Let’s just state the obvious: Hollywood still hasn’t learned a thing. After years of box-office flops and massive public backlash, the geniuses at Pixar and Disney are still convinced that what American families really want is another kids’ movie packed with lectures about “inclusivity” and “queer” identity. Newsflash: They don’t.
Just look at “Elio.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pixar’s latest project was originally cooked up to be a full-on “queer” romance. Director Adrian Molina — who is “queer” himself — designed Elio as a gay coming-of-age story. Even America Ferrera, who voices Elio’s mom, gushed about how “beautiful” this “authentic” representation was supposed to be. You could almost hear the self-congratulation echoing off the studio walls.
But then reality hit. Disney, staring down a string of recent disasters like “Lightyear” and “Strange World,” realized that shoving LGBTQ propaganda down the throats of kids and parents hasn’t exactly been a winning business model.
According to multiple insiders who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, Elio was initially portrayed as a queer-coded character, reflecting original director Adrian Molina’s identity as an openly gay filmmaker. Other sources say that Molina did not intend the film to be a coming out story, as the character is 11. But either way, this characterization gradually faded away throughout the production process as Elio became more masculine following feedback from leadership.
The article explains that there were “direct examples of [Elio’s] passion for environmentalism and fashion,” and that there was also “a scene in Elio’s bedroom with pictures suggesting a male crush.”
The writing was on the wall for “Elio” two years ago. In the summer of 2023, when an early test screening in Arizona revealed a major red flag. Although audiences claimed to enjoy the film, not a single person said they’d pay to see it in theaters. Around the same time, director Adrian Molina showed his latest cut to Pixar leadership, including studio head Pete Docter. While accounts vary on what was said, insiders say the exchange left Molina shaken, and shortly after, he left the project.
I guess it wasn’t going to be gay enough for him.
The film was then overhauled under new leadership from Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi. I’m sure it helped the movie, but the original concept was still green-lit, which says a lot. Hoping to avoid another flop, the studio quietly started scrubbing away the most blatant “queer” content, watering down Elio’s story until it was (sort of) palatable for mainstream audiences.
It’s not like Molina can’t write a good movie. He co-wrote “Coco,” which came out in 2017, and that was a decent film.
So, don’t let the media fool you. The press will keep pretending that if only these movies were “more inclusive,” they’d rake in the cash. But every time Disney or Pixar panders to the LGBTQ mob, audiences stay home. Parents just want their kids to see creative, enjoyable stories, not be force-fed the left’s political talking points. Hollywood ignores this at its own peril.
Related: What Hollywood Doesn’t Get About Audiences
Here’s the bottom line: Americans don’t want their kids bombarded by LGBTQ propaganda. They don’t want to be lectured about “inclusivity” every time they buy a movie ticket. That the higher-ups at Disney/Pixar realized that the overt LGBTQ themes were a problem and sought to remove them is a good sign they’re learning, but they clearly still have a long way to go to remember how to make a good movie.
They can start by remembering they’re supposed to be making movies for the masses, not to promote their personal agendas.
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