Five things I like and five that I don't like about "My Brother, the Minotaur." #5 involves gay characters and butts.

 


My Brother the Minotaur (2026) is an Irish animated series about a minotaur boy named Lorcan (voiced by Ely Solan, left) being raised by humans.

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur is a monster, the offspring of Pasiphaë and a bull, hidden away in the Labyrinth and fed human youth, but here minotaurs are humanoid beings with massive torsos and bull-horns.

Lorcan's questions about his heritage become urgent as he enters his teen years, and begins experiencing rage, sudden horn growth (symbolic of something or other), and disturbing nightmares.  Meanwhile, strange things are happening in the village.

After watching several episodes, here is my evaluation:


Things I dislike:

1. Lorcan's main ally is his younger brother Charlie.  Making him a brother rather than a friend removes any possibility of gay subtext, even after they rescue each other, say "I'm not leaving without you," and so on.  






2. The boys have two female friends, Dana and Harper, thus creating the potential for two hetero-romances.

3. The background players are entirely heteronormative. The boys have male-female parents and grandparents.  In crowd scenes, it's always male-female couples, never same-sex pairs.  Even in the school cafeteria, every table is occupied by boy-girl couples.

4. Leisure pursuits are entirely gender-polarized.  The boys' room is filled with stereotypic boys' toys. 


5. Antagonist Craigelder is an old-fashioned moustache-twirling melodrama villain, who wants Lorcan locked up because he's a bigot, and wants to buy the dad's coffee shop just to be mean, mwah-ha-ha. Wait -- isn't that doing the guy a favor?  He's also a femme stereotype, with ascot and ostantatious ring.





Left: Antagonist Craigelder is played by Michael Sheen.

Five things I liked after the break












Things I like:

1. The animation is very impressive, with stone cottages and dark forests  drawn in loving detail. The Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon wanted something unique, different from what other teen cartoons were doing.

2. The Irish culture.  They live on Bryony Island, named after an indigenous clinging vine.  Lorcan means "fierce one" in Irish.  You see the Irish flag and currency.  


3. Antagonist Craigelder's son Wesley Junior (Elliot Grihault, left) feels guilty about his involvement in his father's evil schemes, and may be working toward becoming an ally.  He has a poster of a sword-and-sorcery muscleman on his bedroom wall, an easy-to-miss queer code.

4. Lorcan, Charlie, and the girls never pair off into romantic dyads.  Actually, the girls may have a lesbian subtext relationship of their own.









5. Many of the voice cast are queer in real life or have played gay characters.  

Billy Jenkins (Charlie, the brother, left) emphasized the queer undertones as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! on stage and the tv series Dodger.

Billie Boulet (Dana, the tall, thin female friend) emphasizes the queer undertones in Anne Frank's story in A Small Light.

Elliot Grihault (antagonist Wesley Jr ) is reputedly gay in real life.

Michael Sheen (Antagonist Craigelder) has played several gay characters, including Robbie Ross, Oscar Wilde's boyfriend, in Wilde (1997); the closeted Carlos in Nocturnal Animals (2016); and the angel Aziraphale, who is in love with the demon Crowley in Good Omens (2019).



Brian Cox, who voices the boys' dad, played Owen in The Lost Language of Cranes (1991):  When his son comes out, Owen decides that it's high time to admit that he's gay, too.  

In the horror-comedy The Parenting (2025), Brian plays the dad of focus character Rohan, who is already out. He becomes possessed by a demon and shows his butt (below).

That's two dads of gay guys.  Could Charlie or his brother the minotaur make it three?




at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)