High School Musical director Kenny Ortega has spoken candidly about Ryan Evans’ queer identity, and why he hadn’t deemed it feasible for the character to come out on-screen.
As an honoree for Variety‘s 2020 Power of Pride list, Ortega revealed to the publication that he’d always pictured Ryan to be gay. “We decided he’d probably going to come out in college. It was less about coming out and just more about letting his true colours come forward.”
But when asked whether it would’ve been possible for Ryan to come out in one of the films, Ortega – who is gay, himself – revealed his past reservations.
“I have to be honest with you,” he said. “I didn’t think [it would have been possible] at the time — and Disney is the most progressive group of people I’ve ever worked with.”
He continued: “I was concerned because it was family and kids, that Disney might not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory yet. So, I just took it upon myself to make choices that I felt that those who were watching would grab. They would see it, they would feel it, they would know it and they would identify with it.”
Let’s unpack this a tiny bit.
Not that you asked for my 2 cents, but here it is:
Ortega’s ‘think of the children’ rhetoric, despite the fact that the films revolve around a romantic, heterosexual relationship, is just indicative of the heterocentric frameworks that Hollywood existed, and continues to exist, within – A boy and a girl in a teen romance? Absolutely! A same-sex couple or gender non-conforming character? Concerning.
Yes, the High School Music franchise premiered a whopping 14 years ago, and that’s definitely something that should be kept in mind, but I think it’s important to note that corporate homophobia was prevalent, and still is prevalent, when considering the representation of openly-identifying LGBTQI+ characters in teen films. Censorship is still an issue in 2020.
And representation is important in these blockbuster flicks because *shock horror* LGBTQI+ teens exist, and deserve to see themselves in film. Obviously.
Anyway, my 2 cents is up. Glad to see Ryan is finally getting some of the love he deserves.
