La Ron S. Readus
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Sing 2: Why Johnny and Ryan Should Be Gay! (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2022-06-22 20:00:04 +0000 UTCOne day in the middle of October 2017, thanks to it being on Netflix at the time, I decided to watch the furry jukebox musical Sing for the first time.
And I’m not gonna lie; 29 year old La’Ron thought that the movie was pretty entertaining considering that it was pretty much an animated film featuring modern songs and classic pop and r&b classics covered by modern artists with a plot about saving a local theater from being closed down.
Apparently I thought it was SO impressive, that I felt the need to tweet about it
And to be honest, after thinking about how I initially reacted when I saw it, one character’s story definitely stood out to me in the movie that definitely left an impact on me.
/And that’s the character of Johnny the gorilla, played by Kingsman actor Taron Egerton/
Now other performances and character arcs aside, Johnny’s definitely left a very important impression toward me for various reasons.
/But the main one I was able to gather from it according to every story beat, trope, and emotional bumps in his journey, was that Johnny over the course of the movie was the easiest one to see a queer-coded analogy to; specifically when it came to coming out, prioritizing your happiness over what others expect of you, and being your true authentic self at the end of the day/
Well, I enjoyed both the movie and Johnny’s arc so much that I had a dream about it after watching it.
The moment I entered REM, images of the film played back in my head until a narrative completely new from what I recently experienced surrounding Johnny played in my head. And in that scenario, Johnny was front and center.
Only this time, he wasn’t alone. A tiger was present there as well. A MALE tiger, specifically.
One around his age, one that he quickly befriended, and one that as the story advanced, became MORE than friends.
And while I don’t necessarily remember the specifics of the plot or the scenario that the Sing crew had to endure in this dream, an image of Johnny’s queerness being explored in the LITERAL sense instead of the allegory that was used in the original film stayed with me.
Fast forward 4 years later, and Sing 2’s been released the winter of 2021. Like the original, I opted to wait until it was digitally available because I’ve become very pick-and-choosy about what I go see in theaters thanks to COVID
But thanks to the furry community -- which, I must remind certain Readers for the umpteenth time that I’m a member of -- I started seeing bits of Sing 2 revolving around Johnny, his story arc venturing into the world of what I assumed was dance and noticed that a prominent character within his arc...was a male Bengal tiger.
And when I saw this, I immediately went... “Ah, shit. Did my dreams predict the future AGAIN???”
So, I decided to rent Sing 2 once it was available digitally and see if this Bengal Tiger dancer named Ryan was exactly who the furry community and my subconscious expected him to be
The answer, as you can imagine, is...not quite.
While there’s definitely some tells that Ryan was meant to have a bigger role in the movie and even more interaction with Johnny, he has little to no agency in the plot.
And anything used to help Johnny develop or form a connection with that could’ve EASILY gone to him went to another female character...that may or may not have been done to make sure Universal and Illuminations execs and shareholders didn’t have a panic attack about not being able to market it to as many global theaters as possible, thanks to even a subtle hint of a male queer romance
/Y’know, despite Meena being allowed to have a full-fledged heteroromantic fantasy about Mr. Pharellephant right there on stage./
Yet from what I found out, that didn’t stop people from shipping the two together at all.
And considering what all Johnny goes through in Sing 2, better utilizing Ryan instead of just leaving him a glorified background character -- and yes, even exploring possible romantic connections that the film still provides are present -- could’ve been the better move if done right.
So if you’ll allow me some time out of your day, I wanna go over how they could’ve done it. Let’s begin.
________
Hey, Readers. La’Ron here. Offering you analysis and perspective on your favorite bits of geek and pop culture media
If it wasn’t obvious from the intro, this video will in fact contain spoilers for Universal and Illumination Studios’ animated movies, “Sing” and “Sing 2.” Sing 2 will be available to stream on Netflix June 22nd, but they’re both currently available to be rented or owned digitally, so give them a watch before continuing here if you haven’t seen them yet and don’t want me to spoil pivotal points of them for you in this video.
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That’s the syllabus. Now onto the lesson.
Johnny’s Story is a Queer One
Let’s just get that out of the way right now.
When you look at Johnny’s story over the course of Sing and even his tribulation in Sing 2, you can easily tell that his overall journey into expressing himself via both song AND dance can serve as an allegory for the queer experience of seeking familial acceptance of living your truth.
/Johnny’s situation in the first movie is very on the nose in this regard. He’s a lookout guy and getaway driver for his mobster father -- ironically called Big Daddy -- and is constantly struggling with the fact that what his father wants him to do isn’t what HE wants to do. And what he wants to do is sing, which Buster Moon’s talent show offers him an opportunity to do./
So when he joins the talent show once he -- like everyone else -- thinks the prize money is a HUNDRED grand instead of ONE grand, you can see how eagerly Johnny prefers heading to the theater than staying in the shop with his dad planning heists.
/Because while he loves his dad and is willing to do a lot for that love to be received, it’s hard for Johnny because not only is his heart clearly not in it, but his dad mainly encourages Johnny to follow in his footsteps surrounding his own vanity, masculine pride, and the toxic angles of a parent wanting their child to be an extension of them instead of wanting their child to be themself./
Which is why the prison visitation scene after Johnny messed up the getaway plan trying to juggle rehearsal with the heist felt a lot like a teen coming out to a parent.
Not out of spite, but out of hope of acceptance because they’ve wanted nothing but said acceptance, love and approval since day one.
/Except what happens instead, is the PG equivalent of a parent disowning their child when they DO come out. And Johnny not being able to handle his father’s rejection from telling him his truth, goes to the length of attempting to steal the prize money he still believes is $100 grand in order to bail him out, reverting to what his father wanted from him that Johnny wants nothing to do with to try and quote-unquote repair the damage he did./
Considering how the performing arts is so unanimous with queer kids seeking a form of self-expression, I’d be very surprised if Garth Jennings didn’t realize the type of allegorical tale he was telling with Taron Egerton’s Johnny considering all the beats that were made in the first Sing. Especially since the song Johnny decides to sing for the impromptu talent show is British pop sensation Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.”
/Which not only match Johnny’s decision to live his truth in the face of his fathers at-the-time disapproval and basking in the refreshing light of said decision, but the song itself has since been marked on of queer liberation since its initial inception when you remember that it’s creator Elton John is ALSO queer./
/And while Johnny still gets a happy ending out of all of this when his father sees him performing on television, realizes that he was in the wrong, and breaks out of prison just to rectify how he left things and to tell Johnny that he’s proud of him, not a lot of queer peeps can say that their relationship with one or both of their parents can be easily fixed./
That’s why Johnny’s story in the first Sing can be looked at as a queer one.
Not just for Johnny wanting to sing and trying to juggle living his truth with parental expectations being an allegory for being queer and doing the same thing, but also allowing Johnny’s on stage declaration as a sense of empowerment for those in their lives who refuse to accept them while Big Daddy’s act of rectification being a bit of wish fulfillment for those who want it.
So when I say that allegorically speaking Johnny’s story in 2016’s Sing is a queer one, I’m not just saying that for click-bait and chaos. I truly mean it.
And, thanks to me being black and queer myself, I see Johnny’s part in Sing 2 as a natural next step in this allegory.
So What Does Sing 2 Do?
If Johnny’s story in Sing can be looked at as an allegory for someone exploring and wanting to embrace their queerness in the face of familial backlash, then Johnny’s story in Sing 2 can be looked at as an allegory for the trials and tribulations that come with someone stepping out of their bubble in order to seek a stronger sense of community
In Sing 2, this is kinda forced on Johnny when he agrees to take on the Planet of War role for Buster’s new production he’s trying to sell to a casino resort owner, called “Out of This World,” under the impression he has the green light to use the songs of Bono’s character Clay Calloway and can get him to perform in said show.
/But Johnny has to do more than just sing, he also has to dance. And to make sure he can -- since money is no object thanks to the resort owner fitting the bill to make sure the show is ready in 3 weeks -- he’s assigned to work with one of the top show choreographers in Sing’s version of Las Vegas; a proboscis monkey named Klaus Kickenklober./
Now the gag here is that despite Johnny being willing to learn in order to prepare for the part, he can’t dance. And Klaus, as you can imagine, figures this out IMMEDIATELY.
So because there needs to be conflict considering every major player of Buster’s gang overcoming adversity in order to pull off this performance, Johnny’s adversity is overcoming Klaus’s discrimination.
/Not because he’s a gorilla -- there’s an abundance of different animals in Klaus’s class and a couple of them are gorillas -- but because of his skillset, where he comes from, what he’s willing to prioritize, and eventually how he goes about finding his own way to learn the choreography outside of his teachings in a style Klaus clearly doesn’t respect; streetdance./
Now I’ve talked about intersectionality on the channel before in my video essay on A Goofy Movie; specifically using the theory to understand the generational differences and discriminations of the same ethnic minority.
But because the theory of intersectionality was initially conceived to highlight the things that those of privilege use to discriminate and oppress marginalized people over, it can easily be applied to highlight these struggles in smaller communities as it’s used in the broader sense of understanding inequality, equity and justice.
/And while it might make more sense to look at something like the queer film from 20th Century Studios Fire Island, and how it focuses on the intersectionality within the male queer space in order to highlight the discrimination and racism that queer privileged white men bestow on queer men of color -- the ones the film focuses on being asian american and how they tackle said discrimination and racism, and how enduring enough of it over time can warrant internalized racism as a result -- the same lens can be looked at in Sing 2 regarding how Klaus discriminates over Johnny./
Johnny comes from a related family of queer expression, which in this case is song, and isn’t initially familiar with the form he wants and needs to learn from.
/But instead of learning from someone who is inclusive and feels that everyone should be welcome to learn and express their queerness in their own unique way, he’s given the overtly privileged instructor who has the Sing version of “no fats, no fems, no blacks, no asians” on his dating app profiles./
Racism and body shaming aren’t initially the focus thanks to the multiple species of animals that are anthropomorphized and the film wanting to show off a diverse arrangement.
But the way Klaus attacks Johnny with his sense of privilege, status and elitism is just as much a real life intersectionality focus when it comes to spaces meant to be safe for queer people to form community, and is violently used to make Johnny feel like he doesn’t belong there.
/So much so that Johnny begins to have panic attacks because of all the abuse. Because despite Klaus being visibly strict to other students in his class, that’s what Johnny is suffering from; abuse./
So how does Johnny overcome this situation? What does he do to find his own way of making a mark in this broader world of queer expression in order to be his best self for this new role, while also proving to both Klaus and himself that he belongs in this community just like everyone else that’s part of it?
/He does so by seeking help from and befriending a street dancing lynx named Nooshy, voiced by Letitia Wright./
But while the film does a decent job utilizing her to help boost Johnny’s confidence, I’m 100% convinced that Wright’s Nooshy was the safe choice -- aka the studio executives choice -- to get this point across without overtly leaning into ACTUAL queer themes.
Because real talk, it shouldn’t have been Nooshy filling that role.
It Should’ve Been Ryan
Don’t get me wrong; the role that Nooshy plays in Sing 2 is an important one.
/What Nooshy’s role provides in Johnny’s overall narrative is a support network that helps him reclaim the mental energy and fortitude Klaus initially robbed from him in order to get Johnny to give up and leave so that he wouldn’t deal with someone that’s unworthy of being in his presence according to the standards Klaus set for him earlier on in the movie./
Nooshy motivates Johnny to find his own way in order to do the choreography, which embarrasses and upsets Klaus when he does so and the entire dance class congratulates him, cheers him on, and willingly embraces him in the community to his dismay.
/And as you can see, it’s pretty clear that Ryan is a bit more than just impressed./
The problem that I have with Nooshy is that while she gets the support role down, neither Letitia’s performance or her character is memorable enough to me to significantly stand out when it comes to a lot of the new characters they introduce in Sing 2.
And considering that this plot point also serves as an allegory of gatekeeping and discrimination in queer communities, I kinda need a character with a role as important as Nooshy’s to stand out and be just as memorable.
/Hell, Halsey’s character Porsha Crystal is more memorable than Nooshy, and they both have pretty much the same amount of relevancy to the progression of the story!/
Ryan, however, I feel was MADE to be as memorable as they wanted Nooshy to be.
/Not only is he originally meant to be Johnny’s dance partner before Klaus demanded to go on stage himself to make a mockery out of him, but by paying attention closely to one of the first group scenes of Johnny in Klaus’s class, we already know that Ryan is his best student./ (Good job Ryan, Johnny you’re terrible)
Plus, it’s clear as day even to heterosexual eyes that once Johnny gets his groove back, Ryan is 100% into Johnny.
/The way he congratulates him. The way he stares at Johnny performing Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars” during the actual performance./
This cat is absolutely SMITTEN by Johnny from how he’s animated, yet Garth Jennings does NOTHING with this; nothing with his character! Not even platonically!
/And to make matters worse, the only dialogue he has throughout the entire movie is when he reacts to Klaus ordering him to give him his costume!/
That’s why I’m more of an advocate of giving Ryan that support role for Johnny instead of Nooshy.
/I would’ve had him notice Johnny struggling during that first scene of Buster trying to convince him to keep at it after Klaus praised him the first time; try and reach out and at least establish a friendship between the two of them. Then when it gets to the point where Klaus uses his “best student” to berate and belittle Johnny, Ryan feels horrible about it./
Not only does he feel like Johnny doesn’t deserve this mistreatment, but he hates the feeling of being used.
/And to make it hit deeper, we can have Ryan stumble upon Johnny while he’s alone and see the damage that’s been done by witnessing one of the panic attacks in question./
So now we have two individuals -- not just Johnny -- who are affected by the intersectionality of Klaus’s small fraction of a broader community.
Johnny, who seeks community in order to be more rounded in his allegorical queerness, and Ryan who has gotten to where he is thanks to certain boxes being ticked off to Klaus’s liking that were initially unknown to him, but hadn’t completely woken him up to the gatekeepiness that’s possible in the community until Johnny decided to try and join.
And thanks to a combination of communication, openness, and a genuine interest in each other, Ryan offers to help Johnny learn to make a mark in the dancing sphere in his own way.
We can do this by either having RYAN introduce Johnny to Nooshy by revealing that they’re roommates who make a living off their preferred dancing styles -- because they literally live in Sing’s version of Vegas -- who proceeds to teach Johnny the ropes of embracing his individuality while giving him and Ryan more time to interact. But that’s only if we really wanna keep Nooshy.
Because I would prefer if we remove the Nooshy character from the picture altogether, and reveal that Ryan too is fluent in break-slash-street dancing, because Ryan is to dance as Johnny is to music; that he personally kept this side hidden away from Klaus after learning that he had no respect for the craft, but didn’t want to quit the company and jeopardize his livelihood.
/Listen, this franchise is rated PG and stars Reese Whitherspoon playing a pig mom of like...14 living in a 2 bedroom apartment; we can afford to talk about some real shit for like...a minute./
Whichever route we do go, we now have some type of established connection between Ryan and Johnny that’s substantial to Johnny’s journey over the course of Sing 2.
/More importantly, we have one that naturally flows and feels like it was organically part of the narrative the moment Johnny entered Klaus’s dance hall./
And whether Nooshy is involved or not, Ryan will more than likely make a stand against Klaus upon the “How Johnny Got His Groove Back” reveal by sharing with Klaus that there’s more to RYAN than the boxes Klaus initially checked off that allowed him entry through his gate.
...Why would I say “no homo” to that? This entire VIDEO is about gay shit.
We’ll ALSO have something that can be used to easily build up on the romantic end of Ryan and Johnny’s relationship if Universal Studios aren’t cowards.
Because the lyrics to Johnny’s song for Out of This World, Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars,” is PERFECT for both taking a stand against Klaus’s gatekeeping and also declaring the feelings he would’ve developed for Ryan after everything the two went through together.
Because in this case, Ryan is Johnny’s sky full of stars. Ryan’s the one Johnny wants to give his heart to. Ryan’s the one who lit up this path he was able to walk on. He doesn’t care what Klaus does; he can tear him apart for all he cares.
/Because in this sky full of stars, Johnny only sees Ryan./
Conclusion
Now the reason why I want to give Garth Jennings the benefit of the doubt regarding why Johnny’s arc in Sing 2 went the way that it did, and focus more on the possibilities for the version of his arc being the way that it currently is more on the possibility of studio interference than anything else...
Is mostly thanks to how a lot of animation creators have stepped forward regarding what they’ve been forced to censor and rework in their own movies and television shows.
Which, from what has been revealed by Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch and Infinity Train creator Owen Dennis on social media, also include male queer relationships being prominently displayed on screen
Hell, the only reason why the lesbian couple on Lightyear made it in the film was because it was revealed that Disney originally ordered Pixar to cut it thanks to animators revealing all of the studios’ hypocrisies regarding where it stood on LGBTQIA+ allyship after it was revealed they helped fund the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida
So do I believe that there’s a chance Ryan DEFINITELY had a larger role that mirrored that of Nooshy’s presence in the film that Garth and co. had to rework because he and Johnny’s relationship gave off the possibility of it being interpreted as “too romantic” or whatever? Yes. Absolutely. One Hundred Percent
The only thing I can hope for now that more people in the industry are speaking up and more studios are no longer fighting featuring queerness -- specificially male queerness -- in their works in fear of losing money overseas...
Is that eventually, we’ll get this story and romance that some would argue Johnny and Ryan SHOULD’VE gotten in Sing 2
Hell, I’m pretty sure it’s still possible to make it work if the studio greenlights Sing 3!
/That way Johnny’s journey can stop being just an allegory for queerness, and be what it should be; actual representation/
But, I digress Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:
Write in the comment section below what you thought of the Sing movies if you’ve seen them.
Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, a movie or television show with characters of the same sex present in them that you feel were supposed to have more of an intimate-slash-possibly romantic relationship, but was cut out and only made subtle thanks to studio involvement.
Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.
/A HUGE shoutout to my Patrons both big and small for helping make this channel possible.
Make sure you check out the card at the end of the video to see if you want to join, or click the link to it or any of my affiliates in the description box below.
But until then, this is Readus 101. Class dismissed./
