Hmm, well, I'm not sure there are that many gay (lets take that as short for LGBTU, shall we?) people (parents, teachers, kids, etc) in Disney's target market. I've seen numbers of 4% to 10% of the population (I suspect closer to 4% or lower) as self identifying as gay. That number will be enormously under-rated relative to Disney's target market, so they have even less potential loss of market. You could say that the number is higher b/c some pct of their target market will have self identified gay relatives/friends. But then how many of that segment wants to explain that sort of thing to their children at any one time? -XC PS - I still say Apple has a higher responsibility than Disney.
I won't disagree about Apple's responsibilities, but then I hate them so much they've already forsaken any good they might have done. I'm not sure I understand what you meant about the target market, though. Is Disney's target market heterosexual white families who don't know any gay people? It seems unrealistic for Disney to build a secret garden where only straight people can go. I don't believe that's the case — Disney's stories are universal and are enjoyed by most children. Whether the kids are aware of it or not, they already have gay relatives and teachers, and at some point they or some of their friends will turn out to be gay. 5% is a significant number of people, and it's safe to say we all know at least one gay person. Yes, it can be an awkward conversation to have with kids, but so is explaining love between heterosexual couples. Explaining gayness doesn't entail explaining anything new. The difference between explaining heterosexual love and homosexual love seems to be in the minds of the parents.
Disney's market is certainly mostly made up of parents who are not going to the movies with children under 10 and hoping to get a change to explain sexuality. Me, personally, I just wanted to talk about how funny the talking sloth was, not who he was dating. If you think 5% is significant, than it is. Oh, wait, just re-read this. You don't have kids? -XC
I don't have kids. My point about the sexuality, though, was that parents already have to have that conversation with kids about straight couples. Broadening the talk to say that anyone can fall in love with anyone else doesn't make the conversation more difficult. And, as you rightly pointed out, Disney movies should not be gay-themed. They shouldn't have sexual themes at all, but that doesn't mean you can't have gay characters just being there. They already have straight characters falling in love, but they're not movies about heterosexuality.
Dude, parents don't have that conversation before they have to. And, yes, actually, adding edge conditions to any conversation with a child makes it much longer to explain and much more likely that they'll do/say something hideously embarrassing in public. -XC PS - Three kids, I have some experience at this sort of stuff.
You've got experience on me for sure. But does seeing a gay couple on screen really pre-empt that discussion? You're already seeing straight couples on screen. By showing a gay couple kissing you're not showing any level of adulthood that wasn't already there. Also, I suspect kids are going to embarrass their parents no matter how hard you try to stop it!