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Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ Banned in Saudi Arabia over Same-Gender Kiss
- jfengel 4y agoIt was in Raya and the Last Dragon where I really felt the effect of Disney cutting a same-gender subplot. The two women are set up as a pair right from the beginning: meet-cute, betrayal, test their trust at the climax. And then, nothing. For the denouement, the heroine is celebrated, and her partner just walks right past without a glance. Everything in the plot called for the two to end up together, and it's as though somebody just made a big X through the last page of the script. I'm pretty sure that's precisely what happened. As I understand it their fear is China rather than the Middle East, because they make so much money there. And Disney is under no obligation to risk its profits just to be "fair". But they are obligated by that profit motive to tell some novel stories. They need stories that people connect with. That's not a matter of appealing to niche audiences, but telling stories from people who are interesting. Gay people have stories to tell, and those stories appeal to everybody -- just as black people are interested in stories about white people, women are interested in stories about men, etc. But that doesn't mean that the white, straight man is "the" story and that everything else is a niche. Everybody can related to every story, if it's told well. And many people will start looking for stories that they haven't heard a million times before. It's going to start with little pandering moments like this. Pretty ladies kissing are more acceptable than kissing men.