Gaston.
Here’s what we know about the nefarious Beauty and the Beast antagonist: he’s hairy, full of muscle, and more than a little slimy.
And the sexual proclivities of lyricist Howard Ashman probably had everything to do with his conception.
Related: “Beauty and the Beast” will feature Disney’s first-ever “exclusively gay moment”
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According to Bill Condon, the director of the upcoming live-action remake, Ashman had a taste for “trade” and Gaston was likely a composite of several of his past hookups, either real or imagined.
“I’ll tell you one other thing that’s for sure,” he tells Attitude. “I’m not saying Howard Ashman liked rough trade, but Alan [Menken] told me that both the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors and Gaston were based on, you know, trade.”
Related: Get the longest look yet at the new ‘Beauty and the Beast’ film in final trailer
Asked if Gaston was the kind of man Ashman fantasized about, Condon replies:
“Yeah, or had been with. Not the brightest but lovely, you know… That’s a gay joke, that’s a gay inside joke; that character, Gaston.”
To sum up: Gaston was a John.
The story checks out…
Low Country Boy
No, Gaston was not a “John.” A john is the client of trade/prostitute. If you’re going to put something like this out there, at least get the lingo correct.
Maude
Yup and yep.
Love the not so subtle symbolism.
RIGay
Wow… “Beauty and the Beast” has been getting a ton of BLOG time lately; I guess there is a new movie coming out or something.
Net: It’s DISNEY. That ship of interest sailed decades ago.
Maude
Gaston is the ‘rough trade’,
and the dentist is the queer sadist. S&M!
Maude
and even after what appears to be a reconstruction, this site is still as screwed up as ever.
ErikO
Trade/rough trade=prostitute/hooker. a ‘john’ means a client of a hooker/trade. Get it right queerty this slang is extremely old.
SFHandyman
Trade is a rough type guy who trades sex for someplace to sleep, or food, or drinks, or drugs.
Gaston has nothing to do with “trade”. That is an absurd theory.
Have you seen photos of Howard Ashman’s partner Bill Launch? Guess who he looks like? I should really say, guess who was obviously modeled on him. Gaston looks like Bill Launch. The man Howard Ashman loved for 18 years. Very tall, muscular, long face, strong chin, long dark hair. Not Trade.
The dentist is a sadist. Also nothing to do with “trade”.
MacAdvisor
I think you definition of rough trade is too narrow. The Urban Dictionary defines “rough trade” as “rough or lower-class men sought, and sometimes paid, as casual sexual partners by more privileged or affluent men.” While there is sometimes the element of payment, the heart of the relationship is a the class difference or, at least, the appearance of such.
Chris
And here I thought that the big reveal would be that Luke Evans, who plays Gaston, is openly gay.