He stumbles on a human artefact, awakening a keen desire to leave his everyday life behind in search of adventure above the waves. We first meet the titular character, adolescent sea monster Luca Paguro, as he tends to the family’s goatfish. Queerbaiting is when creators hint that characters might be queer in order to attract progressive audience but without providing any real queer representation that could risk losing conservative audiences.ĭisney has yet to feature an explicitly queer protagonist in its feature films. Queer coding is when LGBTQIA+ creatives insert queer themes, characters and relationships into content without making them explicitly so, in order to fly under the radar of conservative censors and critics. The issue with Luca comes down to the difference between queerbaiting and queer coding. As a queer animation researcher, I know first hand how pronounced that problem is in film and TV. The themes explored in Luca have since led to accusations of “ queerbaiting” - a phenomenon in which LGBTQIA+ relationships are hinted at, but never clearly expressed.
It’s also, according to many, a narrative about a gay relationship – even if the film itself stops short of confirming that.
Set in the fictional seaside town of Portorosso, Luca is a story of adventure, escape, difference and found family. This article contains spoilers for the film Luca.īack in June, Disney released Pixar’s latest feature film, Luca.
