Did you hear all the fuss about the Alabama theater that banned the new Beauty and the Beast for having a gay character? Well, according to TMZ they scheduled the drag documentary, Fierce as its replacement by mistake.
The theater originally wrote on its Facebook page,
“It is with great sorrow that I have to tell our customers that we will not be showing Beauty and the Beast at the Henegar Drive-in when it comes out.”“
But Carol Laney who owns the Henagar, approved Fierce as an upcoming feature thinking it was a Game of Thrones-style move because the poster was misleading –a woman surrounded by 3 dragons.
People of course, began calling her out for banning Beauty but leaving Fierce on her schedule. Now she’s pulled the drag doc too, saying it’s
“not in her comfort zone.“
Laney said that she and her husband took ownership of the theater in December and set out to only show movies that aligned with their religious beliefs.
“As business owners we take pride and caution in showing discernment in what we play at our drive-in. This by no means is sending a message of hatred or bigotry. However, we are Christians first and foremost and must admit to our Bible and Christianity.”
Of course all of this attention is great for the theater, Disney’s PR for the movie as well as LGBTQ rights because the hypocrisy is highlighted. At the L.A. premiere, Gad told USA Today,
“What was most important to me was taking a character that is wonderful and so iconic, but is defined by cartoon conceits in the (original) movie … and expanding on that, giving him dimension, making him human.“
After all the press, Condon says that the hype around the moment has been “overblown”. He told ScreenCrush.
“Oh God. Can I just tell you? It’s all been overblown. Because it’s just this, it’s part of just what we had fun with.“
In the meantime you can see Josh Gad as LaFou singing the praises of Gaston, and get a look at Fierce too. Beauty and the Beast opens March 17.
Watch.
Luke Evan and Josh Gad on the set of “Beauty & the Beast”
(via TMZ; LGBTQ Nation)
