This week the new Disney/Pixar release Lightyear begins offshore rollouts. However the film is not going to be played in the countries of Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The big issue regarding Lightyear is reportedly related to LGBTQ content.
In the past, Disney has been panned by LGBTQ groups for their editing out of LGBT characters and themes. On top of that they have also been criticized by these groups for having an a countless amount of “First Queer Characters” in their stories, retconning queer coded villains and past queer characters.
One big example was when the latest Star Wars film had an queer kiss in the background of a scene, which was edited out in foreign releases of the film. Or when Disney has touted 8 separate characters as the “First Queer Character In Disney”. Such as their touting of Marvel’s Eternals or the several background queer couples with no bearing on the films plot. They have routinely been criticized for being proponents of the “Rainbow Capitalism” style of exploitation.
As for Lightyear, the film has a queer kiss that has been reinstated after March’s “Don’t Say Gay” bills made the rounds in headlines. The embrace is between Alisha, voiced by Uzo Aduba, and another woman.
Lightyear is still going to hold strong in theaters and on streaming even without the homophobic countries playing the film. The general consensus among LGBTQ groups is that it is too little too late for the titan of industry.
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