The Academy Awards are tomorrow evening. I'm not sure if I will watch or not, since, well, I never really have in the past...but in this case, I might. Felicity Huffman is up for Best Actress for her portrayal of Bree, a transsexual that finds out she has a son the week before her Sex Reassignment Surgery.
While setting up the news link to the right that searches for transsexual and transgender related articles, I ran across this one that mentions how "gender-bending" is becoming more mainstream. Let's face it, at some point, being transgender was going to become 'in'...to a degree. Actually, I've already noticed it a little...especially in San Francisco. But the thing is, it only seems 'in' to the younger crowd who likes being different. The older (non-LGBT) crowd tends to be a little more uncomfortable around transgender people.
The article mentions a number of current films that have transgender characters, including Transamerica. It's the only one I've seen, although I've heard of Breakfast on Pluto. I saw Boys Don't Cry just last year. They mention how the role of transgender characters has changed over the years. Initially, I think transgender people were considered either psychological weirdos (Silence of the Lambs, Psycho), deceitful as a woman that shocks men who are attracted to her when they realize she was a man (Ace Ventura, Crying Game), or as a comedy situation (Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire). Of course, if you stick a normal boring transsexual in a movie, that would pretty much defeat the purpose, right? Movies put us in the perspective of an extra ordinary situation and when it's ordinary, that movie probably puts you to sleep.
So, the latest crop of movies has moved further away from transgender characters being psychos. Transamerica is fairly down to earth, although the character played by Felicity is a bit of a stiff. Her character grows throughout the movie, and toward the end of it, you start to see her more as a person than a stigma.
The article also mentions that in the upcoming Basic Instinct sequel, Sharon Stone's character will have a pre-op transsexual lover. I can only guess that the character will be played by a genetic woman and the storyline will take a Crying Game twist at some point. Looking at the credits, my guess is Anne Caillon plays the transsexual.
Another thing noted in the article is that transsexual porn is becoming ever increasingly popular. Actually, that doesn't surprise me. There are a lot of men (and women) out there that find transsexuals quite intriguing. OK, they find the very attractive ones incredibly sexy. Although I don't mind the exposure, the problem is people start to associate all transsexuals as she-males, and that we are all sex toys. Porn has been around for a long time and with its hypocritical presence, I doubt it will ever go away. That's where the movies come in to play...to balance out the sex stuff with more real life stuff...that, and perhaps people need to get over the stigma of dating or being seen with us.
While I was searching for a few links in this entry, I ran across a few articles that mentioned Colin Farrell was caught making out with a drag queen/transsexual at a posh Miami party. Good for him. I know a number of transsexual women that would be very interested in Mr. Farrell if he truly is interested in T's. The problem is, many of the transsexual women don't want to be objectified as a transsexual...but liked simply for who they are.
A little more searching finally brought up a video of the transsexuals that competed on Tyra Bank's daytime show for the title of America's Next Top Transsexual Model last month. Some of these girls are simply amazing..and Tyra, although clueless about many things, seems to be giving them a chance at mainstream.
I also ran across a Danish movie that appears to open April 7th called En Soap. It stars David Dencik as a transsexual in a relationship with the owner of a beauty clinic. It appears that the film has already won a number of awards...so perhaps transsexuals are the new 'in'.
The problem is, many of us don't want to be 'in'...cuz we're not 'out'.
3 comments:
Kara, the first Transsexual I saw in a movie was John Lithgow in "The World According to Garp". It's been forever since I've seen it, I think it was a pretty positive portrayal of transsexuals. Pretty amazing for a movie from 1982! I could be wrong about a positive portrayal. I don't remember much about it.
-Breathing the thin air up here and taking time to figure stuff out. Think about it, and you'll figure out who this is:P
Ahhh..yes, The World According to Garp. I saw that as a kid but haven't seen it since. Perhaps I should watch it again sometime.
I wonder if John Lithgow balanced out his portrayal of a transsexual in Garp (1982) with his psycho killer cross dressing rampage in Raising Cain (1992). I think he also did a few bits on 3rd Rock From the Sun, but that was mainly for comedy.
...and if you need to 'talk', just call or text me...OK?
I think Maury has something (make that a lot of something) for the ladies. If you listen to the show, what he infers on the audience sounds a lot like what he is possibly thinking. He needs them to be women, he wants them to be women...cuz they excite him. I think that's the case for a lot of people. They have a hard time believing that some of them actually used to be men. Unfortunately, this quality...this ability to pass...is what many people use as a validity to transition. A lot of the non-T community sees the more attractive T's making the right decision to live as women, while they might not have the same feeling for those they see as a man in a dress. It's unfortunate, but a lot of society sees it that way.
As for Breakfast on Pluto...I hope to see it. The hard part is just finding the time to escape from homework and regular work.
I think you're right though, there is a cyclical effect to a lot of things, and I think transgender stuff does show up once in a while. Hollywood is very cyclical as well...and being on the front line of that cycle is what earns the attention and awards. If you'll note, I believe Mrs. Doubtfire 2 is due out sometime in the next year. The last one was in 1993.
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