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The Lego Batman Movie accused of being pro-gay propaganda

‘The Lego Batman Movie’ (credit: Warner Bros)
‘The Lego Batman Movie’ (credit: Warner Bros)

‘The Lego Batman Movie’ has been widely embraced as both an excellent follow-up to 2014’s ‘The Lego Movie,’ and one of the best big screen takes on Batman yet (if not the best, in this writer’s view). But it seems not everyone is so happy with the film.

Hard-line conservatives have long been critical of Hollywood’s family films, complaining that they promote a liberal agenda; and truth be told, in many cases this is not an entirely unfounded accusation. However, these new charges leveled against ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ seem a bit of a stretch.

As reported earlier this week by LGBTQ Nation, right-wing critics in the US have blasted ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ on the grounds that it is “chock full of pro-gay propaganda.”

John-Henry Westen (who, the site notes, is an anti-abortion activist) warns readers, “BEWARE. LEGO Batman promotes gay adoption… It seemed the creators were so anxious to subtly indoctrinate the little ones into the gender ideology that making it humorous came as a distant second thought.” (I’d have to dispute that, given the almost non-stop cacophony of laughter from viewers young and old alike which greeted the film when I saw it.)

Batman and Robin, reunited on the big screen at last (credit: Warner Bros)
Credit: Warner Bros

It seems the crux of Westen’s complaint, and that of fellow conservative critic Michael Hamilton, is the adoption of Dick Grayson by Bruce Wayne – and how, upon meeting Wayne in his Batman guise (but not realising they’re the same person), the wide-eyed youngster comes to believe he has been adopted by both men, and is not in any way alarmed by this (beyond his excitement about being Batman’s son).

This is hardly the first time gay undertones have been identified in Batman; dating all the way back to the 1940s, the comics were accused of covertly presenting a same-sex relationship between Batman and Robin, whilst homoerotic elements were there for all to see in Joel Schumacher’s ‘Batman Forever’ and most notoriously ‘Batman and Robin;’ nipples on the bat-suit, anyone? Still, these critics seem to be reaching a bit, suggesting that in this instance they’re deliberately searching for things to complain about.

Still, as Hamilton argues, “Gender identity, gender roles, and gender neutrality are all over the story board like so many LEGOs. These topics hide in plain sight, because they are the foundation.

“Few parents and fewer kids will question any of it, because there’s a way to interpret all of it as technically innocent. That’s what makes these messages subliminal (and potentially powerful). LEGO Batman makes them seem plain as vanilla and American as apple pie.”

Again, in all honesty there may be some truth to this – but if so, this writer fails to see why any of it should be taken as a negative.

Topping the box office in both the US and UK through its opening two weeks, ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ has earned over $186 million worldwide to date.

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