Beauty and the Beast is a 2017 American musical romantic film directed by Bill Condon and co-produced by Disney. The film is a live action remake with some animation graphics, of Disney’s 1991 animated ‘Beauty and the Beast’. The film features Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the main characters.
One controversy identified was that the sidekick of the villain Gaston, LeFou was said to be given a “gay moment” where he briefly waltzed with his friend. The director however pointed out that the media made a hill out of this “tiny moment” and “Beauty and the Beast features much more diversity than just the highly-talked-about LeFou”.
Some praised this moment in the movie but others criticised it. In Russia, the culture minister gave a rating of 16+. Some countries like Alabama and Kuwait did not screen the movie at all. Some boycotted the movie. Malaysia insisted for the gay moment to be cut. However, a p13 rating was given in the end and the release date was postponed to 30 March. There was call to boycott on LifePetitions which received over 129,000 signatures. There was a debate in Singapore because we have a conservative society. However, the screening was not affected in the end.