Posted in: Movies | Tagged: becky g., bi, billy, blue ranger, David Yost, dean israelite, gay, kevin feige, lesbian, lgbt, LGBTQ, marvel, mighty morphin power rangers, power rangers, pr, queer, representation matters, saban, trini, yellow ranger

One Of The Power Rangers Is Gay

Respectfully, we informed you of this at an earlier juncture, if you were one of the readers who found our intensive Power Rangers movie spoiler-post over two weeks ago. Beware clicking that link, as the article does contain massive spoilers for the whole movie, so you have been warned.

At any rate, one of the spoilers we had was that one of the Power Rangers would now be LGBTQ, and we even revealed who it was. Again, we will mention it here, so prepare for spoilers.

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Trini, the Yellow Ranger, played by Becky G., will be queer, possibly gay or bi (pretty much everyone else is specifically saying gay, but it is not clarified 100% in the film, and Bleeding Cool for one does not like to add to the long-standing problem of bi-erasure in the media).

In what is being touted as a pivotal scene in the second act, Trini will reveal that she is queer. As the films director, Dean Israelite has said,

"For Trini, really she's questioning a lot about who she is. She hasn't fully figured it out yet. I think what's great about that scene and what that scene propels for the rest of the movie is, 'That's OK.' The movie is saying, 'That's OK,' and all of the kids have to own who they are and find their tribe."

This is some good news for a number of reasons. Firstly, the 90s TV show of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers starred David Yost as Billy, the Blue Ranger, who famously left the show because of constant and really quite awful harassment over his sexuality, that affected the actor and producer for many years to come. For this movie reboot to make some attempt at reparations by including honest representation is pretty amazing. In a quote for The Hollywood Reporter, Yost said,

"They really stepped up to the plate. I think so many people in the LGBTQI community are going to be excited to see that representation."

Another reason this is good news is LGBTQ+ representation in the superhero genre, on film in particular, has been dire. Marvel have been making hugely successful superhero movies for well over a decade now, and still they have not included an actual LGBTQ+ character. The few suggestions of queer characters have been tired stereotype jokes, such as Hammer going 'prison-gay' in one of the shorts. Kevin Feige has even publicly given the rather crap excuse of they are waiting for it to occur naturally or 'organically'. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware movies grew on trees? I thought they were manufactured, over stretches of time, with masses of input and purposeful construction. If scripts, characters and films really just occur naturally, what the hell is Feige even getting paid for?

What Power Rangers will do is give the world an actual LGBTQ+ superhero, one who is still exploring her sexuality, and can be there to help kids going through the same struggles by having someone they can relate to on the big screen being a bad ass and kicking butt. It's hugely important, and who would have thought the Power Rangers reboot would be the first to deliver it! But bravo to all the Power Rangers team.

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