Cisgender man to act Transgender in Mark Ruffalo film

[sillynate 6,170]

2 minutes ago, Steve Nasty said:

Drag queens are just entertainers. Some do stand up comedy, some sing, some dance, etc. I personally like watching drag queens because they're funny, fierce, and entertaining. A lot of gay men "worship" female divas and some of the appeal may come from that. Many gay men are into fashion, dance, pop music, etc. and those are all part of drag culture. I think you should try watching a bit of RuPaul's show because you get to see the Queens out of drag and see that they're just normal guys who like to entertain people, and this is their outlet to do that.

Also, there are plenty of trans women who do drag. One in particular, Monica Beverly Hills, was a contestant on RuPaul's show. She even said "trans is who I am, drag is what I do."

I'll definitely check it out  but I don't use any streaming services for tv so what channel do they show it on?

Also, isn't this actor doing it to entertain, just like someone in drag? I still don't see how what he's doing is so offensive

[Bebe 17,094]

But where are the roles for Transgendered actors? Why couldn't someone who is transgendered play this role?

I think what people in this thread are kinda missing, is that there are very little roles for transgendered people out there and when a major role like this is available they give it to somebody cisgendered. Why? 

Like the article also says:

"Viewers receive two strong and wrong messages: 1. that being transgender is an act, a performance, just a matter of playing dress-up; and 2. that underneath all that artifice, a transgender woman really is a man."

We are all aware that Matt Bomer, who will be playing the role, will be acting. We are all aware that the point of acting is to play a character that is not yourself.

But you would hopefully not get a white person to play an Asian character like they used to do:

You wouldn't say "Oh they are just acting! Why can't a white person play an Asian?? It's called acting, they are pretending to be people they are not!"

But what's the difference here? Why is it okay for cisgendered men to put on a wig and some makeup and pretend to be a transgendered woman? There are plenty of transgendered women out there who I'm sure could have played the part just fine.

 

[Sizzily 14,543]

I really don't care.

[SKANK 14,288]

Cate Blanchett's Oscar nominated performance as Bob Dylan (cis-gender woman portraying a cis-gender man), Tilda Swinton portrayal a man in the film adaptation of Virgin Wolff's Orlando (cis-gender woman portraying a cis-gender man), and Divine's entire career in John Water's films (cis gender-man portraying a (cis-gender woman) are some of my favorite performances of all time. 

I feel bad for people who take their gender identity so seriously, whether it's a raving trans activist, a machismo obsessed thug, or a beauty queen, their experience of gender is so limited and unimaginative.

 

[Stephen 30,431]

1 minute ago, natesARTPOP said:

I'll definitely check it out  but I don't use any streaming services for tv so what channel do they show it on?

Also, isn't this actor doing it to entertain, just like someone in drag? I still don't see how what he's doing is so offensive

You can watch it on http://www.logotv.com/ if you sign in with your TV provider. Otherwise they give it on Logo and VH1, new episodes Thursday at 8pm EST.  You just missed it today 

And the difference is that a man is playing the part of a trans woman, which reinforces the stereotype that trans people are just "pretending". I don't particularly find it offensive, but it does make sense why people would want to see an actual trans woman in this role.

[iCpro 14,846]

The whole point of acting is to portray someone who you are not. People are chosen on their acting ability, and their physical appearance, it doesn't matter who they are in real life.

[Lion Heart 15,041]

25 minutes ago, FATCAT said:

Is it then wrong to cast a trans man as a cis man? 

Either they can both play eachother, or they both can't play either. I'd like to think that a trans man COULD act a cis male part, it's by those same reasons that I think a cis man can play a trans man.

There a very FEW times that a trans man has been cast as a cis man in successful roles. On top of that cis gender actors have many opportunities for them to act out roles in films, tv shows, etc., but trans actors have so little opportunities... and some of these opportunities are being taken away from them by cis gender actors... and that's part of the reason why some people are upset about this. 

 

 

11 minutes ago, Bebe said:

But where are the roles for Transgendered actors? Why couldn't someone who is transgendered play this role?

I think what people in this thread are kinda missing, is that there are very little roles for transgendered people out there and when a major role like this is available they give it to somebody cisgendered. Why? 

Like the article also says:

"Viewers receive two strong and wrong messages: 1. that being transgender is an act, a performance, just a matter of playing dress-up; and 2. that underneath all that artifice, a transgender woman really is a man."

We are all aware that Matt Bomer, who will be playing the role, will be acting. We are all aware that the point of acting is to play a character that is not yourself.

But you would hopefully not get a white person to play an Asian character like they used to do:

You wouldn't say "Oh they are just acting! Why can't a white person play an Asian?? It's called acting, they are pretending to be people they are not!"

But what's the difference here? Why is it okay for cisgendered men to put on a wig and some makeup and pretend to be a transgendered woman? There are plenty of transgendered women out there who I'm sure could have played the part just fine.

 

  Yes!!!

[gagzus 16,012]

I'm reading through this thread and I can already tell who the White gays are who legitimately clearly don't understand the issue at all. Yikes.

OT: I believe that it is in fact offensive to have a cis gender male play a trans woman, and I am offended too. I also get offended when gay characters are portrayed by straight people and when white people play PoC's. To me it invalidates a lot of things and YES it does push the idea that a trans woman is simply a man in a dress on the audience because people are ignorant.

Plus, if you aren't trans you don't get a say in what is offensive to trans people, I mean would some of you not be offended if every straight person told you what was and wasn't homophobic like some do and like a lot of white people try to say what is and isn't racist.

[iCpro 14,846]

18 minutes ago, Bebe said:

But where are the roles for Transgendered actors? Why couldn't someone who is transgendered play this role?

I think what people in this thread are kinda missing, is that there are very little roles for transgendered people out there and when a major role like this is available they give it to somebody cisgendered. Why? 

Like the article also says:

"Viewers receive two strong and wrong messages: 1. that being transgender is an act, a performance, just a matter of playing dress-up; and 2. that underneath all that artifice, a transgender woman really is a man."

We are all aware that Matt Bomer, who will be playing the role, will be acting. We are all aware that the point of acting is to play a character that is not yourself.

But you would hopefully not get a white person to play an Asian character like they used to do:

You wouldn't say "Oh they are just acting! Why can't a white person play an Asian?? It's called acting, they are pretending to be people they are not!"

But what's the difference here? Why is it okay for cisgendered men to put on a wig and some makeup and pretend to be a transgendered woman? There are plenty of transgendered women out there who I'm sure could have played the part just fine.

 

You can't really compare race to transgenderism in this context. Different races have very different physical appearances, so someone of that race should obviously play the part to convey the director's intention correctly. The reason people don't play characters of other races anymore is because it just isn't convincing. However, because transgender people are people who have changed sex, a cisgender can convincingly play a transgender person because they can copy some of the processes that trans people go through, effectively becoming faux trans.

Now, I admit that they probably won't be as convincing as an actual trans person, but the number of professional  female trans actors who look the part and can play the character with the right emotions would be incredibly small, whereas there is an abundance of cis guys willing to play the role.

Not quite sure if that made any sense,  But essentially what I'm trying to say is that if there is a trans person who fits the role, they should be the director's first pick, but in most cases there won't be, and due to the nature of transgenderism, a cis person can still convincingly fit the role.

 

[ItsTommyBitch 12,640]

I'm not opposed to the idea of anyone not belonging to X group ever acting as a member of another group, but there are things that make me pause and I think for good reason... It can be a form of erasure and a bunch of other problematic stuff for example if the vast majorities of depictions of Trans people are literally "men in dresses" and what not. I use that example deliberately, as part of why it's problematic to have cis men be trans woman has to do with this stereotype, its not exactly the same with cis women playing trans men;\ It has more to do with the accuracy of the process and a few popular stereotypes rather than the actor's capabilities.

That being said, roles for trans people are SO minimal, and they always "this is my story of being trans!" which I guess is whatever, but it really takes roles away from people who need them tbh. 

[Omar Vela 2,744]

Following that logic, trans women should never play biological women 

[Bio 23,538]

1 minute ago, iCpro said:

You can't really compare race to transgenderism in this context. Different races have very different physical appearances, so someone of that race should obviously play the part to convey the director's intention correctly. The reason people don't play characters of other races anymore is because it just isn't convincing. However, because transgender people are people who have changed sex, a cisgender can convincingly play a transgender person because they can copy some of the processes that trans people go through, effectively becoming faux trans.

Now, I admit that they probably won't be as convincing as an actual trans person, but the number of professional  female trans actors who look the part and can play the character with the right emotions would be incredibly small, whereas there is an abundance of cis guys willing to play the role.

Not quite sure if that made any sense,  But essentially what I'm trying to say is that if there is a trans person who fits the role, they should be the director's first pick, but in most cases there won't be, and due to the nature of transgenderism, a cis person can still convincingly fit the role.

 

Who said people don't play characters of other races anymore? Have you heard of Gods of Egypt where the whole cast is white? Or Scarlett playing an asian woman in Ghost In The Shell? 

The real matter is not about looking the part, but giving the right representation to the communities. There are a lot of transgender actors but they NEVER get the chance to play any big parts. Because guess what? Hollywood is transphobic, just as much as it's racist. So if a director decides to earn money from exploring a community they should at least hire people from that community and give them the right representation.

[Redstreak 6,653]

The thread already started with several posts of "it's acting" when that's not the ****ing point :^)

[Bebe 17,094]

6 minutes ago, iCpro said:

You can't really compare race to transgenderism in this context. Different races have very different physical appearances, so someone of that race should obviously play the part to convey the director's intention correctly. The reason people don't play characters of other races anymore is because it just isn't convincing. However, because transgender people are people who have changed sex, a cisgender can convincingly play a transgender person because they can copy some of the processes that trans people go through, effectively becoming faux trans.

Now, I admit that they probably won't be as convincing as an actual trans person, but the number of professional  female trans actors who look the part and can play the character with the right emotions would be incredibly small, whereas there is an abundance of cis guys willing to play the role.

Not quite sure if that made any sense,  But essentially what I'm trying to say is that if there is a trans person who fits the role, they should be the director's first pick, but in most cases there won't be, and due to the nature of transgenderism, a cis person can still convincingly fit the role.

 

"The reason people don't play characters of other races anymore is because it just isn't convincing." That's not true. Yellow face still occasionally happens in hollywood movies and is generally widely condemned.

"but the number of professional  female trans actors who look the part and can play the character with the right emotions would be incredibly small," That's not true either, watch the video posted on the page before. There are a wealth of transgendered actors that would be totally willing and able to play the part of a trans person.

It's just not necessary to cast a man to play a woman.

[Redstreak 6,653]

1 hour ago, Lion Heart said:

 

Saw this video earlier. She made some really powerful points