Childhood can be a lonely time for baby queers, especially in a society that pushes cis people and straightness as the norm. But thanks to the wonderful world of motion pictures, that fact is a little less true. These movies found a way to speak to young queer people and remind us that we’re not alone.
Mulan
Let’s start with the basics. Everyone and their cousin knows that Mulan is the queerest children’s movie of all time.
First off, let’s take a moment to honor “Reflections,” one of the best queer anthems of all time. Queer magic. Now for the plot: Mulan refused to conform to gender norms so much so, she joined an army meant for “men only” under the name Ping. Not only is she very convincing as Ping, she even meets a very masculine soldier, Li Shang who falls for Ping as a man. Yes, two perceivably male characters fall for each other in a Disney movie. This happened. This movie has queer love, major key girl power, intersectional feminism, and it’s all in a kids’ animation. Bow down.Let’s start with the basics. Everyone and their cousin knows that Mulan is the queerest children’s movie of all time.
First off, let’s take a moment to honor “Reflections,” one of the best queer anthems of all time. Queer magic. Now for the plot: Mulan refused to conform to gender norms so much so, she joined an army meant for “men only” under the name Ping. Not only is she very convincing as Ping, she even meets a very masculine soldier, Li Shang who falls for Ping as a man. Yes, two perceivably male characters fall for each other in a Disney movie. This happened. This movie has queer love, major key girl power, intersectional feminism, and it’s all in a kids’ animation. Bow down.
Bend It Like Beckham
There’s a rumor that Bend It Like Beckham was originally written to be a lesbian story and boy does it show. Seriously, how did Jess and Jules not end up together? They may have been straight-washed but any baby gay could see these two girls were meant to be. They even go off happily onto a plane together in the end, their male interests nowhere to be found. If you’re queer you’ll probably be able to appreciate the not-so-subtle gay context of this movie and sometimes that’s all a baby queer needs to feel more comfortable in their truth.
Good Burger
If you’re a '90s kid you probably were a fan of Nickelodeon comedy pair Kenan and Kel and/or their infamous movie, Good Burger. But what’s so queer about this duo? In a word: Kel. While Kenan was more clearly cis and straight and obviously looooved women, Kel was more left to interpretation with all sorts of innuendoes and quirky lines that kept the audience guessing. But it really all boils down to the epic #CareFreeBlackBoys-ness of Kel’s character. In a binary society where black men and boys are expected to be nothing but masculine, there’s nothing more queer than a tender-hearted, lovingly feminine, and somewhat aloof character like Kel who isn’t tied down with those tropes. #CareFreeBlackBoys for the win.
Howl’s Moving Castle
Anime films are historically more comfortable with queering gender than American films and this Hayao Miyazaki classic is a perfect example of that. First off, Howl’s aesthetic from his long black locks to his dangling earrings is super duper queer. He’s not the only one worried about his looks here though. A big theme of this movie is about how people look and how they are perceived. For example, even when Sophie starts looking like a grandma to everyone around her, Howl is the only one who sees the real her in spite of everything. Gender queer kids everywhere may not know the subtext of how important this is, but watching a show where someone in particular really sees you for who you are gives any queer person hope. Kudos to Miyazaki for capturing that.
She’s the Man
She's the Man came out during Amanda Bynes’ prime, and yes, I’ll call it a classic. Amanda Bynes’ character Viola pretends to be her brother for a chance to play on the boy’s soccer team and not only is she successful in passing as male, people don’t even believe her when she says she is actually Viola in the end. Now before I go on, no, this isn’t a movie about being transgender at all. However, as a trans person, I can totally relate. What this story does really well is both present the idea that gender is performance, for all of us, and shows that everyone follows (or rebels against) societal gender norms.
When this movie came out I was but a closeted non-binary kid, liberated by the queering of gender on screen in spite of the fact that a super cis girl was the one doing the passing. To watch a straight girl successfully pass as male adds a certain amount of humor and silliness to a really serious issue but when it all boils down to it, the struggle to pass is real for those of us who don’t/can’t conform to societal norms.
Sailor Moon
Sure, Sailor Moon is technically known best for being a popular TV series, but since the franchise has had a few movies over the years, can we take a moment to talk about how undeniably queer it is? Not only is this series super queer, but in its original Japanese context, there were actual gay couples. Even after all the American conservative erasure, the queerness still reads through with themes like magical cats holding it down (don’t even get me started on the queerness of cats). Kids who had the privilege of watching the original versions got to see positive representations of gay characters on screen at a young age, and representation matters so much. Vice even did a short documentary about how Sailor Moon was a queer refuge for '90s children.
Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain
Here’s a story about two girls exploring caves in Bear Mountain only to find unexpected treasure in the end. Already sounds gay. But the real treasure here is the puppy love adventure these two budding lezzies experienced. So you have Beth, played by Christina Ricci, whom immediately upon meeting Jody (played by Anna Chlumsky) calls her “the finest woman she knows” (yes, she actually says this). And then there’s Jody who’s the archetype of a baby butch with the tomboyish style and tough attitude to match. It only gets gayer from there, folks. Baby queers everywhere crushed on Beth and Jody (myself included) without even realizing the clearly queer undertone of this film. Seriously though, watch this movie as an adult and the queerdom is undeniable.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Here’s another TV-show-turned-movie worth mentioning: the long-running animated kids series SpongeBob SquarePants. Did you know the Ukraine banned Spongebob in 2012 due to ““promotion of homosexuality?” No, really, folks be buggin'. Spongebob doesn’t “promote” homosexuality at all. But there’s no denying its queerness. The show’s creator even mentioned before that Spongebob is not gay, he’s asexual. The asexual community is rarely talked about and often misunderstood. For example, the many times SpongeBob holds hands with Patrick have been considered implication that they may be an unspoken couple. But the fact is, SpongeBob is a genderless, asexual sponge who has innocent fun with his friends. SpongeBob is proof that you don’t have to fit within society’s expectations of “normal” to be happy, and because of that he’s become a queer icon.
Mean Girls
For a lot of baby queers, Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese) made this movie. That’s because Mean Girls is a story about the trials and tribulations of a high school that, unlike most, presents queer characters with humor and humanity. Because newsflash, media: queerness is not always sad, depressing and droll. Janis and Damien are met with homophobia throughout the movie and like many out, gay kids learned to do at a young age, they attacked their haters with jokes, jabs, and all sorts of shade. It feels so good to watch queer people win on screen and not die at the end. Kudos, Mean Girls, for giving us one of the few films that does that.
Frozen
Frozen isn’t like most Disney Princess movies in that, SPOILER: she doesn’t end up with the man. Frozen takes it few steps further by making sisterly love, self love, and female empowerment trump all of the usual Disney, boy-gets-the-girl romance tropes. This movie actually did more for queer people outside of the film than within with the #GiveElsaAGirlfriend campaign. Let’s hope we hear news soon confirming Elsa will be the first gay Disney princess.
