It’s tough writing a review to a kids movie in the wake of a mass shooting at a LGBTQ bar. Ordinarily that sentence isn’t one I have to ideate. It’s not the lead-in to a movie review anyone should have to expect. It’s not something that we should be dealing with. But walking out of Strange World, just two days after a gunman opened fire in a nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing six, all I could bring myself to think about was the fact that in the year 2022 we are still fighting to make the existence of queer people known. More than that, we are constantly fighting bigotry and hate, mixed into political stances, bolstered by broken and dated religious dogma. Dogma that, should its adherents actually follow, condemns the judgment and vitriol spewed from their mouths.

And why is this the introduction I am writing for the review of a kid’s movie? Because in the face of the Far Right shouting about grooming and a “Gay Agenda,” Strange World features one of Disney’s first, proud and out gay characters. Those two descriptors are important to me, but let me first qualify that, while I am not gay myself, I consider myself an ally and accomplice to and for the LGBTQIA+ community. I have opinions about this movie and its representation of queer existence, and those opinions are obviously colored by the fact that I am not a member of that community. Still, when I see something done well, to the best of my life’s knowledge, I want to bring a spotlight to it. Now, the descriptors “proud” and “out” mean something to me. For years now, Disney has danced on the the border of inclusion when it comes to the gay community. Frozen had its gay shopkeeper on the sideline, Lightyear had a gay cast member who died shortly after we learned of their orientation, Endgame, Wakanda Forever, and Eternals off-handedly mentioned, snuck in, and liminally featured gay characters, in that order.

In Strange World, Ethan Clade, son of Searcher Clade and grand son of Jaeger Clade, is gay. And not gay in the way that people speak of in hushed tones off-camera or in side-rooms, but also not gay in the way that it is a featured conversation in every climactic emotional moment. Ethan Clade is gay. His parents know it, his friends know it, and his grandfather doesn't bat an eye. It is one of the most refreshing and honest and sincere examples of inclusion that I have ever seen, and for that reason alone, Strange World is worth watching. Beyond this, the movie itself is also fantastic.

Strange World takes place in the fictional world of Avalonia, a secluded paradise, encompassed by seemingly endless mountains. The people of Avalonia, initially portrayed struggling to make ends meet with shoddy horse-drawn wagons and limited resources, are hearty folk. We are first introduced to Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), an ambitious explorer on a lifelong quest to find the other side of the mountains. His son, Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a bit aloof, constantly falling and stumbling over himself trying to keep up with his strong willed father. On an adventure through the mountains we see Searcher discover an electrified plant, something that piques both his and the expedition’s interest. But Jaeger, goal solidified in his mind, isn’t going to settle for some plant. In our first emotional moment, or rather Searcher’s first emotional moment, Jaeger hands him his compass and tells Searcher and the expedition to find their own way home. Jaeger continues on. Then we time jump 25 years.

In those 25 years Avalonia takes the plant that Searcher discovered and builds their society around it. It powers their lights and appliances, fuels their vehicles, and the Clade legacy of exploration, as distinguished by Jaeger, has transitioned to farming. When we are introduced to Searcher, 25 years later, he comes down and makes breakfast for his family. His wife dances down the stairs and they share a cup of coffee together. Ethan stumbles down and jokes about his parents kissing in front of him, which they repeat to make him more uncomfortable. It’s wholesome and adorable. We are briefly introduced to Ethan’s friends and the boy he is interested in. Of course, Searcher tries to play “cool dad” and immediately falls on his face. If there is an immediate strength to Strange World it is that the movie knows exactly how to illustrate the goofy, loving dynamics of a family.

Pretty quickly we are introduced to the conflict of the movie. For some reason the pando, the electric plant, is losing its potency. Bulbs are sprouting dull and lifeless, leading Avalonia’s president Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu) to recruit Searcher in a quest to find the literal root of the problem, to save Avalonia’s way of life. Searcher reluctantly agrees, but demands that his family, particularly his son Ethan, stay home until he returns. Searcher doesn't want Ethan to become an explorer, he holds his father in contempt for choosing exploring over parenting and has been doing his best to avoid the same pitfall. Of course, Ethan sneaks his way onto the airship as it heads off on its adventure, and what follows is a harrowing tale of family, legacy, and allowing your children to be who they really are, not what you want them to be.

I had a blast the entire movie, a fact that was punctuated by my daughter's constant laughter. Disney has found a sweet spot in their animated films, where the world illustrated in each is a marvelous and beautiful thing hard to distinguish from reality, but the characters retain their cartoonish features. This style started around the time of the first Frozen and while some balk at the characters not matching the near life-like scenery, I can understand their motivations. The uncanny valley is a principle that dictates the human experience. When animation seeks to make humans lifelike, our brains have this habit of picking the likeness apart. It’s largely instinctual, so we don’t have much agency over whether or not we do it, but it takes away from our enjoyment when we can tell that something is slightly off. The style of Disney films like Moana, Frozen 1 and 2, Onward, Luca and many others, avoids this issue completely. You’re gobsmacked by the beauty of the world, the realism of water physics, and the rustling of the foliage, all without being distracted by the near-human-ness of the characters. It rules.

But despite all of these things, despite my unadulterated enjoyment of what was on screen, both in theme and appearance, I couldn’t shake a trembling dismay. Strange World portrays a beautiful, bi-racial family, who have a beautifully realized gay son, and I know that people out there are going to have problems with this. I know some people have such a deep problem with this that they walk into gay bars and shoot them up, taking innocent lives merely because they don’t agree with how they choose to live. I am married to a white woman, and while most days I don’t have to defend my marriage to people, there are times that my wife and I get looks from people that clearly say they don’t agree with our marriage. It’s blindingly infuriating that we are still in this place. A place where we have to defend a human’s right to love who they want to love, but in this theater, watching this movie, I felt a subtle dread I have grown all too familiar with: What will those people say about this? In what way will a backwards and hateful group of people take offense of this real and loving portrayal of family and acceptance? There are already people on the internet getting all riled up, and honestly, I wish I could say it didn't hurt. The cries of “forcing queerness down our throats” or “Disney is grooming kids” will return, despite their inability to look even an inch inward. Because representing a gay teenager in a movie is an attempt to “indoctrinate” your kids, but centuries of straight character romance playing on screen isn’t an attempt at “indoctrinating” kids? Because for centuries we haven’t been teaching young women to look for a Prince Charming and young boys to look for largely helpless women? As a father to a little girl, I am all for this new generation of inclusive and diverse movies. They are teaching my daughter that people exists across a wide and varying spectrum. Strange World is the next step in that direction.

I can’t recommend this movie enough. First for its clear and genuine representation of a gay kid just trying to decide what he wants to become. Second for its deeply diverse cast and biracial relationship at its center. And lastly, because it’s a fun movie with a truly touching message about who we try to be as parents and how that often collides with who our children want to be. Take your kids, have a blast, and support movies that see our fellow humans in the LGBTQIA+ community. They need us more than ever to be allies and accomplices.

@LubWub

~Caleb

Strange World (Disney, PG)