Inside out 2 is riley gay
Ever since the film’s release, viewers have speculated over the sexuality of Inside Out 2 ’s year-old protagonist Riley – the girl in whose emotionally turbulent mind we spend most of the. Riley's inclusion in the LGBTQ+ community in the Inside Out movies is supported by rainbow imagery and Emotions hinting at nonbinary identities. Is it fair to accuse Inside Out 2 of queerbaiting audiences?
Pixar really doesn’t want you to think that Inside Out 2 protagonist Riley might be gay — at least, that’s what inside sources are claiming. Riley's interactions with Val in Inside Out 2 suggest a potential crush on another girl, adding depth to her character exploration. She even fires off a pair of finger guns at one point in a fruitless attempt to impress Val, but it seems that throughout the course of the film, the two girls will grow closer and hit it off, either as friends or, as the internet has already pondered, something more romantic.
Speaking anonymously to IGN, laid-off Pixar employees say that higher-ups wanted the movie to “avoid LGBTQ themes.” Pixar really doesn’t want you to think that Inside Out 2 protagonist Riley might be gay — at least, that’s what inside sources are claiming. As teased previously, the sequel is all about new emotions and new experiences for protagonist Riley, who is now a teenager and entering high school.
Former employees have spoken out against Disney, alleging a toxic work environment during ‘Inside Out 2,’ and claiming there were notes to make Riley seem “less gay.”. Inside Out 2 sees young Riley embarking on a life-altering journey at a Bay Area hockey camp, but some fans are left wondering if she might be queer. Luca, yet another Pixar film, was heavily accused of forcing queer audiences on a ride with main characters Luca Paguro and Alberto Scorfano, whose relationship was subsequently confirmed as romantic several years later - so is it still queerbaiting in full context, or an example of coded messaging to tell a queer story around censorship?
Because even movies and shows created by companies like Disney are brought to life by people in the trenches in pursuit of a creative vision, one where they want to be seen, heard, and push society in the right direction. Riley's interactions with Val in Inside Out 2 suggest a potential crush on another girl, adding depth to her character exploration.
And this brings me to Inside Out 2. Last week saw a new trailer released for Inside Out 2 which provides our greatest look at the film yet. A new report on the making of the Pixar hit has claimed that Disney executives demanded the teenage protagonist be made ‘less gay’. Riley's inclusion in the LGBTQ+ community in the Inside Out movies is supported by rainbow imagery and Emotions hinting at nonbinary identities.
This is largely due to how constant online discourse tends to be, and how critical queer audiences are of films, television, and other media claiming to represent them.
This week, IGN published a report in which 10 anonymous ex-Pixar employees detailed the hit animated movie’s arduous journey to the screen, which they. One the sequel is ready and waiting to unpack with its queer themes. Queer people are a demographic to be profited from like everyone else, so how much queer representation we see in mainstream media is frequently down to how much money there is to be made.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, writes Louis Chilton. We would all come to the same conclusion if it were a boy her age - all the signs are there. Films like Inside Out 2 can help normalise those identities, whether we have to read through subtextual lines or not. The representation of Joy's repressive nature towards Riley's male crushes in Inside Out 2 hints at themes of.
From a creative standpoint, Disney reportedly made notes to make Riley seem “less gay,” with sources alleging that leadership was “uncomfortable” with the film’s “queer themes.”. All the queer stories Disney intends to tell now sit in its shadow, willingly or otherwise. Only time will tell whether Inside Out 2 is a queer story, and right now at least, it looks like it might be.
I think there are more complex discussions to be had over queerbaiting than throwing every single bit of mainstream representation under the bus instead of digging deeper. Only then can we move forward. She has braces, joins the hockey team, and wants to make new friends, even if it means leaving old ones behind. Or go back into the closet, whichever expression works best. However, it's established in Inside Out 2 that Riley isn't queer, despite what seems like a crush on a fellow hockey player, Val.
This story finds Riley excelling with the Foghorns' hockey team, but she has a shot at moving up to the middle-school team, the Firehawks. To say something queerbaits us should come with more serious connotations, not just thrown at every piece of mainstream art purely because we know it comes with ultimately capitalist intentions.
In my experience, a lot of these people are queer, fighting against unfair systems to have their stories told in spite of everything. Taking place in a world without homophobiathe show has frequently set new benchmarks in television animation and what it means to tell queer stories to young audiences and even those far above them.