James Franco’s ‘King Cobra’ Sells Domestic Rights to IFC Films

Good: "American Ultra"
Interestingly, the stoner-spy thriller positioned a gay CIA agent as the film’s moral center… It’s refreshing to see a gay character given substance and the same type of humanizing traits as non-LGBT characters. Petey’s (Tony Hale) orientation is established very organically as just part of his life… it is notable that the creators made the choice to include an LGBT character as part of the film’s world.

Bad: "Hot Pursuit"
"This film includes the only transgender character counted in a major studio released in 2015, and she exists only for a few seconds as a punchline."
 

Ugly: "Get Hard"
"One of the most problematic films in several years, the gay panic exploiting 'Get Hard' amounts to a nearly two-hour prison rape joke. Features many scenes “predicated on the idea that sexual contact between two men is repulsive and further, the assumption that men experiencing sexual violence and rape is inherently funny."

Good: "Unfinished Business"
"The most that can be said of the film is that it manages to mostly subvert the expected gay panic as Dan (Vince Vaughn) simply replies he isn’t interested (in men), rather than expressing disgust at a man blatantly hitting on him."

Bad: "Cooties"
This type of humor — “is he/isn’t he” gay assumptions — "is both extremely worn-out and simply unamusing." 

Good: "The Danish Girl"
GLAAD credited the film for bringing "trans issues to an older audience that may not be watching other trans-inclusive entertainment that skews younger, like 'Sense8' and 'Orange Is the New Black.'" It was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.

Bad: "Entourage"
The film gets credit for Lloyd’s gay wedding to Greg Louganis, which is officiated by George Takei, but “none of these characters have any influence on the plot.”

Good: "Batkid Begins"
The film included a passing appearance by a lesbian couple with their own children at the parade celebrating Batkid. "Though the moment was brief, it was positive nonetheless to include LGBT-led families, which are still all too rare in film."

Bad: "The DUFF" 
The film’s gay panic scenes — including one in which a messy kiss between two male teachers is played for laughs — “appear even more outdated in a movie which encourages viewers to look beyond superficial labels and stereotypes.”

Ugly: "The Wedding Ringer" 
"Another in a long line of films to rely on gay panic and the long-running homophobic “sissy” stereotype for laughs... The film also contains several prison rape jokes, anti-gay slurs and an extended montage of two men dancing together, which is played for laughs at the idea of two men touching."

Good: "Diary of a Teenage Girl"
GLAAD says "Minnie’s sexual fluidity is portrayed as just another part of coming to understand herself, her desires and what love really means." A sex scene between her and another girl named Tabatha "would have likely been played for voyeuristic appeal in any other film," though Tabatha’s being female “never even occurs to Minnie as an issue.”

Bad: "Pitch Perfect 2"
A needless joke about “ladyboys in the Philippines” demonstrates that “while some films are doing better at including gay characters, there are still transphobic jokes making it to the screen.” 

Ugly: "Hot Tub Time Machine 2"
Regarding a scene steeped in homophobia, GLAAD says it’s “clearly a moment meant to give the audience some cheap homophobic chuckles rather than anything related to the story or character development makes it clear that the film’s creators still find the idea of two men together to be hilarious and strange.”

Good: "Freeheld"
“The only film distributed by a major studio last year to be nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. ‘Freeheld’ was one of the year’s LGBT film highlights."

Bad: "Ricki and The Flash"
"While Adam’s (Nick Westrate) story is positive overall, this stereotype of bisexuality being a part of the transition to eventually coming out as gay has a real-life impact on bisexual people, who are less likely than gay or lesbian people to be out due to their identity being treated as a phase rather than a very real part of their life."

Ugly: "Ted 2"
"Director/writer Seth MacFarlane has never been particularly thoughtful when it comes to the representation of minorities in his work. With 'Ted 2,' though, he has included some of his most defamatory and cruel transphobic jokes... The film features offensive language that dehumanizes transgender women and shames anyone who may be attracted to a trans person... This film, like most of MacFarlane’s work, is designed to appeal to his idea of what straight cisgender males find humorous, but he needs to learn that appealing to one audience does not have to mean insulting and alienating another." 

Good: "Legend"
Gets credit for making it clear that Ronnie’s (Tom Hardy) schizophrenia and hyper-violent personality are not tied to his sexual orientation.

Bad: Walt Disney Studios (Overall) 
"For the first time since beginning this report, GLAAD did not find any LGBT-inclusive content among Disney’s yearly slate of films... The most obvious place where Disney could include LGBT characters is in the upcoming eighth 'Star Wars' film. Recent official novels in the franchise featured lesbian and gay characters that could also be easily written in to the story."

Good: "The Night Before"
"For raunchy 'bro comedies,' the inclusion of a bisexual character (James Franco) and the central character’s acceptance of it can be read as a hopeful -- if small -- sign of progress."

Bad: "Sisters"
"Though none of the scenes were outright defamatory, the film can be added to the list of comedies that include LGBT characters only in service of jokes rooted in shallow stereotypes... Leading lesbian characters remain incredibly rare, particularly in comedy."

Bad: "Stonewall" 
The film “fumbled the opportunity to shed light on a pivotal moment” in LGBT history, with GLAAD calling the erasure of “many of the real stories of LGBT people of color and women who were instrumental in the rebellion” both “unjustified and unnecessarily revisionist.”