After Decades Of Struggle For Equality We Finally Have A Gay Power Ranger In Their New Movie Reboot

The Hollywood Reporter – Power Rangers is breaking down a barrier no superhero movie has before. The Lionsgate reboot of the ’90s children’s TV show is the first big-budget superhero movie to feature an LGBT protagonist.

During Power Rangers’ second act, there’s a scene in which the titular heroes learn that the Yellow Ranger Trini (Becky G) is coming to terms with her sexual orientation, with one character assuming she’s having “boyfriend problems,” and soon realizing that perhaps she’s actually having “girlfriend problems.” It’s a small moment, but one director Dean Israelite calls “pivotal” for the entire film.

“For Trini, really she’s questioning a lot about who she is,” Israelite tells The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”

I know a lot of people roll their eyes whenever a movie adds a gay character for seemingly little reason. But you’re talking about the Power Rangers here, a team of people that actually embody the colors of the rainbow, the original Blue Ranger was gay, and given some of the statistics on gay high school kids there statistically is a decent shot that a Power Ranger would be gay. It just feels right. For too long the industry of summoning giant mechanized animals tied to a colorful outfit you wear has been owned by the heterosexuals, a veritable Boys’ Club overseen by Zordon and his team. But now we know that Morphin’ is an industry of inclusiveness, one where no matter how you were born you too can fight alien monsters while your frequently endangered town does very little to stop them. The LGBT community deserves no less of a shot at that form of happiness than anyone else.

And as an added bonus, it even adds a little welcome extra context to scenes like this:

Like you’ve never wanted to see a little Rita Repulsa/Power Ranger scissoring, the raw sexual tension from making monsters grow has to pile up at some point. Put Alpha 5 in vibrate mode in a room with these two and let’s start healing Angel Grove rather than tear it apart.