Josh Gad Defends 'Beauty & The Beast's Le Fou

With any luck, the entire supposed controversy around the Beauty and the Beast remake will die down now that the person at the center of it has offered their two cents. In an interview with People, Josh Gad defended Le Fou being openly gay in Beauty and the Beast in an attempt to show that the entire controversy was being blown entirely out of proportion. It was admirable of Gad to even speak up about the matter and hopefully now the entire issue can be put to rest.

"I think everything that needs to be said on this issue has probably definitely been said by now, including people who have not seen the film [and are] passing judgments," Gad told People. "What I would say is that this film is one of inclusiveness. It's one that has something to offer everyone."

Gad and his character, Le Fou, made headlines a week ago when it was revealed Le Fou was gay in 2017's Beauty and the Beast, effectively making him the first openly gay character in Disney history. While some jokingly pointed fingers at other Disney characters that could be read as queer, the occasion for celebration was upon us. Le Fou is gay and he's attracted to Gaston and oh, be still my beating heart.

However, some people did not see this ground-breaking decision as a positive thing. A theater chain in Alabama wouldn't show the film explicitly because of Le Fou and Russia sought to ban Beauty and the Beast remake, claiming that it was because of what Le Fou represented. The backlash had hit fever pitch. Enter: Gad.

In an interview with People Magazine, Gad artfully steered the discussion away from Le Fou being openly gay in Beauty and the Beast:

There are themes in it that I do think are really important and probably at the forefront of that is this idea of never judging a book by its cover. There is so much fear out there, of that which we don't understand, of that which we don't know.

Well said, sir.

Gad continued to speak on the relevance of Beauty and the Beast today, shifting the focus away from the unthreatening nature of Le Fou's queerness and onto Gaston, whose actions are far more instructive:

And you have a character in Gaston who uses his charm offensive to whip other people into a frenzy to go and attack somebody they’ve never met. Somebody that’s different. Somebody that only represents a danger because [Gaston] says that he represents a danger. I think that that theme is as relevant today as it was when Beauty and the Beast was first written 300 years ago. So that’s what I hope people take from it.

Gad's word should be taken as the alpha and the omega, friends, because nobody could summarize the situation better. When it comes to focusing on certain aspects of the remake, Le Fou's queerness shouldn't be one of them. It shouldn't draw negative attention, especially when the message of Beauty and the Beast is, as Gad puts it, one of "inclusiveness."

C'mon guys. Get a grip.