Lionsgate

The Blackening
Antoinette Robertson as Lisa, Grace Byers as Allison, Jermaine Fowler as Clifton and Dewayne Perkins as Dewayne in The Blackening. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson

SUMMARY

Considering the quality, quantity, and diversity of films distributed under the Lionsgate banner, GLAAD has given Lionsgate an INSUFFICIENT grade.

There were some standout features from Lionsgate in 2023, after two years in a row of receiving a “failing” grade on this study. GLAAD Media Award-nominated horror comedy The Blackening includes a gay Black man as one of the lead characters; raunchy comedy Joy Ride features a nonbinary Asian American character in its core cast; and horror film Dear David has a gay lead. There is still work to be done across Lionsgate’s slate, as there were multiple titles such as Manodrome and Dead Man’s Hand that fell into negative tropes and stereotypes of the community, and titles such as Jesus Revolution and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songirds and Snakes that omitted LGBTQ people in adaptations. GLAAD urges Lionsgate to embrace LGBTQ characters in source material and disregard offensive portrayals of the community in their films going forward.

HISTORY

Founded by Canadian businessman Frank Guistra in 1997, Lionsgate has produced and distributed major blockbusters such as Twilight, Hunger Games, and the John Which franchises. In 2023, Lionsgate announced its merger with Screaming Eagle Corp. to form a separate publicly traded company, Lionsgate Studios. Lionsgate has a variety of subsidiaries, including Summit Entertainment and Starz Inc. LGBTQ-inclusive films previously released by Lionsgate encompass The Pillow Book (1997), Gods and Monsters (1998), But I’m a Cheerleader! and Urbania (2000), Happy Endings (2005), Precious (2009), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), American Ultra and Freeheld (2015), Un Padre No Tan Padre (2017), and Bombshell (2019).

About My Father

Widest Release: 2,464 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

This comedy follows Sebastian, who intends to propose to his girlfriend, Ellie, but his Italian American father insists on joining Ellie’s family on a holiday weekend. There is a brief scene at the start of the film where Sebastian and Ellie are participating in a public proposal where two men get engaged. There is also a brief cameo by Jonathan Van Ness praising Ellie’s mother’s haircut saying, “it’s giving me gender fluidity.” While both these brief inclusions paint a world that obviously includes LGBTQ people, they hold no significance in the grand scheme of the movie.

The Blackening

Widest Release: 1,775 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

The BlackeningThis horror comedy centers on a group of Black friends who go to a cabin for a reunion, only to be pursued by a mysterious killer through a racist board game. One of the characters in the main group of friends, Dewayne, is gay. When the board game tells them to sacrifice the Blackest member of the group, Dewayne quickly says it can’t be him because he’s gay: “Just like my homophobic family members say ‘Gayness is just whiteness wrapped up in a bunch of dicks,’ and today, I agree.” Dewayne is a major character in the story as a fully rounded out character, which includes, but is not limited to, his sexuality. He also makes it to the end of the film alive, which is exciting to see for a Black gay man. The Blackening sets a precedent of including Black queer characters in films that span multiple genres.

Dead Man’s Hand

Widest Release: 10 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

This Western follows outlaw Reno as he tries to escape from the law after accidentally killing a group of bandits. Reno is married to Vegas, and spends a portion of the film trying to rescue her as well. At one point, Vegas is seen sexually bathing with another woman, Philly, a sex worker at the local saloon. However, they have minimal inter – actions throughout the film, and it seems their “relationship” only exists for the audience to see two naked women together. Additionally, Reno does not regard Vegas’s interactions with Philly as infidelity, because Philly is a woman.

Later on in the film, Philly, who is also one of the only Black characters in the film, dies. It is disappointing to see this outdated view of bisexuality as something that exists solely for men to find attractive, especially as there is barely any character given to Philly, a queer woman of color.

Dear David

Widest Release: 31 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

Dear DavidDear David is a horror film based on BuzzFeed comic Adam Ellis’s real experience being “haunted” online. Ellis is gay in real life, and the character Adam is gay as well, starting off the film with his boyfriend, Kyle. Much of Adam’s plot involves trolls harassing him online for his comics, until one commenter, David, won’t leave him alone. As Adam becomes obsessed with the source of David’s comments, he neglects Kyle, who breaks up with him. David’s comments become a serious haunting and it escalates until Adam is caught in a burning building. Kyle and David’s friend Evelyn end up saving him, and Adam and Kyle reconcile. It is refreshing to see a gay protagonist in a horror film who makes it out alive and has the same type of relationship drama a straight protagonist would have.

How the Gringo Stole Christmas

Widest Release: 31 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

How the Gringo Stole ChristmasThis film follows Claudia as she returns home to her Mexican family in East LA with her white boyfriend, Leif, who her father hates. Throughout the film, her parents try to set her up with other men, including family friend Javier. Javier is often seen flirting with women, but when Claudia’s father suggests she get together with Javier, Claudia reveals that Javier is gay. Unfortunately, the audience never sees Javier come out himself or have any relationships with a man; the reveal of his sexuality is more of a plot device than any significant character development.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Widest Release: 3,776 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

Adapted from the wildly popular book of the same name, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes left a few minor queer characters on the cutting room floor, including Pluribus Bell, Cyrus, and Barb Azure Baird, all of whom were part of the LGBTQ community in the book. While it makes sense for runtime to cut some minor plots, Pluribus Bell and Barb Azure Baird are in the movie, so it’s disappointing that every queer storyline was cut, especially because the book marked the first time there were LGBTQ characters in the Hunger Games universe.

Jesus Revolution

Widest Release: 2,575 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

Based on a true story, Jesus Revolution follows teen Greg Laurie and traveling preacher Lonnie Frisbee as they spread a new kind of Christianity in Southern California. The real Lonnie Frisbee was queer, but the film makes no reference to it, besides a brief line about his past saying “we did everything, and everyone.” Frisbee died of AIDS-related complications in the 90s, but that too is erased from the film, with the text at the end credits simply saying he died. It is a dangerous narrative to erase queerness from Christian leaders, reinforcing the false binary that LGBTQ identities and Christianity do not intersect. It is disappointing that the agenda of this film to appeal to the religious right took precedence over the truth of a real life figure.

Joy Ride

Widest Release: 2,820 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

Joy RideJoy Ride is a comedy that follows four friends on a trip through China. The friends are Audrey, a lawyer who travels to China for a business trip, her former college roommate Kat, her childhood best friend Lolo, and Lolo’s cousin Deadeye (played by nonbinary actor Sabrina Wu). Though the group uses she/her pronouns for Deadeye for the majority of the film, in the final scene, which takes place a year later, Deadeye’s friends use they/them pronouns for them, implying that Deadeye has come out as nonbinary since the major events of the film. Though it is exciting to see a casual nonbinary character in a raunchy sex comedy, it would have been even better to see Deadeye as nonbinary for the duration of the film.

After Joy Ride’s release, a deleted scene came out that showed a moment of sexual tension between Kat and Lolo where they casually revealed latent interest in the other and almost kissed, confirming both of their bisexual identities. Though both characters are known to have a good amount of sexual experience, all that is shown in the film itself are sexual acts with men. It is highly disappointing that this scene was cut, as it would have confirmed the queerness of two of the leads.

Manodrome

Widest Release: 102 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

ManodromeManodrome follows Ralphie, a closeted gay man who joins a men’s rights cult. Ralphie is deeply miserable, driving for a rideshare app and dating a woman, Sal, even though it is clear he doesn’t care for her. Sal gets pregnant and Ralphie starts getting more involved in this cult, where the men are outwardly sexist and pledge celibacy. As things progress, Ralphie starts enacting violence on other men, and shows disgust toward gay men. Toward the end of the film, Raplhie stalks a man from the gym and proceeds to have sex with him, then kill him. Then Ralphie kills the leader of the cult, a cop, and attempts to kill himself, but his gun runs out of bullets. This is where the film ends.

Manodrome paints a horrendous picture of internalized homophobia. Having Ralphie immediately murder the only man he has sex with in this film reinforces the harmful and untrue narrative that violent and homophobic men are only that way because they are gay themselves. This film is one of the rare examples where making the protagonist gay was more harmful to the LGBTQ community than it would have been without LGBTQ characters at all. This film does pass the Vito Russo test due to its inclusion of minor gay characters besides its protagonist.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

Widest Release: 2,168 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: FAIL

There are no LGBTQ characters in this action movie, but there is a running joke that actor Danny Francesco and arms dealer Greg Simmonds are in love. The two characters are both straight and just have an obsession with each other’s lifestyles. None of this is not outwardly offensive, but it is telling to have a running joke about two characters being queer when there is no actual queer representation in the film.

The Re-Education of Molly Singer

Widest Release: 9 Theaters

Vito Russo Test: PASS

The Re-Education of Molly SingerThis comedy follows the titular Molly Singer, an adult woman who still parties like a college student, who is forced to go back to college and mentor her boss’s son to keep her job. Her best friend is Paulie, a gay man, who mostly only plays the role of “gay best friend.” He is very often talking about hooking up with guys, though there is one unfortunate scene where he sleeps with a conservative woman to secure him and Molly housing. While it is refreshing to see a desirable gay Asian man on screen, Paulie’s character is mostly limited to him being gay. Beyond men Paulie hooks up with, there is one further queer character, the property owner of where Molly and Paulie are living, who offers Paulie video footage in exchange for sex, which falls into the dangerous trope of queer people using sex as means to an end.

There is one quick shot early on in the film, where Molly describes her days of dating around and hooking up, and she is seen dancing with a woman. Given that there is nothing explicitly sexual or romantic about the dancing, and Molly only ever dates or sleeps with men, GLAAD did not include her character in its tally.

OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

Lionsgate has the opportunity to include LGBTQ characters and storylines in many of the franchise films it owns the rights to. Due to the financial success of the first film, a sequel was announced for The Blackening, with gay writer and star Dewayne Perkins returning, as well as his character of the same name. There is opportunity within the John Wick universe to expand on the inclusive casting to include LGBTQ characters in the world. Audiences have read characters as queer from the Saw films, and Saw XI is the perfect opportunity to introduce new LGBTQ characters. While the LGBTQ content from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes didn’t make it into the film, there is still time to include LGBTQ characters in the new Hunger Games film and book Sunrise on the Reaping.

Lionsgate also has the rights to a number of LGBTQ movies that have not had any updates recently, such as Ride, a biopic of queer astronaut Sally Ride, Memetic, with a queer disabled main character, and The Guncle, which follows a formerly famous gay man who takes in his niece and nephew after their parent’s death.

For the purposes of this study, GLAAD counted all theatrical releases distributed from Lionsgate.

Summary of 2023 Findings

40

Total films released in 2023 under studio and official imprints

8

Total number of LGBTQ-inclusive films

20%

Percent of LGBTQ-inclusive films of studio total releases

6

Number of films that pass the Vito Russo Test

STUDIO RATING OVER TIME

2023

INSUFFICIENT

2022

FAILING

2021

FAILING

2020

N/A

2019

INSUFFICIENT

2018

FAILING

2017

FAILING

2016

FAILING

2015

ADEQUATE

2014

ADEQUATE

2013

ADEQUATE

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