Making Movies – Part II

~ Cheryl

Not about me this time, this is about real movies.

As those of you who follow trans issues on social media will know by now, there is yet another controversy about a trans woman being played by a cis man in a movie. In this case the flick in question is Anything, starring Matt Bomer as the trans woman, and directed by Mark Ruffalo.

Jen Richards has done a great job on Twitter of articulating the issues, but for those of you who don’t click through on links here are the main points:

  1. There are plenty of great trans actresses who need work;
  2. No matter how good the male actor, and good trans woman will always bring more authenticity to the part;
  3. Every time a movie casts a cis man as a trans woman it reinforces the idea that trans women are “really men” who are “just acting”, and thus feeds the nonsense that leads to “bathroom bills” and murder.

The last one is the key point. You can make an argument for using a male actor if the character is going through transition, as was the case in The Danish Girl, but if the character presents as female throughout you don’t use a male actor. Personally I have no issues with cis women playing trans women. Indeed, the extreme dysphoria experienced by Chloe Sevigny [the interview is in the Malice, I’m not linking to it] while filming Hit and Miss provides a very valuable lesson about what trans women go through.

Something else worth bearing in mind is that women such as Jen Richards and Jamie Clayton are putting their careers at risk by speaking out on this issue. Just as there are NFL bosses who now won’t employ Colin Kaepernick (Go 49ers!), there are (old white male) studio bosses who will turn against anyone seen to be “rocking the boat”. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for September 18th because Her Story surely deserves an Emmy.

There is, perhaps inevitably, a petition asking for the film to not be released. I can’t see that happening. Ruffalo says it has already been shot, and there are doubtless all sorts of contractual issues that would make is very difficult for it to be stopped now. The only thing that can really stop it is if it looked like being such a financial flop that the studio decided to cut its losses, and frankly, with the amount of free publicity it has got, I can’t see that happening.

So what can Ruffalo and Bomer do to make amends? Well to start with they can accept Eden Lane’s offer of an interview (because there are trans women who have good jobs on American television). I’m sure Janet Mock would have them on her show too.

They can also get onto other chat shows, and insist then Jen and or Jamie come on with them to discuss the issues (and be paid for it).

And of course they can donate any money that they make from the film to trans charities. I’m sure they can afford it.

Finally, they can talk to other people in Hollywood and do their best to make sure that this never, ever happens again.