Disney's Strange World promises to be chockfull of adventure. At the red carpet premiere for the film, the film's cast and crew, including Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union, spoke positively of including Ethan and his journey in the movie.
Strange World centers around the Clade family, who routinely adventures together, or used to. Dennis Quaid stars as patriarch Jaegar Clade, but his son, protagonist Searcher Clade (voiced by Gyllenhaal), lacks the bravery of his adventuring family and has settled into the life of a farmer with his wife Meridian Clade (voiced by Union). The two of them are parents to Ethan (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White), a 16-year-old boy who happens to be gay and navigating a crush.
Variety caught up with the stars of Strange World at the red carpet premiere, including Union, Gyllenhaal, Young-White, and executive producer Jennifer Lee, who all spoke positively about the film's inclusive nature. Union, who is the mother of a trans daughter, stated, “A lot of folks are trying to erase whole chunks of our population and trying to reimagine reality without LGBTQIA folks. The reality is, we exist everywhere, every part of the globe.” Gyllenhaal, who has been a longtime LGBTQ+ ally, praised the film for its attitude towards its gay character, saying, "They normalize the normal...that's exactly how every movie should be."
Meanwhile, Young-White, who identifies as gay, stated he was proud of the film's gay storyline. "I don’t think it really hits you until it’s out in the world, and you see how much it means to people," said Young-White. Producer Jennifer Lee praised director Don Hall and said, "This was everyone just bringing in their lives and the people they love and the people they know, and talking about, 'How do we really live our lives, and this is our family, and these are those incredible characters that are a part of our family.' And so, that authenticity of character, authenticity of love of all of those in our lives, in a very diverse part of our worlds, all comes from that team."
The inclusion of a gay storyline in the film speaks to the increasing acceptance of LGBTQ+ media in family entertainment. For instance, Stranger Things recently confirmed that Will Byers is gay, with his story in season 4 centering around coming to terms with his crush on Mike. That move was not without controversy from more conservative audiences, however.
In an era when gay rights are still under attack (see Florida's Don't Say Gay bill), a gay storyline that is central to the film and can't be taken out without major edits is still a revolutionary act. From the comments made by the cast and crew, it certainly seems that Strange World won't feature a blink-and-you'll-miss-it "gay moment," nor will audiences have to speculate based on small hints - it's simply a fact of life for the characters.
Strange World hits theaters on November 23, 2022.
Source: Variety/Twitter