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Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Since its world premiere before the end of November, Steven Spielberg’s cinematic adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical “West Side Story” has received a significant amount of press and attention, most of it showering the film with little but praise. Considered by many to be a potential contender in the upcoming awards season even before its debut, reviews so far have more or less reinforced this being a possibility, with many hailing the film as one of the best Spielberg (whose previous major awards winners include “Schindler’s List” and “Lincoln”) has made in quite some time and every bit as good as the previous 1961 film, which went on to win Best Picture and nine other Academy Awards. It’s not yet certain how well the positive word of mouth will affect the film’s box office earnings (especially given the ongoing pandemic and intense competition from “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and others in the following weeks), but if audiences are every bit as enthusiastic about the film as critics are, then there’s likely very little to worry about. What might be worrying, however, is how well the film does overseas, especially considering the presence of one specific character has resulted in the film being barred from release in certain nations.
Set in 1950s New York City, “West Side Story” showcases the tension between two rival gangs, the Jets (consisting of mainly white American-born young men) and the Sharks (who have immigrated from Puerto Rico). Among the Jets is Anybodys, the one female member of the otherwise all-male gang who acts and dresses in a masculine manner. Despite the character’s desire to fit in with the other guys, none of the other Jets seem to accept Anybodys’ gender identity, with main character Tony telling Anybodys to “be a girl and go home” at one point in the story. Because the original show was written in the 1950s, it’s not surprising that the treatment of Anybody’s gender identity does not come off as particularly sensitive by today’s standards. The newest film adaptation, however, is making an effort to avert this; not only is Anybodys explicitly a transgender man, but he is even being portrated by nonbinary actor Iris Menas. While not much attention has been drawn to this particular update, those who have noticed are pleased with the change and are hopeful that the character of Anybodys will allow for a greater push for transgender representation in major studio productions.
However, a recent development regarding the international release of “West Side Story” only further proves why it is still so difficult for there to be prominent trans representation (as well as representation of LGBTQ+ people in general) on the big screen. In the countries of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the film was denied a release certificate, preventing it from being publically shown in any of the nations’ theaters. Elsewhere in Bahrain, Qatar, and a few other Middle Eastern regions, requests that the film be cut were made by government censorship boards, only for such requests to be denied by distributor 20th Century Studios and parent company Disney. The result of these actions is the film being more or less banned in all the nations previously mentioned, as well as Oman and the United Arab Emirates. No official reasons as to why have been confirmed as of yet, but many are speculating that it’s due to the presence of Anybodys, as many of these nations have made homosexuality illegal and forbid references to it and other similar issues in their local media.
If these events sound familiar, then that would be because this is not the first time a film released by Disney or one of its subsidiaries has had to put up with this specific dilemma. In fact, the last time it happened was just over a month ago with the Marvel superhero film “Eternals”. Like “West Side Story”, the film was also banned in several Middle Eastern nations due to the depiction of the character Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry) as being married and raising a child with another man, with Phastos and husband Ben (Haaz Sleiman) even sharing an on-screen kiss at one point in the film. Requests for cuts were made by censorship boards, but Disney denied these requests as well, resulting in the film either staying banned or edited without the permission of the distributors.
As frustrating as it may be for the makers of these films to have to contend with their visions being challenged in such a manner, it’s worth noting how much Disney has been willing to stand by their directors and not give into demands for censorship, especially considering how little progress Disney has made when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation in their films. Of course, the high profile of these directors might have something to do with it – “Eternals” director Chloe Zhao is currently the most recent recipient of the Best Director Academy Award for her previous film “Nomadland”, and Steven Spielberg is arguably the most well-known name in all of cinema – but even still, Disney allowing for these films to include these depictions of LGBTQ+ people is a bit surprising. Granted, these decisions probably won’t immediately lead to a greater presence of such people in their big-screen releases (at least none any more prominent than what “Eternals” and “West Side Story” are allowed to show), especially considering how China, the biggest box office outside the United States and one that studios highly desire to generate revenue from, is hardly any less strict when it comes to LGBTQ+ depictions. Still, considering that Disney has had little to no explicit representation of the LGBTQ+ community up to this point, the small steps that “Eternals” and “West Side Story” have made are still worthy of commendation.
It’s difficult to know when exactly Disney – and other major Hollywood studios for that matter – will reach a point where they are comfortable with including LGBTQ+ characters in major film roles without having to worry about potential losses from certain international markets. However, the push for such representation has only gotten stronger with the passage of time, and should that push continue to strengthen in the near future, it’s possible that such depictions will become commonplace sooner than some may expect.
