So, just within the last week, I was watching TV when something came on about the new Power Rangers movie, and I sighed deeply and proclaimed that the Power Rangers were stupid and annoying and I would NOT be going to see that movie.
(My partner appeared a bit insulted, letting me know that Power Rangers had been a VERY popular show around the whole world that MANY years, so there must be something good about them. I think she was/is a fan. I know our sons are fans.)
Anyway. I remained convinced that there was NOTHING that could get me to go see the Power Rangers movie. Until today. When Director Dean Israelite and actor BeckyG confirmed that the Yellow Ranger, Trini, is gay.
That means that Power Rangers is “the first big-budget superhero movie to feature an LGBT protagonist,” The Hollywood Reporter notes.
Israelite calls the moment that another character realizes that Trini is not having “a boyfriend problem,” and is instead having “a girlfriend problem” a small but pivotal moment.
Israelite told Hollywood Reporter, “For Trini, really she’s questioning a lot about who she is. She hasn’t fully figured it out yet. I think what’s great about that scene and what that scene propels for the rest of the movie is, ‘That’s OK.’ The movie is saying, ‘That’s OK,’ and all of the kids have to own who they are and find their tribe.”
BeckyG, who plays Yellow Ranger Trini, told ScreenRant, “Power Rangers has always represented diversity and they’re always been ahead of the curve on a lot of things and although it may be a touchy subject for some people, I think it’s done in a very classy way, and not only that, in a way that’s really real, because you don’t know, Trini doesn’t know herself, and it’s that moment where she says out loud, ‘I’ve never said any of this out loud’ and that line, where, you know, Zordon says ‘You must shed your masks to wear this armor.’ It’s true. People should accept themselves for who they really are and be proud of that and take ownership of that first and learn that self love to really be happy. …”
David Yost, the openly-gay actor who played The Blue Ranger in the 1990s TV show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, told ScreenRant, “They really stepped up to the plate. I think so many people in the LGBTQI community are going to be excited to see that representation.”
Yost said in 2010 that he left the show in the 1990s because he was constantly harassed over his sexual orientation, although others associated with the show said there was no anti-gay sentiment on the set, and that Yost had been a pain to work with.
So now, I guess I have to go see the Power Rangers movie so I don’t lose my gay card. At least the “special effects” should be better these days.