It’s sadly not that surprising that the only significant female character is also the only one to get a nude shower scene, and is the subject of a failed rape attempt. Unfortunately, what could have been one of the better LGBT characters in a Hollywood action film recently is subverted by the film and protagonist’s treatment of her. Occasionally I f-ck ‘em up if they need it.” Later on, Dahl is disparagingly called a “lesbo” by the same man. One of those mercenaries is Dahl, a gruff sniper played by Katee Sackhoff, who after being called a “whore” by the rival band’s leader, knocks him to the floor and says, “I don’t f-ck guys. The third film starring the titular sci-fi anti-hero played by Vin Diesel finds Riddick marooned on an alien world where he is hunted by both strange creatures and two bands of mercenaries. Though he doesn’t have any real bearing on the film’s plot and vanishes during the climactic battle, he still has a few moments to shine during two group fight scenes. Aside from the team leader joking, “As long as your heart is in the right place, we don’t care what you put in your mouth,” Insect Man is as fairly depicted as any other minor hero character in the film. Among the many everyday superheroes inspired by Kickass’ antics is Insect Man, who introduces himself by saying a lifetime of being bullied for being gay made him want to stand up for the defenseless, adding that he doesn’t wear a mask because it’s too much like being back in the closet. However, last year’s sequel actually did. The first Kick-Ass, about a high school student turned “real world” superhero, contained a plot point about the main character being mistaken for gay and bullied because of it, but no actual LGBT characters. One of these films passed the Vito Russo Test. In 2013, Universal Pictures released 15 films of which 3 included appearances by LGBT people, amounting to 20%. Universal’s other inclusive films have also been a mixture of highs and lows, and include To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), Mulholland Drive (2001), I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry (2007), Bruno (2009), and Scott Pilgrim vs. Unfortunately the 1991 adaptation of Fried Green Tomatoes removed nearly all traces of the novel’s lesbian content, but the 1994 comedic drama Reality Bites did feature a prominent gay character. Having long focused on mass appeal films, many of Universal’s most classic films came from collaborations with director Steven Spielberg, and include Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List.īecause of that focus on mass appeal, perhaps it’s not surprising that it wasn’t until the 1990s that any LGBT content whatsoever began showing up in Universal films. In 2004, Universal Studios merged with NBC becoming NBC Universal, which was itself acquired by Comcast starting in 2009. Of all the major film studios, Universal Pictures is the oldest, having been officially founded in 1912.