Pitts: Big money sees the value in LGBTQ people

It is what it is

Some observers have taken to wondering what the failure portends for the future of LGBTQ cinema. One suspects it won’t be quite the genre killer they fear.

“Bros,” for what it is worth, delivered pretty much everything you’d want from a rom-com i.e., tortured romance and razor-edged comedy.

It was also raunchy as all get out, a frankly carnal cavalcade of lusty gay sex. Which was likely its downfall.

As progressive as America has become on LGBTQ issues, many straight men still grapple with what was once dubbed in this space the “primeval ick factor” of seeing guys make out.

Girls? That’s entertainment. Guys? That makes some fellows squirm, even now.

That’s not to say it’s right. It’s not to say it’s fair.

It’s just to say that it is.

Which likely comforts Eichner not at all.

It should, however, comfort the rest of us who support LGBTQ empowerment. It suggests that ultimately, the movie’s failure will be little more than a speed bump en route to that goal.

Because money is conservative, yet look what it’s been supporting:

Oreos put out special Pride Month-themed cookies this year.

In 2019, Listerine marked Pride Month with a rainbow bottle.

The new reboot of NBC’s “Quantum Leap” features a character who seems clearly non-binary.

They introduced a gay guy into Archie Comics — Archie Comics! — over a decade ago.

And Janelle Monae. And Lil Nas X. And Ricky Martin. And so on and so forth.

Obviously, money no longer fears LGBTQ people.

More to the point, it understands that there is a market here.

And if some LGBTQ folk are concerned by the commodification and merchandising of their identity, it’s nevertheless important to understand what the very fact of those processes suggests: that the battle for hearts and minds is over, and LGBTQ won.

Granted, the revanchists on the political right have yet to concede. They are still pushing anti-LGBTQ laws like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and ramping up anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, as in the Texas GOP dubbing gay people “abnormal.”

These are the folk who usually champion big money, but now, big money sees opportunity in inclusion, so they double down on homophobia instead. The irresistible force of commerce meets the immovable object of intolerance.

In the long run, always bet on the former.

Note that another LGBTQ love story — “Spoiler Alert,” with Jim Parsons — is already set to premiere in December. Nor should anyone be surprised. This is America.

Money always has the final word.