. What Hollywood really needs to recognize is that sexuality is not a substitute for story.

Broadcast on:: 19 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

A.B.C. Thursdays. Welcome back. Grey's Anatomy is all new. Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? The drama going down. Bunchy jumper from the bridge. Your cord snapped. You need all hands on deck. He's unbelievable. You think your gods give to this hospital? You're just another doctor. My relationship with Catherine is complicated. I'm gonna sue you. Your lawyers know where to find me. You're unbelievable. Grey's Anatomy. Only Thursdays, 10/9c on ABC. And stream on Hulu. Agatha is the gayest Marvel project yet. Do you agree? People have told me that it's the gayest Star Wars and I frankly... You're offended? Into it. No, I... [laughter] Agatha is the gayest project Marvel has ever done. My, like, not at all secret gay agenda. It seems so Disney and Hollywood in general needs to learn a lesson. Your sexuality is not a storyline. Let's talk about it. Why are you gay? Yeah, you're better. Yeah, you're better. Guys, before we get into today's video, please like and subscribe. We are back talking about Hollywood and entertainment through the lens, I guess, of sexuality. I don't know about you, but I keep seeing these stories about new projects that are coming out and they're being marketed on the basis of the sexuality of the characters. It is really strange. Queer, even. [laughter] I most recently recognized this with Marvel's newest project, Agatha, all along, as they're going through their press tour and the different actresses are talking about this project that they've been working on. They're really focusing on the fact that this is going to be a gay storyline. Aubrey Plaza, who was featured in the project, said this to Variety when asked if it was the gayest Marvel project yet? I'm told I hear, I've seen the first episode, but Agatha is the gayest Marvel project yet, do you agree? It better be, 'cause that's what I signed up for. I think it is. Another actress on the project by the name Sashir Zamada said this about it being the gayest project Marvel's ever done. I would agree with that, yeah. Why is it? You'll see. You'll see when you watch it, but you know, I think witches are queer inherently, just because we are outcast and, like, set aside for many reasons. Are we being so for real right now? Witches are inherently gay, and I guess I understand what she's trying to say. They're othered, they're marginalized, and therefore it makes them queer and black and disabled and trans all at the same time, I guess. But I've seen a whole lot of witch stories that are in no way, shape, or form, queer, or gay, and that's okay. You're telling me hocus pocus, Halloween town, be witch, twitches, practical magics, a breed of the teenage witch. Those are queer stories, be so for real. And you know what, it's fine. If you wanna tell a gay story, you feel like you have an audience for that, go ahead and tell a gay story. But you know what has to come after the gay part, and in my opinion, before, the story. Okay, your sexuality is not a substitution for the actual storyline. And that seems to be what happens in these major projects. They funnel millions of dollars in creation, and marketing, and all these different things. They start telling everybody, it's gonna be a gay storyline, it's so wonderful because it's gay, and then you watch it, and you see a few little gay themes woven into the story, and there's no actual storyline. There's not a complex plot, there's not complex characters, there's no development into what you're watching, it's just, hey, here's a few little comments that allude to this character being gay, and absolutely no plot. And you know where I recently saw this play out with my own eyes? Star Wars Theacolite. What was Leslie Hadblin, the showrunner and director, are saying right out of the gate, as soon as she could promote this project that she was working on, it was going to be the Gayest Star Wars project of all time. - I would say arguably the Gayest Star Wars, I mean by a considerable margin, and people have told me that it's the Gayest Star Wars, and I frankly, you're offended? - I wish it would be-- - No, I think that Star Wars is so gay already. - Okay. - I mean, have you seen the fits? We'd be like, look how gay this is, and then send each other a reference. - And are you telling me, with a straight face, that C-3PO is straight? - The story even had, and I shit you not, lesbian space witches. So why is Agatha all along going down the same path, Star Wars Theacolite? And we all know how that ended, right? They did not get greenlit for season two, because you need more than a queer story to make things go forward. If you're a lesbian space, which story has underdeveloped characters, several plot holes, and space fires, maybe we need to go back to the writer's room. And you know what? Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney, which is just the umbrella corporation for all of these companies, they're giving me literal whiplash with how they're feeling about their next story. They're saying we're gonna stay out of the culture, then they're back in the culture, they insert themselves into the culture war with new projects, then Disney CEO Bob Iger says I'm stepping out of the culture war. They're saying we wanna have more gay characters and that they have a not so secret gay agenda. - Our leadership over there has been so welcoming to like my like, not at all secret gay agenda. - And now we have reports out of Disney saying they're having major back and forths over whether or not they should make projects less gay, which brings us to our next movie or franchise, Inside Out. Disney's Inside Out has been creating controversy, I guess behind the scenes with its main character, Riley. They're putting out Inside Out too. And apparently there was a lot of editing that went into this film, trying to make Riley less gay. We all know that Disney already has a few gay characters, there's Ethan in Strange World, there's LaFou who was made gay in Beauty and the Beast, there's McGregor in Jungle Cruise and there was that gay kiss in Lightyear, which Disney actually speculated, was a major part of the reason that that movie flopped in the box office. Now, whether or not that's true, who's to say, but it was creating and generating lots of controversy as the film was coming out. And that's a bet as to whether or not the featuring of these relationships leads to these projects flopping at the box office was really brought to a head when it came to Inside Out too. This is from IGN, it says, "The apparent hesitance to touch on LGBTQ theme storylines, in particular, affected Inside Out too's development, according to several sources." Multiple people recall hearing about continuous notes to make Riley, the main character of both Inside Out movies, come across as quote, "less gay," end quote, leading to numerous edits that ramped up around September 2023 after the resolution of the WGA strike. Sources described rumors that there was special care put into making the relationship between Riley and Val, a supporting character introduced in Inside Out too, seem as platonic as possible, even requiring edits to the lighting and tone of certain scenes to remove any trace of quote, romantic chemistry end quote. One source describes it as quote, just doing a lot of extra work to make sure that no one would potentially see them as not straight end quote. Mind you, this character that we're going back and forth on Riley, she's like 11 years old in the first Inside Out, and I think 13 in the second installment, so I don't know why we're even trying to insert sexuality or romantic themes into this storyline. And it seems as though, according to some of the sources cited in this article, Disney is realizing that there needs to be a focus on universal themes. And really, sexuality and queerness is not a universal theme that should be focused on, especially in kids' content. And don't get me wrong, kids at 11 and 13 are having crushes and developing feelings for other people, I'm sure. But I don't know that that's necessarily something that needs to be deeply explored in children's content. And Inside Out has a very interesting opportunity as a film. It's one of the highest grossing animated films of all time, if not the highest grossing animated film of all time. And that's because of the universal themes that it touches on. And I think Disney might be realizing the opportunity that they have with this film. And the reason it was so popular is because of the universal themes and deeper human truths that it touched on in its first installment. And of course, sexuality is sort of a universal theme in the human experience. But when you hone in on a particular sexuality and a particular sexuality that is not the majority, you are really cutting out a lot of room to talk about more universal ideas. Those deeper truths should not be sacrificed on the altar of sexuality. And we all know in Hollywood that when sexuality becomes the focus, it seems as though all of our priorities fall on the back burner. So it seems as though the team on Inside Out too, I just figured that out. And the team on Agatha all along has yet to figure it out. And the team working on Star Wars, the acolyte figured it out the hard way. I'm gonna say what needs to be said. I know we think that race and sexuality and all these different superficial identity markers are so important, but they are not personality traits. They are not the core of who you are. And I think a lot of people have that confused. So they're making it not only the core of themselves, but the core of everything they touch, especially in media and entertainment. And it leaves a lot of people wondering, who are these projects for? I don't know that I even want to watch this. I don't know that this is touching on anything deeper that I feel as though I can relate to. And even beyond that, if I can't relate to it, it should at least be interesting. And it's not. You know, if you find an audience for it and a market and people want to watch it, you can tell a gay story 'til the cows come home. But there better be a story. And when people watch these gay stories, realize there is no story and raise their hand and go, "Hey, that wasn't really good." You then point fingers at them and accuse them of homophobia. I'm reminded of that movie, "Bros" by Billie Eichner, where he told a gay story, but forgot the story. And then people said, "Hey, you forgot the story." And then he's like, "You're a homophobe." And they do this with all the superficial identity characteristics. We're telling a black story. You forget the story. I tell you, you forgot the story. And then you call me a racist. And you know what? We're not gonna let that little trick work anymore. The gaslighting needs to stop and the storytelling needs to start. I'm sorry, guys. There's nothing more to say about this. But those are just my thoughts. Drop your thoughts in the comments down below. As always, if you disagree with anything said in this video, do get out in the comments down below. They do so respectfully. And if you like this video, like, subscribe, click the notification button to be notified every single time I post a video for you guys, which is every day. And I will see you next time. Bye, guys. ♪ Yeah, you better ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Yeah, you better ♪ (upbeat music) (electronic music)