So before I start the blog, I don't want to offend anyone at all! I just want to say for starters that I think we need plenty more LGBT characters within film as a whole. It's definitely a stance that is ever improving, and especially in a world that we live in now, doing this is crucial. For people I know in the LGBT community, they desire to have more role models and characters they can connect with, and I think that's great. And while this is without a doubt happening, I personally feel that many filmmakers and studios are doing it in the wrong way. I for one feel as though these characters need a lot more representation, rather than just a 'cameo,' so to say. Let me explain.

So I'm sure you've all heard or seen the headlines about the first LGBT superhero recently, about Becky G's character in the new Power Rangers film being a lesbian. Naturally, many were glad that finally, among the many Marvel and DC films we've seen, a newly rebooted franchise would introduce the first LGBT superhero. Now, having seen it, and very much liking Trini (the Yellow Ranger) I have to say I was waiting for this big moment where we'd see this powerful representation of her that the media were saying there would be. But, for what we got, whilst it was a nice scene, was just a bit of back and fourth dialogue where Trini says she has been moved from school to school due to her relationships and the fact her parents don't agree with her choices. Even then, we don't actually get full on confirmation that she is a lesbian, it's heavily implied, but there's still a lot more to be revealed. And yeah I guess that might change in sequels, but for this film, I expected more. I expected a better representation, not just a few lines of dialogue that establishes her sexuality. I would have loved to have seen a scene where she stands up to her nasty mother - something which I know the LGBT community struggle with, in asserting themselves against people who aren't tolerant of how they want to live their lives. There's plenty of things they could have done with it, and I know that we should be happy they introduced a LGBT character into the film at all... but I just don't feel like enough justice has been done for her. And I want to see more. Maybe the media are to blame, and that's where my next point comes in.

We should all know that LaFou played by Josh Gad in Beauty and the Beast is a gay character, afterall, a week or so before it's release, it was everywhere in the media. The director, Bill Condon, was very big on the subject and was glad that his film would have Disney's first gay character (has he seen the lesbian couple in Finding Dory?) Anyhow, part of me felt as though LaFou didn't get a good enough representation either. It was better than Trini's, and I did like Gad's performance, but it didn't stick for me, not that one split second moment at the end. Anyway, what really niggles me about this is what Condon said a few weeks after the film's release, after it made a whole lot of money. And I mean a lot. At first, while he bigged it up for weeks before it came out, Condon said this soon after: ''It's all been overblown. Because it's just this, it's part of just what we had fun with. Why is it a big deal?''

I think my problem with this, and in relation to the Yellow Ranger headlines, is that studios and the media are using this as a marketing strategy. Of course, releasing headlines such as this will pull people in, and there isn't anything wrong with that as such, but it feels like a trick in the case with Power Rangers where a line of dialogue just doesn't justify a good representation. Condon feels like a hypocrite in this case. It feels like he's had to big up this big LGBT moment before the release and then after the film has made all of this money, he's said how he really feels. I could be wrong and reading too much into it, but that's just how I feel about it.