“I was elated that they kept it”: Lightyear writer Lauren Gunderson talks about the controversy around the film

Rapper Snoop Dogg recently took an objection to Pixar's 2022 animated film Lightyear, which centers around the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear. The film features a same-sex couple with a baby. Hence, the rapper said that he had to explain to his grandson how two women could have a baby together.

Since then, Lauren Gunderson, a female writer who worked on the film's script, shared her response to this LGBTQ+ inclusion. She spoke about it in an Instagram post caption. As per ScreenRant, here's what she said,

"So. I created the LIGHTYEAR lesbians. In 2018, I was a writer at Pixar – such a cool place, grateful to work there, learned a ton from kind and impressive creatives. As we wrote early versions of what became LIGHTYEAR, a key character needed a partner, and it was so natural to write ‘she’ instead of ‘he." As small as that detail is in the film, I knew the representational effect it could have. Small line, big deal. I was elated that they kept it. I’m proud of it. To infinity. Love is love."

Her caption further read,

"I was one of a few writers they had on it over the years, which is very common for screenwriting, of course. I had very little to do with the final script. But I was proud to see a happy queer couple (even for a few seconds) onscreen. I know they got a lot of s*** for this inclusion, but stuff like this matters because beautiful love like this exists. It's *not* fiction. What IS fiction is Zurg and lightspeed space travel and murderous aliens and a talking robot cat (long live Sox)."

What had Snoop Dog said about the LGBTQ+ inclusion in Lightyear?

Lightyear, the film in question, has a PG rating. It follows the beloved Toy Story character, Buzz. In one of its scenes, his character sees the years flashing by in front of his eyes. That's where he sees Alisha, his friend and commanding officer, married to a woman with a baby. He referred to it during his recent appearance on the It's Giving podcast.

Here's what he said, as per TheWrap,

“What you see is what you see, and they’re putting it everywhere."

He further highlighted how he found it difficult to explain to his grandson how that was possible.

"They’re like, ‘She had a baby — with a woman.’ Well, my grandson, in the middle of the movie, [was] like, ‘Papa Snoop? How she have a baby with a woman? She a woman!’” said the rapper.

Then, he further explained his objection about Lightyear, noting:

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“It’s like, f—k me! I’m scared to go to the movies, man. Y’all throwing me in the middle of s–t that I don’t have an answer for!” the rapper later added. “It threw me for a loop. I’m like, ‘What part of the movie was this?’ These are kids. We have to show that at this age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer."

In the aforementioned post, Gunderson cleared the air on the topic of LGBTQ+ representation and revealed how proud she is to show a happy queer couple in a movie.

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