Okay so if none of you have heard about it "About Ray" is a movie coming out in September about a trans guy. Which for me personally is a huge incredible win and I should be happy right? Nope.
Now the first problem was the fact they cast the trans lead with a cis girl (a girl who was born a girl and identifies as a girl).
Okay admittedly this annoyed me but its not the end of the world. They really could have at least TRIED or opened the casting up so trans people could audition for the role.. but that's just how it is I guess.
(If you don't get why its so bad - imagine someone writing a story about black people and black struggles and black life and casting a white actor with a white director and white writers. It just doesn't make any sense.)
But even after that I was still up for seeing the movie because we need the representation.
AND THEN..
http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/dl-entertainment/about-ray-director-gaby-dellals-problematic-e...
This happens.
The director and writer of the movie talks about how Ray the trans male character, is actually female and refers to him as a female constantly. This is not okay. This is the furthest thing from okay.
Now here's the kicker.
If I /don't/ support the movie because of the transphobia, its gonna be a long time before we get a movie that accurately represents trans people. Why? Because if this movie flops people will decide that stories about trans people 'aren't profitable'.
I ask you guys to support this movie for me because we need the representation even though its not a very good one. Because if this works then maybe we will have a shot of better representation in the future! Yes I'm upset about how this movie has been handled. But I am hopeful. Because trans men have been invisible for a long time in the media. They need something even if its awful to get things moving in the right way. So please support this movie, but don't forget about its problematic side too!
Now the first problem was the fact they cast the trans lead with a cis girl (a girl who was born a girl and identifies as a girl).
Okay admittedly this annoyed me but its not the end of the world. They really could have at least TRIED or opened the casting up so trans people could audition for the role.. but that's just how it is I guess.
(If you don't get why its so bad - imagine someone writing a story about black people and black struggles and black life and casting a white actor with a white director and white writers. It just doesn't make any sense.)
But even after that I was still up for seeing the movie because we need the representation.
AND THEN..
http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/dl-entertainment/about-ray-director-gaby-dellals-problematic-e...
In an interview with Refinery29 on Monday, the film's director Gaby Dellal attempted to explain her decision. Unfortunately, it comes across as rather uninformed on what being transgender actually means. Not least because the director uses female pronouns to refer to Ray throughout.
"The part is a girl and she is a girl who is presenting in a very ineffectual way as a boy," Dellal says. Oof.
"She's not pretending to have a deeper voice. She's just a girl who is being herself and is chasing the opportunity to start hormone treatment. So to actually use a trans boy was not an option because this isn't what my story is about."
It seems that despite making a movie about a transgender boy she doesn't have the faintest idea what that actually means... or at least she doesn't understand how to express it in language. And that's a real problem.
This happens.
The director and writer of the movie talks about how Ray the trans male character, is actually female and refers to him as a female constantly. This is not okay. This is the furthest thing from okay.
Now here's the kicker.
If I /don't/ support the movie because of the transphobia, its gonna be a long time before we get a movie that accurately represents trans people. Why? Because if this movie flops people will decide that stories about trans people 'aren't profitable'.
I ask you guys to support this movie for me because we need the representation even though its not a very good one. Because if this works then maybe we will have a shot of better representation in the future! Yes I'm upset about how this movie has been handled. But I am hopeful. Because trans men have been invisible for a long time in the media. They need something even if its awful to get things moving in the right way. So please support this movie, but don't forget about its problematic side too!
