Katie's Queer Identity Was STUNTED (VIDEO SCRIPT)

Readers, ever since this global Pico De Gallo started, multiple things have happened in the world of visual entertainment that have allowed things once thought impossible.

HBO Max is dedicating simultaneous releases of every one of Warner Brothers’ theatrical releases of 2021 at no extra cost thanks to how well it was received with Wonder Woman 1984

Disney+ is...not doing that, and are committing to their $30 premiere access fee for everything BUT Pixar titles. Do not ask me why, I do not know...

And because other movie studios don’t have the streaming services to do so, some -- like Sony -- decide to cut costs by just selling the distribution rights to one.

Which is exactly how we as consumers were able to receive the latest from Sony Animation Studios; the now Netflix exclusive animated film “The Mitchells vs. The Machines.”

Now Readers, I would be lying to you if I said that I didn’t enjoy this movie.

I love the relationship Katie has with her little brother. I love how the movie shows that Katie and her dad have to learn to reflect on how similar they are despite their differences in order to better understand each other in ways that healthily show love and support. And also, I just love...Katie

I found Katie’s character 85% relatable to me. I say 85 because while aspects about her like her uniqueness, creativity, passion and the fact that she’s from Michigan make me feel seen, there’s still bits about her I won’t be able to experience. Like having a little brother, or being a white woman.

But there is one thing outside of the ones I’ve mentioned regarding Katie that I CAN relate to. And that’s the fact that she’s queer.

Now those of us who watched the trailer already gained an inkling of an idea that one of her favorite weapons came from a group of Longswords, Guns, Bats and Tasers.

/And that’s because in pretty much every scene of her in said trailer, we see a pin of the pride rainbow flag on her hoodie. And it’s pretty much the same way in the actual movie./

Then, as if knowing that one bit wouldn’t be enough to convince others, Abbi Johnson -- Katie Mitchell’s voice actress -- confirmed her queer identity before the movie’s release in an interview for NBC, saying, and I quote:

/”Katie is the kind of character I would want my two young nieces to look to and be inspired by and want to be like. She’s totally herself, wildly creative, a great big sister, hilarious, queer, and excited to dive into her passions.” Endquote/

This is great. Not only do we get a great animated family movie about the IMPORTANCE of healthy family dynamics and communication, but its also being headlined by a queer main character, who -- from the direction the movie is going in from trailers alone -- is an aspect about her identity that her family loves and accepts about her no matter what.

/And this is reinforced by the end of the movie when she’s in college and she facetimes her mother for the first time since she’s been gone./(Are you and Jade official? And will you bring her home for Thanksgiving)

Now while I do admit that when I saw that scene play out in the actual movie, I thought it was cute, I couldn’t help but notice that...that was the ONLY thing we’ve got about her queerness.

Yes we have the Pride Pin being displayed over the course of the movie, but the display of Katie’s queerness was incredibly minimal. And for a significant group of queer people CONSANTLY seeking representation in media, it was dishearteningly so.

And I say dishearteningly, because there’s plenty of family and animated media aimed at children that actively does a better job at successfully highlighting a characters individuality and their orientation simultaneously. ESPECIALLY on Netflix.

And those people more than likely KNOW this and are asking “well if Netflix knows how to juggle these aspects of a queer character, then how come Netflix dropped the ball with Katie when they have kid shows like Kipo and She-Ra under their belt?”

Well Readers, that’s because, in regards to The Mitchells vs The Machines, the ball in question -- in comparison to the other shows -- was never 100% theirs to begin with.

You see, it’s just like I said at the beginning of this video. The Mitchells vs The Machines wasn’t created by Netflix, it was created by Sony.

Back then, it was titled “Connected.” Sony brought on board Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as producers for first-time writer/director Mike Rianda in hopes that they’d strike gold for the company like they did with Miles Morales, but with more of an original idea.

It originally had a theatrical release date of January 10th 2020, but then it got delayed to a release date in September. Then the global health and safety crisis happened and affected pretty much all of the big releases from Spring of 2020 onward.

And without a streaming service of their own to fall back on like Warner Brothers and Disney had in regards to THEIR releases, the next best thing for Sony to do with the film in order to keep from losing money by sitting on the film until it was safe for people to go back to the movies again was to sell the global distribution rights to every nation but China to Netflix for $110 million dollars.

So not only was the initial movie created under the banner of Sony Animation and, as a result, Sony Pictures, but part of the deal for selling the movie to Netflix was that they would keep the distribution rights to China. Which, as most of you all know, is the main source of revenue for the majority of American-made movies and a HUGE factor in whether or not a movie does well worldwide.

Some movie studios are so gung-ho in making sure the Chinese box office market is properly catered to that whether or not a movie does well there plays a HUGE factor into if it gets made.

And no other recent american movie proves that to be the case than Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3

/who recorded a whole-ass separate drama scene involving the Chinese doctors who operated on Tony Stark at the end of the movie exclusive for Chinese audiences/

But just like America adds things to better cater to the Chinese box office, they also take things away

It was ABSOLUTELY minimal, but Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker featured a lesbian couple kissing in celebration after the Resistance defeated Palpatine’s forces in order to show how progressive the franchise had come at least in the films.

But the scene was so small and isolated over the course of the movie’s overall narrative, that nothing about the movie would change if it were to be taken out. Taken out in order to cater to the overseas box office that may still frown upon queer representation in films.

Now if a project were to be completely made under the house of a streaming service such as Netflix, that problem wouldn’t play a factor. But because The Mitchells vs The Machines was made first and foremost to be a Sony release -- and the fact that Sony still has the rights to distribute the movie in China -- it’s a safe bet to assume that how the creative team behind the movie had strict guidelines in how to handle displaying Katie’s queerness that can satisfy some Americans while still making it marketable to Chinese audiences.

Things like placing a Pride pin on her hoodie in the American cut that can be easily altered to be something else overseas, and one line of dialogue regarding a potential girlfriend that can be either edited out or adjusted in translation overseas.

And unfortunately, it’s because of the movie more than likely being made under those standards that we not only have a Katie that doesn’t express her queerness just as much as the other things that make her unique like other Netflix originals that feature queer characters aimed at families and children...

/But allows those who are uncomfortable with the level of expression those of us who want to see in queer characters deem the way Katie is depicted in The Mitchells vs The Machines as either an APPROPRIATE way or a golden standard in how to depict queer characters in childrens movies./

Now before I continue, I just want to make it 500% clear. If you are queer and the amount of queerness Katie depicted in The Mitchells vs The Machines did it for you, this is not an attack.

I, personally am on Team SonicFox when it comes to my queer representation. Just like my blackness, my queerness is as every part of me as my personality, my goals, my drives and my ambitions. And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let anyone tell me to tone it down to a volume that’s more acceptable to the Joneses across the street.

With that being said, one of the best ways Netflix can go about fixing this is if they just pull a Knives Out and cut an exclusive deal for more sequels.

Can I canonically see it happening? There’s room for it, that’s for sure. But at the same time, I’m satisfied in the overall story we received and how the moral was delivered that despite just seeing Katie cut loose, I could live with The Mitchells vs The Machines being a stand-alone film.

/We still may have a ways to go when it comes to queer representation, but despite movie studios doing what they do to maximize their profits, what we got in the works so far is pretty neat/

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

Write in the comment section below what you thought of The Mitchells Vs The Machines if you’ve seen it.

Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, a movie you’ve seen that was released worldwide that you feel received the short end of the step regarding queer representation because it would’ve impacted their overall box office numbers.

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