Walt Disney's live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" is facing a Christian backlash even before it could be screened after Bill Condon, its director, revealed that there would be an "exclusively gay moment" in the movie that is set to open in U.S. and U.K. theatres on March 17.
Reacting to Condon's teaser, the Christian owners of Henagar drive-in in Alabama said it would not screen the highly-anticipated film starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast, according to The Sun.
The owners made the announcement on their Facebook page, offering this explanation: "When companies continually force their views on us we need to take a stand. We all make choices and I am making mine. For those that do not know, 'Beauty and the Beast' is 'premiering' their first homosexual character. The producer also says at the end of the move 'there will be a surprise for same-sex couples."
Because of this, the owners said the movie, which is a remake of the animated classic, is no longer suitable for children to watch. "If we cannot take our 11-year-old granddaughter and 8-year-old grandson to see a movie, we have no business watching it," they said. "If I can't sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. I know there will be some that do not agree with this decision. That's fine."
They said they are first and foremost Christians, so they will not compromise their values just to assuage the public's demands.
Condon earlier told the British magazine Attitude that the character LeFou, played by Josh Gad, will explore his sexuality in a "small but significant subplot." LeFou is the sidekick of the film's villain Gaston (played by Luke Evans).
"LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," Condon said in the interview. "He's confused about what he wants. It's somebody who's just realising that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that's what has its payoff at the end, which I don't want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."
Meanwhile, the Christian watchdog group One Million Moms created a petition urging people to stop supporting Disney unless the media giant opts to air only family-friendly entertainment.
"Disney has decided to be politically correct versus providing family-friendly entertainment. Disney should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda. Conservative families need to urge Disney to avoid mature and controversial topics," the group said.
