Gay Best Friend: Artie in "Cruella" (2021) and All The Other 'First Gay Disney Characters'
Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 1:40PM a series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope
How many Arties are we going to see at Halloween this year?The “Gay Best Friend” in romantic comedies used to be the de facto example of empty virtue signaling. However, like most things in the film world, Disney has decided to do it bigger and... better? This weekend, Craig Gillespie’s Cruella has touted that it features “Disney’s first openly gay character.” All gays stand on the shoulders of their forefathers, and Artie (played by John McCrea) is no exception. In fact, his claim to the title is laughable not just because of how sanitized his character is, but also because Disney has declared having their “first openly gay character” more times than the boy who cried wolf.
So how does Artie compare to the other “first openly gay characters” in the Disney universe?