Public frustration that big movie franchises remain reluctant to feature significant LGBT roles in their summer blockbusters is something that shows no signs of going away. With recent examples of the sexuality of key characters being kept deliberately ambiguous, or cut from the storyline altogether, the subject remains a hot topic. There is, however a steadily growing list of Hollywood players prepared to speak out in favor of the issue, and a recent article on the homosexual overtones on display in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok has now seen Director Taika Waititi showing where he stands on the subject.
The Odinson’s three-quel is one of a number of big releases that have come under fire for not being brave enough to portray an openly LGBT main character. The makers of Solo: A Star Wars Story went to great pains to highlight the pansexual nature of Lando Calrissian, before toning the matter down to the point of irrelevance for the movie’s release.
The same thing has happened in the Harry Potter and Jurassic World franchises, as well as Warner Bros. removing any hint of bisexuality out of last year’s Wonder Woman movie.
A great deal had been made about Tessa Thompson’s heroine, Valkyrie, prior to Ragnarok’s release. Teased as the Marvel Cinematic Unvierse’s first openly bisexual character, fans were disappointed when scenes of her sharing a bed with another woman ended up being cut from the film. Still, this omission didn’t stop the film from this week being announced as the ‘Gayest Movie’ Marvel have released to date.
Yesterday, Vulture published an article in which they ranked all 19 MCU releases in terms of what they perceived to be the amount of ‘gay content’ on show. It’s an amusing read (well, unless you’re a massive homophobe…), and sees Ragnarok sitting astride a leader-board that has Thor: The Dark World languishing in the relegation zone, with Guardians Of The Galaxy and The Winter Soldier just missing out on the top spot.
The reasons for Ragnarok’s win include:
- Hulk nude scene
- Jeff Goldblum being, well, Jeff Goldblum
- Scientific phenomenon ‘The Devil’s Anus’
- Cate Banchett and Tessa Thompson’s PVC figure-hugging costumes
- Thor’s Haircut
All of which seem perfectly valid contributory factors to us….
An avid Twitter user, Waititi immediately came across the piece and retweeted it along with his opinion. Far from being embarrassed or angered by the accolade, he was immensely proud, celebrating the win by using it to throw some shade on the Iron Man movies.
Yaaaasssss! Take that “Iron” Man!
#1 🎉🥇🏳️🌈⚡💦 https://t.co/j7PDNEXK5H via @vulture— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) June 20, 2018
With pressure mounting on Marvel and other big studios to have the food grace and decency to make one of their key properties an openly LGBT character, it will hopefully only be a matter of time before this disappointing topic can finally be laid to rest. After that, the internet can then go and find another reason to be cross with the MCU.