In Open Letter, Hollywood Companies Pledge to Improve Transgender Representation
56 replies, posted
https://variety.com/2018/film/news/open-letter-transgender-hollywood-1202896495/
Letter
Actions speak louder than words.
Especially when Hollywood has shown itself to be far from acceptable
I'll believe it when I see it.
Guessing this is a hastily concocted response to the public backlash to casting Scarlett Johansson as a trans man in that biopic. I'll believe them when I see a real difference.
I don't mind transgender actors at all, what really matters is if they're good or not. One transgender mis-cast and it'll set the movement back quite a bit.
I agree that Hollywood needs to change its perspective on transgenders (and other minority demographics), considering that transgenders, as stated in the letter, are often depicted as victims or serial killers. However, I would disagree with the notion that Jill Soloway was wrong in casting an actor that was not trans. Acting is all about embodying a character, I see no reason why a male/female actor cannot play a transgender person(see Predestination, for example) just as transgender actors could play cisgendered characters or gay actors can play straight characters (see Neil Patrick Harris or Luke Evans). That being said, the director and the actor have a greater responsibility to portray that sort of character with sincerity and through consultation with people they are trying to represent. That is not to say that a trans actor should not be, at the very least, considered to play a trans character.
Gotta find a way to recover that public image somehow.
I'm struggling to see how you can include them without risking something really awkward like that one lady from Mass Effect Andromeda, because how else are you supposed to know if they're trans or not without asking them (Assuming they pass)? I also cannot see Hollywood using non-passing trans people without risking upsetting that polished aesthetic that hollywood really likes. I'm just uncertain how it can be implemented well, and I frankly don't trust hollywood.
"it seems audience's just didn't respond well to the quirky, transexual best friend" - Hollywood in 3 years after a new Jennifer Aniston romcom bombs.
Being trans isn't "doing something in your personal life" it's a major part of identity that helps inform a role
You shouldn’t have to be the representative of that demographic to fucking play it in a movie.
Acting is playing a part. We don’t need to cast every role as it’s literal type cast fit to be “progressive”. I’d argue that’s actually regressive
Transgender actors will always be able to play trans roles easier, and with more experience. It's as simple as that. Going with anyone else is going out of your way to not choose a trans person. Best case scenario is that you're choosing another story for another very important trait, worst case bring either transphobia or hitting for star power over the needs of the film
You know it really sounds like you don't, and won't, understand the concept of "acting".
People play people who are not themselves.
Who the fuck are you to determine that a non trans actor can't play the role? Who the fuck is anyone to say a non trans actor isn't the right "Fit" for the needs of the film?
It seems like the exact opposite of a progressive world view. You are what you were born as, and nothing more. Trying to extend your experiences beyond that is wrong, and diminishes the lives of others. None of that is true, and none of that is reasonable, but it seems to be the basis for a view point which is being peddled without being thought about.
Well then that would be good??? My point that no one is addressing is that a trans person has experience to draw from to, you know, act the part.
Can straight people play gay characters? Can gay people play straight people? Can bisexual people play any one but a bisexual?
Think about it
Oh this has nothing to do with that. Sure there are plenty of actors who could do a great job, but not as easily and certainly not as nuanced.
Says who? Based on what? What are you doing besides saying "I THINK THIS IS TRUE. THEREFORE IT IS TRUE. DO NOT DISCUSS THIS WITH ME."
You have no argument, no room for discussion. You are stating YOUR OPINION, as if it was a fact based on anything.
it is not.
Stop doing this.
You would endeavor to try certainly, you may even get a good grasp of a lot of the stakes and inner motivations, but not as much as someone who's lived in it for years.
So, basically, like I said initially
you have no concept of what "Acting" is.
Who can play a role? Oh, only the people who've actually gone through that thing, so they're not playing a role, they're playing themselves. If we limit actors to play roles they highly empathize with, then we've killed "Acting" as a career and made it simply "Portraying similar characters to yourself".
Your mentality about this is extremely regressive.
Says you, but not logic.
You think your argument is water proof. It isn't. I can understand the feeling of dysmphoria, and not feeling like I belong in my own body better than YOU can, 100% guarunteed. So why can't I empthazie with a transgender person well enough to play that role? Because you, a non transgender "ally" are a strong enough authority to enforce a specific world view on everyone?
Fucking regressive dude.
You're taking my point to extremes to make it seem ridiculous, stop. Obviously people are capable of understanding situations they aren't in, but the closer they can get to fully understanding the experiences of the character, the better. I never said that all trans characters should be played by trans actors. I said that trans actors have a lot more experience to draw from and in most cases should be chosen more often
No, now you're just fucking backpeddling.
People play roles that are nothing like them all the time.
Are you saying that Daniel Craig is more like James Bond than not? Are you saying Javier Bardeem is more like Anton Cigur, or Raoul Silva? They must be closer to being psychopaths than not, RIGHT?! This is EXACTLY what you're saying but you don't seem to recognize that at all.
How do you know dysmorphia? (Really not relevant to the argument considering neither of us are up for a trans role, but I'll take the bait)
I never said to enforce anything, stop trying to make yourself the victim.
I suffered from extreme body dysmphoria as a teenager. I know how it feels to look at myself in the mirror and literally not see what everyone else in the world sees. And you know what? I bet someone doesn't need to have suffered the exact thing I have to understand that feeling intimately.
No I'm not back pedaling. That's a silly argument, there's nothing about either of those characters that really requires any serious life experience to play well. James Bond is an over the top fictional spy. And yet you can bet those actors did plenty of research still to be able to do the parts properly
No, you are backpeddaling and right now you're failing to analyze this situation what so ever.
If playing a psychopath doesn't require anything but research, why does a transgender role require a transgender actor? Are you EVEN thinking this through at all? What makes transgender experiences so unique in the pantheon of human experiences that ONLY ONE TYPE OF PERSON can play that role?
What makes it SO UNIQUE? So impossible to empathize with no one but a transgender could play it?
Think about this. All I'm asking is you actually apply some fucking critical thought to what you peddle for once.
And yet I'm certain you would be able to understand it better and portray it better than someone else who hasn't (acting skill being equal)
What are you saying then? You've been pretty adamant the only way someone could "Accurately portray" a trans individual was to themselves be trans.
Do movies featuring "Insane" characters like say, "Split", require the actors to be people undergoing mental breakdowns?
Personally, I think any actor worth their salt can portray just about, if not, any role regardless of the background of the character or themselves. That's what acting IS.
I've said multiple times that a non trans actor could do a good job. BUT not as easily or necessarily nuanced as someone who has lived that for years.
This isn't even touching the fact that it's not even for trans actors, because Hollywood doesn't cast trans actors for cis people or trans people
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