I disagree. I believe if the film is done well, it could inspire a lot of necessary conversations between a child and their parents. Basically, you are saying that because children are raised to identify with heterosexual ideologies, a movie with a gay couple would not be enjoyable. You could equate that statement this: Because children are raised to play safely and do as their parents say, they would not enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean. Adults and children alike identify with characters from movies for many reasons. Whether it is the way they move, speak, look or the decisions they make, there is always one quality in any well developed character that I can identify with - straight or gay, good or evil, dead or alive, black or white.PatrickvD wrote: because it will be impossible for the intended audience to be able to identify with them. Aside from the obvious insanity that would break out across the world, there are many reasons why it isn't necessary.
From a young age gay kids have learnt to understand and identify with heterosexual standards. While I do think it is important to teach in schools about homosexuality at a young age so all kids will learn there is nothing wrong with two boys in love or two girls together, I think Disney is too mainstream a company to cater to a small group like this. Let's face it, if they would do this, it would be for adults... and they're not Disney's target demo.
A few gay secondary characters would be nice though. But I don't have a desire to see them as main characters and I don't think it's a necessity. And it's obviously a matter so complex I doubt anyone could pull it off without offending someone. People are so easily offended anyway these days...
Just because an idea is not familiar to a child does not mean they are purposefully ignorant to it. If anything, introducing homosexuality to children at a young age, as you've said, is a good thing. Between the ages of 1 and 10, we learn the most about how things work than any other age. When "complex" things such as homosexuality are taught as though they are a way of life, the weight of the problem is lifted and instead is thought of as normal in a child's head.
