How Giulia Reflects Queer Allyship (VIDEO SCRIPT)

So not only did my first Luca video do EXTREMELY well, but according to all the less than 2 year old burner accounts I blocked over the course of those 3 weeks, I pissed off a LOT of homophobic trolls in the process. So let’s do it again!

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Readers, Disney and Pixar’s Luca officially came out June 18, 2021 exclusively on Disney Plus

Now I will admit, that out of what was released from Pixar within the last 8 or so years, this wasn’t necessarily an all-time favorite of mine. Inside Out and Coco are two of the best films that they’ve released in that timeframe, in my opinion.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the characters, the story, or the message it delivered.

/Especially since, over the course of the movie, the both the story AND its message was heavily and obviously queer-coded/

No, there’s no gay romance between Luca and Alberto, just like the director said. But a blatant romance isn’t the only way a queer story can be told

And honestly, the fact that romance is the only way some individuals are able to interpret a story being queer or not says a lot more about the limitations of the mindsets making a fuss about it possibly having “the gay agenda” shoved down their throats, or even anything that isn’t deemed acceptable by current societal standards.

No, even though the trailers gave me confidence that Luca being a sea monster that can transform into a human form in order to live among them could be served as an allegory for queer people seeking acceptance of their true self in a world that may not be as accepting...

/I was able to realize just how correct my predictions were regarding how the eventual analysis of the movie’s hidden meaning were, the moment Luca first arrived on solid ground./

But I also noticed something that I was thankfully wrong about. And that was my initial prediction of how they were going to handle the character of Luca and Alberto’s human friend Giulia

Because while I admit, my initial prediction regarding how I thought Giulia was going to he handled was based on consuming multiple forms of media with the same method of storytelling in the past...

/How she was ACTUALLY depicted, and as a result, her father, was done in such a way that it was both a breath of fresh air, and a more realistic interpretation of how the role I assumed she would have would play out in real life./

Now before I go any more in depth with this topic, here’s your official spoiler warning. It’s kinda hard for me to be able to elaborate if I don’t talk about key points in the movie, so I highly suggest you watch Luca first before continuing on with the video if you don’t want things spoiled for you. Cool? Cool.

So in order for me to elaborate more on how Giulia’s part in the movie reflects the role she plays in the allegory, I have to first acknowledge the movie’s connections TO said allegory

And one of the things I really enjoyed about Luca was how obvious the queer allegories were over the course of it.

/Like, a gay, bi or pan person could watch Luca experiencing the surface for the first time after being berated by his mom and immediately relate to the situation he ended up in because of how similar the household was./

/Those who had friends growing up that helped them explore their own queerness in one way or another could easily see that archetype embedded in Alberto’s character./

/A trans person could see Luca’s curiosity about sea monsters being able to make “the change” and find it relatable to their OWN curiosity about transitioning once they discovered and decided that was a possible outcome for them to be happy/

/And every queer and queer questioning person saw the scene where Luca got busted by his parents, and immediately equated it to their own parents finding their magazines or search history./

Yes, I know that the situation regarding Luca’s uncle can ALSO be unfortunately relatable for some queer people, but I’m choosing not to focus on that for mental health reasonings. I hope you understand.

But what ties Luca to the obviously clear allegory of discovering your queerness and seeking acceptance -- both familial and foreign...

/Is what Luca’s grandmother says near the end of the movie/ “Some people won’t accept him, but some people will. And it seems he’s really good at finding those who do.”

I mean, if you can’t tell that this story can serve as an allegory for being queer after hearing THAT line, then you’re either willingly blind, extremely privileged, or both. Either way, I don’t have time for your whack ass...

/But there’s more truth in his grandmother’s words than we realize when we take into consideration the portions of the movie that came before it; specifically revolving around Giulia and her father Massimo./

Who, according to my Twitter feed some of y’all are already thirsting over and I shouldn’t be surprised about that...

But here I am. It’s me...ya boi...wondering why y’all are like this

(pause) I shouldn’t talk; my boyfriend is a gorilla who wears glasses and my husband is literally Orc Jesus.

Now I say this because, thanks to the movie using the angle of sea monsters to deliver their narrative, the way Giulia and her dad play their roles in the narrative was surprisingly refreshing in comparison to how I thought they were initially going to be handled

/Giulia sees Luca and Alberto as underdogs just like herself when it comes to Ercole’s bullying and their interest in the bike race./

/She doesn’t ask questions, but understands their situation enough to offer them refuge./

/Up until Alberto starts to feel like Luca is drifting away from him in favor of her, Giulia is pretty much the two’s main source of faith that as long as they stay disguised, maybe there are humans out there that can and will accept them./

And the same can be said of her father Massimo. Y’know, after the two of them get over the fact that he’s a sea monster hunter.

Massimo’s connection with the boys -- especially Alberto -- is thoroughly prevalent throughout the film. And you can especially see that bond grow when its just the two of them on screen.

/But, just like Giulia, that connection with both of them -- especially Alberto -- plays a heavy factor in the role he ends up taking in the movie versus the role I initially thought he was going to always have. And considering how she was able to subvert my expectations, I can easily say the same thing about Giulia as well/

Because the fact that they still work for the overall allegory of queer acceptance that’s present over the course of the movie made me very pleasantly surprised that I was wrong about Giulia.

Not about her being an ally or an allegorical LGBT ally, mind you; that part was pretty obvious, and I’ll talk more about that in a minute. No, I’m glad that I was wrong about HOW things were going to play out.

/Because that’s what Giulia and her father represent in looking at the story of Luca as one of queer acceptance; how individuals in the lives of queer people fall into allyship when it comes to someone they care about./

As I stated in my previous video, I was under the impression that when she eventually discovered Alberto and Luca were sea monsters, Giulia was going to begrudgingly disassociate with the two because of who her father is...

Only to build up the courage to stand up to him and defend the two before Ercole and his posse discovered them and got the town to participate in a witch hunt.

Obviously, this was not the exact route the movie was going to take. And after seeing what it decided to ACTUALLY go with, I was glad to see my expectations subverted.

The reason why I appreciated how Giulia was ACTUALLY handled in Luca is because thanks to the decision to make Luca and Alberto sea monsters, Giulia’s reactions and thought process is actually more aligned with how people more realistically transition into queer allyship.

/And it all started during Giulia witnessing Alberto and Luca’s first fight, that led to Alberto revealing himself as a sea monster in order to prove a point./

Now, before I continue, I want to point out that both Alberto AND Luca were DEFINITELY in the wrong here.

Luca immediately throwing Alberto under the bus by reacting the way a human WOULD react to seeing a sea monster is a bad look on his part.

/Not only is what he did a form of internalized queerphobia in relation to the queer analogy -- denying your inner queerness because you’ve grown too comfortable passing that you condemn others in fear of being exposed yourself -- but it immediately hits as a form of betrayal to Alberto when Luca does it/

On the other hand, Alberto clearly revealed himself to be a sea monster in front of Giulia in order to both prove the point to Luca that Giulia -- like other humans -- won’t be as accepting of him if they ever knew what they truly were...

/And because he could feel Luca drifting away and didn’t want to lose the only friend he had since his dad left him./

In sticking with the film’s queer undertones, this can be translated as someone forcing someone else to come out before they’re ready; another form of internalized queerphobia.

/And considering that part of Alberto’s goal in doing this was to keep his bond to Luca the way it was before Giulia's involvement by playing into his notion of wanting acceptance, it can also be seen as a form of manipulation./

Yes, Alberto revealing himself to be a sea monster startles Giulia as a result.

/And as both a reaction and not thinking twice about how Luca threw him under the bus to keep his identity concealed at the time, she reacted accordingly./

/But then she sees how Luca reacts when Ercole starts throwing spears at Alberto and she starts to put together the puzzle pieces./

So when she put enough together in order to figure out that Luca was ALSO a sea monster, her mindset didn’t immediately go to where it was with Alberto.

/It went to wanting to protect her friend from the dangers he’d experience from the town because she KNOWS the kind of danger he’d be under if he stayed./

Because a lot of individuals with good intentions like Giulia when she found out who Luca and Alberto really are don’t really think about why they’re doing what they’re doing or why they’ve decided to place themselves in the position they’re in first.

/A lot of them tend to immediately focus on the danger they’re in until it's explained to them that whatever danger they’re placing themselves in is LEAGUES better than what’s awaiting them back where they came from./

I actually prefer this take as opposed to how I initially pictured it was going to go, because it even allows her DAD to show a more realistic approach in how the seed of allyship actually blooms; seeing the individuals in question first and foremost as PEOPLE.

/Getting to know their personalities. Caring about them. Worrying about them enough to want to search for them when they abruptly leave. And then when you see their true selves, know that it's still the same person you’ve known all these years despite your OWN reputation against that mindset preceding them./

If Giulia’s call to action upon finding out about Alberto and Luca played out the way I originally anticipated it to happen...

/Then we wouldn’t have seen her struggle with what was more important to Luca’s well-being; her wanting him to return to his home out of concern for his safety, or showing him how to properly eat pasta so he could advance in the bike race and do what she can to have his back when it started raining/

Because that’s what being an ally is; its having the backs of marginalized individuals first and foremost.

We know that what we are about to do is dangerous. We know that there’s going to be huge risks involved. But in order for things to change for the better, we have to be the ones to do it. We...have to partake in this bike race.

And as much as we would LIKE to go back home where it’s safer, not all of us have that privilege to do so

But considering that you have worked with us, befriended us, and have grown to trust us just like you have anyone else...

What WILL make us feel safer about what we are about to do in order to make our lives easier, is to let us know that not only do you have our backs, but that you’re serious about doing so.

/That way, when you’re in a similar situation, you’ll know that we’ll have your back as well./

But I digress, Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:

Write in the comment section below what YOU thought of Disney/Pixar’s Luca if you’ve seen it.

Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, a character in a movie you’ve seen that you feel best represents what it truly means to be an ally.

Whichever you decide to answer, I’d LOVE to know your thoughts.