Amazon

Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri as PJ and Josie in Bottoms
Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri as PJ and Josie in Bottoms

SUMMARY

Considering the quality, quantity, and diversity of films distributed under the Amazon Studios banners, GLAAD has given Amazon a GOOD grade.

The slate of Amazon Studios and its subsidiaries included several high-profile LGBTQ-inclusive films such as GLAAD Media Award-winning raunchy comedy Bottoms, and GLAAD Media Award nominees biographical drama Cassandro, romantic comedy Red, White & Royal Blue, and satire American Fiction. These stories all put LGBTQ people front and center, and spanned a number of different genres, with many of them having nuanced and interesting queer people of color at the forefront. While other films released by Amazon had smaller roles for LGBTQ people, it is exciting to see over a third of Amazon’s releases include the community. Amazon is also one of the only studios tracked in this study that did not see a decrease in the percentage of LGBTQ representation year over year.

HISTORY

Amazon Prime Video and in-house Amazon MGM Studios (previously Amazon Studios) have distributed original content since 2013 and original films since 2018. Amazon reached a multi-year deal with Universal Pictures in 2021 to bring their films to Prime Video and Amazon Freevee (previously IMDb TV) after a window on Universal-owned Peacock. In 2022, Amazon finalized its acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), allowing MGM to continue operations as a label alongside them. Amazon shut down United Artists Releasing in 2023 and folded the distributor’s operations into MGM. Later that year, Amazon Studios merged with MGM Holdings—reflected in the new name Amazon MGM Studios—and created Amazon MGM Studios Distribution, an international film and tv distribution unit for Amazon and MGM projects.

Previous LGBTQ-inclusive films from Amazon consist of GLAAD Media Award winners Transparent: Musical Finale (2019), Uncle Frank (2020), and Anything’s Possible (2022); GLAAD Media Award nominees Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019), Everybody’s Talking about Jamie (2021), and My Policeman (2022). United Artists Releasing’s past inclusive films include GLAAD Media Award winner Booksmart (2019); GLAAD Media Award nominees Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017) and God’s Own Country (2017); in addition to Every Day (2018), Anna and the Apocalypse (2018), Valley Girl (2020), and more.

OF THE 8 LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE FILMS,

2 WERE AMAZON MGM STUDIOS

2 WERE MGM STUDIOS

4 WERE AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Considering the quality, quantity, and diversity of films distributed under Amazon Studios and its labels, GLAAD has given Amazon Studios a GOOD grade.

AMAZON MGM STUDIOS

American Fiction

Widest Theatrical Release: 1,902 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

American FictionAmerican Fiction is part satire, part family drama, and follows author Thelonious Monk as he writes a book under an alter ego that caters to what his white publisher thinks white audiences want. The film also features Monk’s family, including his brother Cliff who recently came out as gay after his wife caught him in bed with another man and left him. Cliff’s struggles with his mother are illustrated as well, as she suffers from dementia and makes a homophobic remark toward him. Cliff’s arc involves his own self-discovery, at times through drug use and sexual encounters, as well as his relationship to his family. Cliff is a grounding force of the film, and the relationship between him and Monk provides a large amount of the film’s emotional catharsis. Overall, Cliff was given a lot more nuance than the typical “gay brother,” and significantly contributes to the film’s arc.

Saltburn

Widest Theatrical Release: 1,566 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

SaltburnThis buzzy film follows Oliver, an allegedly poor student who falls in with the handsome, popular, and wealthy Felix, eventually summering at his family estate, the titular Saltburn. Though the film starts with a voiceover of Oliver saying “I wasn’t in love with [Felix],” many of Oliver’s actions show that there were sexual undertones to his obsession. Oliver sleeps with a woman just because she slept with Felix, he ingests Felix’s bathwater after Felix masturbates in the bath and, most egregiously, has sex with Felix’s fresh grave after he dies.” Throughout the film, Oliver lies and manipulates through sex, including seducing Felix’s sister Venetia, his friend Farleigh, and finally, Felix’s mother Elsbeth. It seems that gender is not a hindrance for Oliver’s sexual manipulation.

Though he is the main character, Oliver is painted as a villain, doing whatever he can do to have ownership over Saltburn, including cheat, lie, steal, and murder. It is worth noting one of the few people to be rightfully wary of Oliver was Farleigh, who is gay. The film waffled on the edge of making it explicit that Oliver was in love with Felix, which could have greatly humanized the character, but instead just painted him as a money-hungry deviant.

There is also a brief moment where Elsbeth mentioned that she used to be a lesbian, but gave it up because it was “too wet.”

MGM STUDIOS

Bottoms

Widest Theatrical Release: 1,815 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

BottomsBottoms is an irreverent teen comedy that focuses on two lesbian teenage girls, Josie and PJ, who lie about being in juvie and start a fight club to impress their crushes, Isabel and Brittany respectively. The fight club ends up drawing in a crowd of girls, including Hazel, a more awkward student who knows that Josie and PJ are lying. Eventually the club starts to work: Josie has an opportunity to make a move on Isabel and is successful, whereas PJ is unsuccessful, as Brittany is straight. When Josie and PJ’s lies are revealed, Isabel leaves Josie and the two best friends are torn apart until they have to band together with the rest of the fight club to save the football team. As a tactic to save the team, PJ kisses Hazel as a distraction, and sparks fly. In the end, the fight club saves the day, and Josie gets back together with Isabel.

This film has a heavily queer ensemble, including the leads. Their queerness is never minimized, but it is also not framed as a source of trauma, instead letting them live in this absurdist world of teen comedy that has so often been populated by straight people. Additionally, the queer characters are never sanitized, getting to be as funny and complicated and gross as any straight teenager in a high school rom-com.

Creed III

Widest Theatrical Release: 4,007 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

The third film in the Creed series does not introduce any LGBTQ characters into the world. However, there is a brief 20 second cameo of lesbian and nonbinary singer Kehlani as themselves, singing a song that Creed’s wife Bianca wrote. There is no mention of their sexual orientation or gender identity. There is one further reference to the community, when Creed’s friend Damien brings Bianca flowers, and Creed jokes that he didn’t get flowers. Damien asks if Creed “wants a kiss too.” It’s a teasing remark between friends, not overtly homophobic.

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Cassandro

Widest Theatrical Release: 62 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

CassandroCassandro depicts the true story of Saúl Armendáriz, a Mexican lucha libre wrestler, who begins to fight as an exótico, a wrestler who performs in drag. Under his alter ego Cassandro, Saul sets out with the goal of actually winning matches, as exóticos are always set up to lose. As Cassandro, he receives homophobic hate from the audiences, especially because Saúl does not hide his own identity as a gay man. The film also delves into Saúl’s personal life, showing him flirting with men, and his relationship with Gerardo, another wrestler, who is deeply closeted and married with kids. Saúl is also close with his mother, who accepts him, but sadly passes away during one of his biggest matches. His father, on the other hand, was absent for most of his life, and is extremely homophobic toward his son. Though Saúl goes through these hardships and obstacles, he still proves to be a powerful force and role model in the exótico world. The film ends with Cassandro winning his matches as the crowd cheers him on, a stark contrast from the boos from when he first started.

Red, White & Royal Blue

Straight to Streaming Release

Vito Russo Test: PASS

Red White Royal BlueBased on the best selling novel of the same name, Red, White & Royal Blue centers on a romance between Alex, the son of the president of the United States, and Henry, the Prince of England. The two start out as annoyances to each other, but when forced to spend time together for PR, they develop a close friendship which grows into romance. Alex’s feelings for Henry also lead to a further sexual awakening as a bisexual man, reframing his ideas of his own sexual experiences in the past. The relationship between the two deepens, and the film does not shy away from depicting the intimacy between the two men, and their physical and emotional bond. When Alex’s mom, the president, finds out about the relationship, she is very accepting of her son’s sexuality, but worried he is in a relationship he has to keep secret. Eventually, Alex and Henry are outed by a reporter who Alex has a history with, and they must live with the consequences. After much agonizing, particularly on Henry’s part, as he belongs to an historic and conservative family, they choose to live out in the world as a couple.

This film is a refreshing queer take on a high stakes romantic comedy, in the exciting and lucious world of royal romance, while still making the story uniquely queer. Hopefully, Red, White & Royal Blue’s success ushers in more films like this in the romance genre.

Sitting in Bars with Cake

Straight to Streaming Release

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

This film about a friendship between two women, using baking to meet people, and the toll that illness can take on a friendship, does not include LGBTQ characters. Though there are scenes in bars where background actors may be perceived as queer, mentions of pride, and a performance by a drag queen, there are no queer characters in the film in any significant way. Though it is a step in the right direction to weave queerness into the background, it would have been better to actually include an LGBTQ character.

Somebody I Used to Know

Straight to Streaming Release

Vito Russo Test: PASS

AMAZON - Somebody I Used to KnowThis film follows Ally, who runs into her ex-boyfriend, Sean, and rekindles old feelings. However, Sean is about to marry Cassidy, who is both younger and cooler than Ally, and also happens to be bisexual. Much of the film involves Ally trying to sabotage the wedding so she can get together with Sean, but eventually she bonds with Cassidy and realizes Sean and Cassidy are great together. Cassidy’s sexuality is presented casually, though it is a plot point that her parents are not invited to the wedding because they did not accept Cassidy when she came out. It is refreshing to see a bisexual character’s identity not erased, even when the film is about her marrying a man. There is a brief moment toward the end of the film when Ally is telling Cassidy how wonderful she is after a fight with Sean, and Cassidy kisses Ally. The kiss is never discussed after, and Cassidy proceeds to marry Sean. It was an odd choice to include the kiss, as Ally is portrayed only as straight and it does not hold relevance for the rest of the film.

Totally Killer

Straight to Streaming Release

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

This horror comedy follows Jamie, who goes back in time to prevent a serial killer’s murders, and teams up with a younger version of her mother to do so. Jamie is ultimately successful in her mission, but she alters the past so that her parents met earlier. Thus, when she returns, her name is different and she has an older brother named Jamie. In a montage at the end credits, we see that he has a husband and child. While it was nice to see the casual inclusion of a gay family member, it would have been better to show this inclusion before the end credits of this film.

Documentary Film:

This year, GLAAD did not count unscripted features in its official counts, but that does not diminish the importance of LGBTQ representation in unscripted storytelling. Amazon released five documentaries across all their subsidiaries in 2024, one of which includes LGBTQ people. Judy Blume Forever, which tells the story of trailblazing young adult author Judy Blume, contains a large section discussing banned books, including a brief moment where queer book bans are mentioned. Several of the interviewees in this documentary are queer as well, including genderqueer writer Alex Gino, who explicitly mentions their queerness in context with book bans.

OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

Amazon Studios already has several projects that have been released in 2024 or will be released in the future. My Old Ass, released in September, follows Elliott, an 18-year-old figuring out her sexuality, guided by an apparition of her older self, played by out actor Aubrey Plaza. Amazon also recently announced a sequel to Red, White & Royal Blue, which will continue to follow the queer love story of Alex and Henry.

The 2020 film My Spy features a queer couple as neighbors to the main characters, and the upcoming sequel, My Spy: The Eternal City, is set to see the neighbors return. The upcoming Masters of the Universe film has the opportunity to take from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and include queer characters, including She-Ra herself, in the world of the film. Amazon still has the rights to queer writer Alison Bechdel’s autobiographical play Fun Home. Fun Home is one of many films queer projects acquired by Amazon that haven’t had recent updates, including queer murder film Alice + Freda Forever, gay divorce comedy Ex-Husbands, and MGM’s Sammy Davis Jr. biopic. GLAAD urges Amazon to follow through on these queer-inclusive films and bring them to the masses, whether in theaters or on streaming.

For the purposes of this study, GLAAD counted all releases from Amazon distribution companies Amazon MGM Studios, MGM Studios and streamer Amazon Prime Video. Prior to 2022, GLAAD counted now shuttered Amazon subsidiary United Artists Releasing in this tally.

Summary of 2023 Findings

21

Films released theatrically in 2023 under studio & official imprints

8

Total number of LGBTQ-inclusive films

38%

Percent of LGBTQ-inclusive films of studio total releases

6

Number of films that pass the Vito Russo Test

theatrical

13

Total theatrical films released in 2023 under studio and official imprints

5

Total number of theatrical LGBTQ inclusive films

38%

Percent of theatrical LGBTQ-inclusive films of studio theatrical releases

4

Number of theatrical films that pass the Vito Russo Test

streaming

8

Total streaming only films released in 2023 under studio and official imprints

3

Total number of streaming LGBTQ inclusive films

38%

Percent of LGBTQ-inclusive of studio total streaming releases

2

Number of streaming films that pass the Vito Russo Test

STUDIO RATING OVER TIME

2023

GOOD

2022

FAIR

2021

INSUFFICIENT

2020

N/A

2019

INSUFFICIENT

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