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Pixar Exec Hit With Backlash After Callously Explaining Why LGBTQ+ Content Was Cut From 'Elio'
"As time’s gone on, I realized my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody."
But the quote that's drawing backlash was Docter’s comment about changes he ordered in the film Elio. Docter defended the removal of the LGBTQ+ storyline from Elio, including a reported scene where the main character imagined living with his male crush.
Docter told the WSJ:
"We're making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars in therapy."
Docter backed his choice to eliminate LGBTQ+ characters and storylines from Pixar products because he had found that "certain parents" did not want entertainment to pressure them into having conversations they were not ready to have with their children.
People found Docter’s capitulation to "certain parents," or the insertion of his own homophobia, disheartening.
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Despite the changes Docter ordered, Elio was a financial flop.
Because of his concern for "certain parents," Docter demanded extensive changes to Elio by new directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi after the animation was mostly complete. The move led to backlash among Pixar staff members.
Elio was conceived by openly gay animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and director Adrian Molina as a story about childhood and social isolation, and Molina—who was the screenwriter and codirector of Pixar hit Coco—was slated to direct.
He parted with the project over demands to remove any queer coding from the film—the male crush, a pink bike, turning trash he’d collected into a pink tank top—despite leaving in the plot point that lead character Elio would be sent to Camp Carver, a military-themed summer camp, so he could learn to be more masculine/disciplined.
At no point in the original version of the film did Elio or any other character identify his sexuality, but the mere suggestion of a boy liking pink and having a crush on another male—something most children experience whether straight or LGBTQ+—was deemed too traumatizing for "certain parents."
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that while he had Elio reworked to appease "certain parents," Docter also ordered the removal of a transgender storyline from the Pixar TV series Win or Lose.
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Someone Put The 'Veep' Closing Credits On Kristi Noem's Final Speech As DHS Secretary—And It's Too Good
When taking questions afterward, Noem acted as if she was still going to be in charge in the future—despite the public announcement being big news by then.
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Many assumed Noem was unaware she'd been "reassigned" to a made-up position in a made-up organization.
But just moments after her appearance at the conference wrapped up, Noem acknowledged her dismissal on X.
Upon hearing of Noem's fall from grace, author and educator Chasten Glezman Buttigieg, husband of Biden administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, posted a request on X.
Buttigieg wrote:
"Can someone layer the Veep closing credits over this I have to make dinner"
He included a clip from Noem's conference address.
Max Flugrath, Communications Director for Fair Fight Action, was able to fulfill Buttigieg's request. As did video technologist Chip Drink (@thejonacosta).
Flugrath posted the altered clip captioned:
"New Veep deleted scene feat. Kristi Noem."
Chip Drink's version was captioned:
"Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) getting fired today, VEEP-style."
He also added the hashtag "CricketsRevenge."
People thought the melding was perfect.
Noem's firing came after a disastrous two-day hearing on Capitol Hill.
Noem appeared before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on Tuesday and Wednesday where she was questioned about DHS actions, lies she'd been caught in, her relationship with Corey Lewandowski, and her spending habits.
Noem told Senators Trump approved a $200 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign that was never put up for competitive bid, but was instead awarded to four firms connected to Noem, Lewandowski, and Republican operatives.
Trump immediately denied any knowledge of the campaign or the contract awards. Many predicted implicating the POTUS would be the end of Noem's cabinet position.