‘Thor: Love and Thunder’s Queer Content Sparks Backlash from All Angles
The reactions to Marvel’s newest release Thor: Love and Thunder have been nothing short of a conflicting fiasco. Reviews for the film run the gamut, some calling it a goofy mess and others praising the unconventional style that was first spotted in Thor: Ragnarok. Outside of the debate about the film’s quality and style, there is a second debate amongst viewers relating to its depictions of queer characters.
Like the reviews, the opinion on the queer content varies greatly. Some are praising Marvel for taking steps to include more explicit, though subtle, nods to queer relationships and people in their films. Others have grown tired of large studios continually promising queer representation that never materializes in a meaningful way. Unsurprisingly given the societal opinions on LGBTQ people in America, there have also been those who claim the few moments in the film make it “too gay.”
One group, One Million Moms, has called for a boycott of Thor: Love and Thunder, as they believe that its queer content will indoctrinate children into homosexuality.
The organization’s specific grievances are as follows: “Rated PG-13, Thor: Love and Thunder includes many LGBTQ innuendos and an abundance of euphemisms, but a few scenes are not downplayed at all. The alien character named Korg mentions having two dads, and he has hand sex with another member of his species. The bisexual goddess, King Valkyrie, kisses another woman’s hand to show interest. An Asgardian kid insists on going by a gender-neutral name. And the gay romantic tension between Thor and Star-Lord is apparent but played off as a gag.”
Actress Natalie Portman, who plays Jane Foster in the film, described it as “so gay” at an advance screening, and Director Taika Waititi called it “super gay.” There has been an amount of backlash to these comments, given the limited scope of the on-screen queer representation. In a lukewarm defense of their comments, compared to other Marvel and Disney projects, the film features significantly more LGBTQ moments.
The controversy around the film, where the queer content makes up under three minutes of its total runtime, feels overblown from all angles. Acting like these moments of representation have the power to ruin heterosexual society or like it is the most revolutionary thing Marvel could have done both feel ridiculous. The whole situation underscores the absurdity of these easily cuttable queer moments as representation. Even 30 seconds of representation is enough for conservatives to call for a boycott and get a film banned overseas, as seen three times this summer between Thor, Lightyear, and Baymax!, so studios may as well commit to actually representing queer people rather than trying to play both sides of the issue.
