In my capacity as a theatremaker I’ve also monlcer down

Dear Scarlett Johansson

moncler outlet store Every time it’s announced that a well known cisgender actor will be playing a trans character, I grow less and less surprised. moncler outlet store

cheap moncler jackets sale However, this week my disaffected boredom was challenged moncler outlet store when it was announced that Scarlett Johansson was set to cheap moncler outlet play a trans character in the upcoming film Rub Tug. Naturally, people have been quite upset about this. However, where often celebrities in this position will respond with an empty gestured “I understand that this has hurt people moncler mens jackets in the trans community, and I want to make it clear I’m doing my best to listen and learn”, instead Johansson made this comment: “Tell cheap moncler coats them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.” cheap moncler jackets sale

Before I say anything about this flippant dismissal of some genuine concerns, some clarification is in order. Rub Tug is a Rupert Sanders (Ghost in the Shell) film in which Scarlett Johansson is cheap moncler jackets set to play Dante “Tex” Gill, a real life Pittsburgh mobster in the 70s and 80s who ran a series of massage parlours. Described in their obituary as “the woman who wanted to be known as a man”, Gill went by Mr. Gill and dressed as a man for their entire working life, and may have undergone some form of medical transition during their life.

moncler jackets outlet It’s impossible to say with certainty, based on the information publicly available, whether Gill was a trans man or a gender non conforming butch lesbian who adopted masculine attire and terminology. It is, however, safe to say that Gill was not a cisnormative figure. It is also safe to say that a fat, queer, butch, possibly transmasculine person is not a role for Scarlett Johansson. moncler jackets outlet

cheap moncler outlet Is it necessary to have trans and queer people cast in those roles? cheap moncler outlet

This, however, is the point of contention that we get caught up in is it necessary to have trans and queer people cast in those roles?

So, instead moncler outlet of speaking specifically about the casting of Dante Gill whose identity no moncler outlet sale one can definitively attest to at present I instead want to use this opportunity to look at the debate about autonomous casting on the whole, and hopefully make it clearer why talking about representation matters.

cheap moncler The best actor for the role / Why is it such a big deal anyway? cheap moncler

cheap moncler coats I understand why the most frequent response to discourse around autonomous casting of queer and trans roles on our screens and stages is to question how important it really is, in the grand scheme of things. Surely, there are bigger fish to fry. Surely we should focus on marriage equality, or LGBT homelessness surely some movie isn’t that big of a deal. cheap moncler coats

moncler outlet jackets The first problem with that is cheap moncler sale that it’s possible for us to think and care about two things at once the fact that one of my priorities professionally is diverse and progressive casting does not impede on my ability to campaign for other issues that affect my communities. moncler outlet jackets

moncler factory outlet But the big thing that people don’t take into account is just how much our media screen, stage, print provides the discursive roadmaps we take into discussions around cultural or political shifts. The way we perceive things in our popular culture directly informs the way we engage with similar things in our real lives, and there have been direct correlations in negative representation of trans people in the news, on social media, or in pop culture, and increased violence towards trans people. moncler factory outlet

If we, for example, cast well known cisgender male actors as transgender women characters, we are framing the discourse around that character around a basis of masculinity, moncler sale rather than one of femininity. It’s easier for us to believe Jared Leto shaving his eyebrows and gaffer taping his balls than it is for us to comfortably accept the existence of transfemininity particular a transfemininity that doesn’t “pass” for normative womanhood.

moncler sale What “ciswashing”, as it is sometimes known, demonstrates is that, whilst we may be increasingly amenable to the idea of trans people, we are still unable to accept the trans body. moncler sale

moncler jacket sale What we are saying when we cast Johannsson in this role, is that it’s easier, more palatable, more comfortable, for us to imagine a thin cis straight woman could pretend to be a fat butch gender non conforming person, than it is moncler sale outlet for us to imagine that such a person could exist. moncler jacket sale

What “ciswashing”, as it is sometimes known, demonstrates is that, whilst we may be increasingly amenable to the idea of trans people, we are still moncler outlet unable to accept the trans body, the liminal or illegible body of someone who exists outside of our binary understand of sex and gender. And that allows the seed of discomfort to breed and fester, and grow into the fear and hatred used to oppress trans people.

What if the rest of the movie is well done?

For the most part, the decisions made around personnel and casting the most visible element of a film, and the one most people have the most interest in are pretty indicative of the decision making and storytelling practice. And certainly it’s not always the case that autonomous casting = good representation. The film Transamerica saw a cis woman (Felicity Huffman) play a trans woman in what was a complex and empathetic narrative that portrayed trans women as one of the many ways in which one can be a woman (as opposed to perpetuating the idea of a “man in a dress”). In my capacity as a theatremaker I’ve also monlcer down jackets worked on numerous productions where cis women have played trans women (the most recent of which being STC’s Still Point Turning), and in all of those instances care and moncler outlet online careful research have been high priorities amongst cast and creative teams. But not everyone has such rigour when it comes to the complex practice of minority storytelling.

As I mentioned above, there is evidence to suggest that Dante Gill was cheap moncler a transmasculine person, but there is also evidence to suggest they were a gender non conforming butch lesbian (sometimes referred to as “he/him lesbians”).

moncler outlet Finally, with regard to this particular project and the potential for it to be good despite its casting, I will simply point to the fact that Sanders and Johannsson also worked together on Ghost in the Shell, a film which saw Johannsson, a white woman, play a Japanese character, and that that film was also a hot damn mess. moncler outlet

“Would you rather have a movie with Scarlett Johansson, or no movie at all?”

cheap moncler jackets For some reason, the people I discuss autonomous casting with always play this as their trump card. I’m expected to say “oh, well of course any representation is good representation, and trans people will see this film and see how successful it is and it’ll inspire future generations”. cheap moncler jackets

But you see, we have nearly 20 years of cis people playing trans people for Oscar bait to look back on, and the problem of underrepresentation of trans people is still very much real.

moncler sale outlet Given the harmful turns the conversation has taken so far including Johansson flippantly referencing the https://www.monclerdownjacket.biz performances of two men who have been accused of sexual harassment or assault I, and many other trans and queer people, would genuinely prefer no film to a film that will promote actively damaging ideas about minorities. moncler sale outlet

So what are we supposed to do?

The most common clapback made when trans people speak out about casting is “well, what you do about it then?”

There are a number of active steps we can take towards more progressive casting and storytelling.

moncler outlet sale 1. Cast trans and queer talent in our local film, television, and stage work. moncler outlet sale

moncler outlet uk 2. Seek out already existing work that features trans and queer talent. The content is out there. It’s being made online or in small community theatres, and the more we support that content, the more the market is encouraged to seek out those people for bigger things moncler outlet uk.