Lauren Gunderson, one of the credited writers for Pixar’s Lightyear, defended the film’s lesbian kiss scene in response to rapper Snoop Dogg’s criticism.
The rapper revealed his misgivings with LGBTQ content for children during a recent interview on the It’s Giving podcast. The rapper referenced watching the Disney movie Lightyear with his grandchild and feeling uncomfortable when it showed a same-sex kiss between two women.
“Oh shit, I didn’t come in for this shit. I just came to watch the goddamn movie,’” Snoop Dogg recalled thinking. “It fucked me up. I’m, like, scared to go to the movies now. Y’all throwing me in the middle of shit that I don’t have an answer for.”
“These are kids,” he added. “We have to show that at this age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer.”
In a post on Instagram this week, Gunderson identified herself as the creator of the lesbian couple who share a kiss.
“So. I created the LIGHTYEAR lesbians. In 2018, I was a writer at Pixar – such a cool place, grateful to work there, learned a ton from kind and impressive creatives,” she wrote. “As we wrote early versions of what became LIGHTYEAR, a key character needed a partner, and it was so natural to write ‘she’ instead of ‘he.” As small as that detail is in the film, I knew the representational effect it could have. Small line, big deal. I was elated that they kept it. I’m proud of it. To infinity. Love is love.”
Gunderson said she had little to do with the final script but was ultimately pleased that the final product featured a “happy queer couple” on the big screen.
“I was one of a few writers they had on it over the years, which is very common for screenwriting of course. I had very little to do with the final script. But I was proud to see a happy queer couple (even for a few seconds) onscreen. I know they got a lot of shit for this inclusion, but stuff like this matters because beautiful love like this exists,” she wrote.
“It’s *not* fiction. What IS fiction is Zurg and lightspeed space travel and murderous aliens and a talking robot cat,” she concluded.
Released in 2022, the movie Lightyear bombed in the box office, earning just $50 million domestically on its opening weekend until crashing and burning with a final worldwide haul of $226 million on a budget of $200 million plus marketing and promotional costs. The film was largely seen as the beginning of Disney’s decline, culminating in the dismissal of the company’s then-CEO Bob Chapek and later mass layoffs.
While some have called rapper Snoop Dogg homophobic for his statements about Lightyear, others have defended him, including the hosts for The Breakfast Club.
“I’m with Snoop. I don’t want to have to explain any of this in a cartoon or a movie if I’m taking my child,” co-host Envy said. “I’m not sure the age of his grandson, but I don’t want to have to explain this to my 3 year old, my 6 year old, my 7 year old, 8 year old. And not just whether it’s gay, whether it’s hetero as well. I don’t want to see that if they’re fighting in galaxy land.”
Host Charlamagne tha God agreed.
“I’m just trying to watch a movie. Now I got to Google this later and explain to my kids, ‘You know, women can adopt or she might have had a surrogate.’ That’s just not a question I want to be asked or answer while I’m sitting here watching this children’s movie with my grandchild,” he said.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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