WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Mitchells vs. The Machines, streaming on Netflix.

Although queer characters have grown increasingly common in American TV animation for both kids and adults, animated family movies have been lacking significant LGBTQ representation. Mitch in Paranorman was the first openly gay character in an all-ages American animated movie, and until now, he was still the most prominent. Otherwise, there's only been vague innuendos (Gobber from the How to Train Your Dragon films), potential teases (May and Octavius in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and minor token characters (the cyclops cop in Onward).

Well, Netflix's latest animated release, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, does something no all-ages American animated movie has done before: Its co-lead, and point-of-view character, Katie Mitchell, is openly queer.

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Attentive viewers might have wondered about this ever since the film's first promotional image, in which Katie is clearly seen wearing a rainbow pin. The most recent trailer added to the queer-coded vibes, with Katie noting "it took a while to figure myself out," and Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Celinne Sciamma appearing on her "Mount Rushmore" of favorite filmmakers. The movie contains more coding along these lines: For instance, Katie's advice to her brother Aaron to never be embarrassed about who he loves definitely feels informed by queer experiences of being marginalized for romantic attractions.

If all The Mitchells vs. The Machines did in regard to LGBTQ representation was this blatant coding, it still would have been noteworthy, but two scenes directly confirm Katie is openly queer. The first is a split-second inclusion of a proposal video titled "Chloe Chang Will You Go Out With Me?" in the introduction to Katie's filmography. The second occurs in the final scene and, unlike the initial video gag, is impossible to miss. Speaking with her family in a video chat from college, Katie's mom Linda asks, among other questions, about the status of her relationship with a female classmate: "Are you and Jade official, and will you be bringing her home with you for Thanksgiving?" It's a casual, natural way to confirm that Katie is either a lesbian or bisexual (her voice actor, Abbi Jacobson, is bi).

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Mitchells vs Machines katie

The Mitchells vs. The Machines does an amazing job centering a queer hero. It doesn't make her queerness the focus of the story but also makes it explicit in a way that can't be ignored.

What makes this big reveal all the more impressive is that Sony and Netflix have avoided hyping up the film's representation, even as it ends up being far more significant and meaningful than most of Disney's much-hyped representation "firsts" so far. Michael Rianda's film is already an early frontrunner for next year's animation awards, but don't be surprised if it is also in the running for a GLAAD Award.

Directed by Michael Rianda, The Mitchells vs. The Machines stars the voice talents of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda, Eric André and Olivia Colman. It's available to stream on Netflix.

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