“Malcolm in the Middle” fans are trashing the series reboot, saying it went totally woke to the point of including a “non-binary” child, among other crimes against the original.
The shoehorning of modern leftist elements into a beloved series should come as no surprise, especially since it’s coming from a company like Disney, which now owns the show through its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the studio behind the original.
“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair” debuted four back-to-back episodes on Friday, and due to the busy schedules of the cast, there won’t be any more. The latest episodes follow the titular star (played by Frankie Muniz) after he’s all grown up and has grown apart from his family.
The original series, which ran from 2000 to 2006, focused on Malcolm, an exceptionally intelligent child who made his way through life with a dysfunctional family. The sitcom was a massive hit, winning seven Emmy Awards and attracting a cult following.
It ended with family matriarch Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) finding out she’s pregnant. “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston played the dad, and reprises his role in “Life’s Still Unfair,” too. Their surprise child, Kelly, is a teenager in the new version and uses they/them pronouns. The actor playing the part, Vaughan Murrae, identifies as “non-binary” in real life, too. Stevie Kenarban, who was Malcolm’s best friend in the original series, is depicted as gay in the reboot.
Many fans are not happy about the changes.
“So. Disney brings Back [‘Malcolm in the Middle’], which ended decades ago with a proper send off. They made Stevie gay, despite him crushing on Malcolm’s babysitter, pretending to be in critical condition to get another girl to like him, there’s stacking amounts of evidence proving he likes girls,” one popular reaction on X says.
“And the child Hal and Lois had at the very end is, wait for it……..non binary. If you had even a shred of hope that you were going to ‘relive the glory days’ you were kidding yourself… Don’t waste your time, it’s modern Disney being modern Disney again, and again, and again!”
“What a disgusting, soul-crushing disappointment,” another viral reaction said. “It’s absolute trash. No laughs. No chaos. No nostalgia. Just four episodes of pointless, preachy slop that feels like it was written by a committee of blue-haired Disney interns who hate straight families and actual comedy.”
“Woke isn’t gone. It’s just suppressed for the moment,” another person agreed. “They will be back the moment they get the political support they need, and they will be angry, and they will be in full-on retribution mode.”
Show creator Linwood Boomer and his wife, executive producer Tracy Katsky, said they drew inspiration from their personal lives.
“I gotta tell you, it’s a really important thing to us,” Katsky told Deadline during a recent interview just ahead of the reboot’s premiere.
“Three out of four of our kids are queer, and without making it a thing and without making an issue, I think it’s really nice to have a character that, that’s just a facet of their personality as opposed to the entire story.”
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