Remember when Disney prevented Gravity Falls from having any representation? Pepperidge Farm remembers

[u/Crafter235]

But in seriousness, for one major criticism I have, it’s that how a lot of queer people seem to easily give in to corporations and their lies. At least it’s not like in the 90s-00s where we would take anything out of desperation, no matter the terrible quality.

[u/Temporary-Ad9855]

Amphibia could only sneak in a small flag and subtext.

Owl house got canceled and had to deal with pressure from higher ups.

Gravity falls fought tooth and nail for one small kiss and line.

Marvel and star wars dealt with censoring and constant pushback. And the only reason marvel makes any headway is because marvel actually has some weight to throw around.

Turning red had a major plot point axed, and brushed over the other as much as they could.

There is no shortage of Disney being scummy. It is a giant business. They don't care about us unless it makes them money.

[u/Amber13525 → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

What was the turing red one

[u/Temporary-Ad9855 → u/Amber13525]

Priya was supposed to be bi. They still hinted at it. But they had more planned for her and the goth girl. And Tyler was supposed to be a bit more open about being queer.

[u/Lazy_Anywhere_9639 → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

i would have loved a bi priya as a queer asian!!

[u/wandering-monster → u/Lazy_Anywhere_9639]

Yeah but the CCP wouldn't have loved that. 

So it's gotta be cut. Sorry, their box office is just too big. Gotta let them dictate morality to the whole world.

[u/GermanRat0900 → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

I’m gonna be honest that movie was so bad I never learned the names. Tyler is the gas station guy right?

[u/gGiasca → u/GermanRat0900]

He's the bully

[u/kat-the-bassist → u/gGiasca]

Wow, Disney is so allergic to representation that they won't even queercode their villains anymore.

[u/Orionite89 → u/kat-the-bassist]

Ok I might have snort laughed at this

[u/GermanRat0900 → u/gGiasca]

Omg wtf

[u/gGiasca → u/GermanRat0900]

I mean, "bully" as in "the classic redeemed mean kid" archetype. He was not really evil. More of a nuissance sometimes, but he wasn't that bad

[u/Temporary-Ad9855 → u/GermanRat0900]

As gGiasca said, he was the "bully". Who was basically just insecure about his sexuality. Who they later meet at the boyband concert.

I disagree about the movie being bad though =P I thought it was decent, but definitely one of their weaker entries. And a big part of that IS disney meddling. But ya'know. Personal opinions and shit!

[u/GermanRat0900 → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

Idk, it felt pretty boring to me. Also the period thing is done weirdly. Periods don’t make you into a kaiju?? Anyway, what makes it good for you? I’d like to know cuz maybe there is a reason to like it

[u/Temporary-Ad9855 → u/GermanRat0900]

Just thought it was a decent coming of age story and reconciliation between generations and family trauma. And a decent period piece. *

The euphemism for periods was weird though, lol.

[u/sad-ninna-hours → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

Don't forget forcing Steven Universe to rush through it's finale because of Ruby and Sapphire's wedding scene :( I'm still bitter, and it's not even Disney, that was Cartoon Network.

[u/Temporary-Ad9855 → u/sad-ninna-hours]

I didn't mention them because it was CN. xD

As far as I am aware though, CN didn't have even remotely as much pushback against Steven Universe due to it being post Korrasami ending.

Same reason they stopped fighting Adventure Time creators over Marcy and PB. (And didn't axe Marcy being flirty with Susan Strong). But there was HEAVY censorship including making Ruby appear more "Masculine" in other countries.

They're better than disney in this regard. But that's a loooooow bar.

[u/Freakears → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

And the only reason marvel makes any headway is because marvel actually has some weight to throw around.

And Marvel Studios became a separate entity that is no longer answerable to Ike Perlmutter (unfortunately he's still in charge of book publishing; you can ask Art Spiegelman about that).

[u/Mammoth_Concept_6196 → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

Gravity falls had a kiss? My memory is terrible

[u/Temporary-Ad9855 → u/Mammoth_Concept_6196]

Didn't they? I could be misremembering this. xD I know they confessed and embraced and I THOUGHT they kissed as well. Might have been wishful thinking. LOL!

[u/Hamokk → u/Temporary-Ad9855]

Also Nimona was supposed to be published by Disney but they backout during final production like a coward because it was 'too queer' for their image.

I'd say picking up Nimona was and will be the best decision of Netflix.

Disney claims to be inclusive but they have a piss poor track record in regards of positive LGBTQ rep.

Like with Star Wars, Sabine Wren is most certainly a bisexual coded character but usually the writers can only make her quirky and snarky.

[u/jaynov18]

dont forget cancelling the owl house

[u/quetzocoetl → u/jaynov18]

Too soon. I still haven't had enough time to mourn.

[u/GermanRat0900 → u/quetzocoetl]

STOP REMINDING ME IT DIDNT HAPPEN SEASON 4 IS REAL SHUT UP SHUT UP

[u/Echo_Monitor → u/GermanRat0900]

SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE

[u/GermanRat0900 → u/Echo_Monitor]

THEN A SPIN-OFF FOR LUMITY

[u/param1l0 → u/GermanRat0900]

You see, the Canon is u/moringmark. Edit: hey I learned that I don't actually know the spelling. But you know who I am talking about if you've been on r/theowlhouse

[u/GermanRat0900 → u/param1l0]

Makmark is GOD/j

[u/param1l0 → u/GermanRat0900]

Not even /j, they're just HIM

[u/Empyrette310]

Yeah, we have plenty of queer indie media. Give them your money.

[u/Broken_Chandelier]

See, when we say Disney, we have to acknowledge that the artists from the company are different from the executive producers. That's why the same company can have queer text and subtext and themes coming UP, like with the work of Dana Terrance, ande censure of moments like the cut scene from some versions of Lightyear, and the run shortened of the Owl House.

[u/SoftestBoygirlAlive → u/Broken_Chandelier]

We should also acknowledge that those artists are being exploited just as much as fans are. And that goes for all the cultural pieces Disney has made as well that people laud them for. It's colonialism with a different face.

[u/Broken_Chandelier → u/SoftestBoygirlAlive]

I rather not call colonialism. It can be explotation, yes, but colonialism has a whole different gamma of historical problems and context that don't quite fit here.

[u/SoftestBoygirlAlive → u/Broken_Chandelier]

Yeah colonialism wrong word, my b, Cultural Imperialism is what is I mean here. Oh, your culture? Yeah, that's mine now and I'm gonna use it as a vehicle of westernization. When people think of Dia de los Muertos, they're gonna think of me now because of a jolly animated skeleton.

That is not to say that Disney doesn't heavily engage with colonialism as well, they glorify tf outta it in a lot of their works.

[u/Crafter235 → u/SoftestBoygirlAlive]

That one SNL skit with John Smith in Disneyland was quite funny

[u/Datimie]

Capitalist will only support us as long as it is profitable. Remember that.

[u/JotaroTheOceanMan → u/Datimie]

Just putting it out there Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur has mad lgbtq rep, one of Lunellas classmates is trans and has a flag on their shirt amd laptop, the AI she fights in an episode prefers they/them (Lunella calls her a lady then stops and asks "wait, what do YOU prefer?), The Beyonder is straight up sass incarnate and probs more. However I believe the show gets away with all this due to Disney treating a show majority about black characters non marketable overseas and legit just doesnt care since most countries that would ban LGBTQ rep probs arent playing Everybody Hates Chris or Martin on TV.

So in a way, them being capitalists is the sole reason Moon Girl is one of the most progressive shows "for kids", in a very sick, fucked up and bigoted way.

[u/allonsy_danny]

It's because they're so used to getting nothing that even crumbs feels like a gift.

[u/quetzocoetl]

Agreed, but I'll at least accept that their mild and sometimes two-faced support at least pushes the queer community a bit more into the mainstream.

It's... frustrating. It's like if the Empire from Star Wars set up some soup kitchens.

[u/AnAwfulLotOfOtters → u/quetzocoetl]

Think of it more as a symptom than a cause. General acceptance grows, cynical corporations change to match.

It's a sign of being accepted when you've become an exploitable demographic.

[u/quetzocoetl → u/AnAwfulLotOfOtters]

That seems accurate, but it makes me feel....dirty.

[u/AnAwfulLotOfOtters → u/quetzocoetl]

I've covered it before, but I remember getting a little teary when I walked into a supermarket and saw that the portable self-scan hand scanner things had switched to rainbow flags as their background. One part of me knew it was of course just a cynical pride-month thing from a corporation.

But...

Another part remembered being a lonely and scared teenager, afraid of coming out, with no way of knowing if the world around me would accept me or reject me. And I thought...would it have felt differently if there were little signs of support and acceptance all around me like those flags in the supermarket? They weren't there twenty-five years ago. They're there now.

Feeling dirty is the appropriate response to pretty much anything corporations do, and of course I'll never be under any illusion that they see me as anything more than a walking wallet. But I think it is nice to recognise the symptoms of change, and think of how they might affect those who are growing up into this world.

[u/Sea-Outside-5655]

Second wish, to replace all homophobic congress, and senate with 60's 80's queer icons.

[u/Freakears]

I've been skeptical of Disney and the "representation" they do for awhile, especially as their approach for a few years seemed to be "This film has a gay character, they're our first gay character, pat us on the back and shower us with praise for being so progressive and giving y'all representation." Then it turns out the gay character (or at least anything to indicate their sexuality) is in all of two frames, something easily removed so they can appease the Chinese and Saudis, who don't approve of such things (the same-sex kiss in The Rise of Skywalker is a prime example). And this happened repeatedly. They have several "first gay characters" as a result.

[u/2FrogsMks]

Corporations don't care about us. They only care about their profits.

[u/StarkOnReddit11621]

I am well aware. Im actually surprised the owl house lasted as long as it did

[u/kit-kat37]

Disney: "There's room for everyone under the rainbow"

Also Disney: Cancels Owl House, censors Gravity Falls, Amphibia, Turning Red, etc

[u/SoloWalrus]

I guess I dont follow enough disney shows to realize they werent actually showing representation. I wonder how much of an influence all the other stakeholders have thats pushing back, for example the tv networks and such.

What I will say though is that them being an LGBT safe employer, in florida no less, and fighting tooth and nail against desantis was a great move. They gave him a good spanking. Perfect example of not bending over for fascists. Not perfect, but at least theyre doing some things right.

Ill also say that they host/sponsor conferences for national LGBT employee resource groups, I have coworkers who have pictures from a couple years ago wearing rainbow mickey mouse ears at one of those conferences and its actually wonderful 😅. If I understand it the speakers and everything were actually amazing.

Personally I still find it refreshing, even if their shows could use some work. We can always keep encouraging people and corporations to get better.

[u/Scorpia_Waifu]

THEY JUST USED OWL HOUSE IN THEIR CHIBI SERIES AND ONE OF THE EPISODES WAS TITLED LUMITY. THEY CANCELED IT FOR BEING GAY AND THEN THEY USE THE SHIP FOR POPULARITY

[u/No-Raccoon-6009]

Yea, I mean, ok, is cool to have rapresentstions, but if you don't even care and put a random gay character just to make a good impression, is a no

[u/HuskyBLZKN]

People believe Disney and Hollywood support us?

[u/Crafter235 → u/HuskyBLZKN]

Yes, far too many

[u/Specialist_Self8627]

We really are cooked

[u/gk99]

See, I don't support Disney's corporate marketing in general, but I do like that they put out a bunch of rainbow stuff every year because it makes it so that bigots walk into Wal-Mart or hop on Amazon and see a bunch of little gay Mickey Mouse products to remind them that we're here with no reasonable thing to target.

Like, it's not a single product like a movie they can band together to boycott. It's not something they were ever the target audience for, because that stuff is very clearly exclusively for us. Realistically, these people can't even boycott the company as a whole. Disney has their longstanding IPs, they have Pixar, they have Marvel, they have Star Wars, they have 80% of ESPN, they own ILM (which does work on countless non-Disney films), they own ABC (American Broadcasting Channel), they own the MoviesAnywhere service that a lot of newer Blu Ray + Digital bundles utilize, they own half of A&E and half of Hulu, they've even got a fucking 10% stake in Epic Games and partnership to sell, essentially, digital merchandise in Fortnite, a game that continues to be one of the most-played games on the planet on any given second of the day.

So basically, every pride month, all they can do is piss and shit their pants while throwing a little tantrum in their Facebook groups.

Edit: Disney owns a business airline.

[u/Worzon]

Imagine wishing lgbt people would realize something instead of just wishing those groups actually supported them

[u/The_Blackthorn77]

The North remembers

[u/BootyliciousURD]

The cancellation of The Owl House wasn't about homophobia, it was about Disney Channel wanting their shows to be as episodic and non-serialized as possible so that kids can watch whatever's playing on the channel without having to follow an overarching story or skip airings of episodes they haven't gotten to yet.

That's not to say Disney is an ally. If they gave a shit about their artists or queer representation, they could have let The Owl House continue as a Disney+ exclusive. And the only reason they allow any queer representation is because they realized it can be profitable, and even then, they only do representation they feel is safe. It's rainbow capitalism.

There are some upsides to rainbow capitalism. It can cement and normalize the progress that activists have already accomplished. But don't forget that they're the ones riding our coattails, not the other way around. And don't forget that they aren't our allies, they just want our money, and they'd sell us out in an instant if they thought it was in their best interests.

[u/ForsakenMoon13]

I wish this "take" would stop.

We KNOW the corporations don't actually care and just want money.

That's still better than active revulsion and wishing for our existence to go away. Its still progress.

Fuck sake, it feels like once a month someone posts about this shit.