Anyone make sense of this?

[Gingernaut]

www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40285580/transgender-actress-slams-new-movie-for-portrayal-of-trans-women

Transwoman actress is complaining that a male actor plays a transwoman sex worker in a film.

Is this a case of sour grapes dressed up as a trans issue or is this a legitimate complaint?

I'm so confused my brain hurts. 😣

From the link - "Jen, who says she auditioned for a role in the movie, is angry a non-trans actor landed the part."

So could be a bit of sour grapes. She auditioned, they went with someone else. Presumably they thought the actor they hired delivered the role better.

TBH, I'm in two minds about this myself. If the role is a transgender person, casting a transgender person would seem to get you an actor who could fully understand the role. But, Brokeback Mountain and Philadelphia had leading gay roles played by straight actors. And many a gay actor has played a straight romantic lead.

Exactly.

Yeah, basically it's because men who pretend to be women, object to men pretending to be men who pretend to be women.

Trans is a mental state yes? Wtf does it matter who plays the person? Can only bipolar people play bipolar? Can only anorexics play anorexic?

Would it have been okay if it were a woman? What with there being no difference and all?

I'm gender confused about all this and I'm female.

Fair enough to criticise a film for its portrayal of transwomen

Fair enough to criticise a film for how it handles trans issues

Not fair to criticise the casting choice

Trans is a mental state yes? Wtf does it matter who plays the person? Can only bipolar people play bipolar? Can only anorexics play anorexic?

Well, for the second, only a normal-weight anorexic can be played by a normal actor, other than that, no idea; an actual half-starved anorexic should be in a clinic, not acting in a movie, but I don't think making a healthy actor starve so they fit the role would be ethical.

But yes, trans is a mental state, and if you don't want to portray someone who has actually taken hormones or had surgery in visible places (in which case the only adequate choice of actor would be a trans one) then a person of the same sex as the fictional character is exactly the right one.

Transception.

Actors have starved themselves for roles before (and put on weight, bulked up or even had teeth extracted )

Would it have been okay if it were a woman? What with there being no difference and all?

Yes Jrn thinks that would have been more acceptable as a man playing a TW confirms ideas that TW are men rather then women.

This came up on one of my Trans friend's fb feed.

I asked about Felicity Huffman and Hilary Swank. Apparently Felicity is okay because she is a 'cis woman and transwomen are women'.

No response to Hilary Swank.

The person criticizing the cashing sounds like they don't quite understand acting. Maybe that's why they didn't get the part?

The casting directors can cast whoever they feel is best for the role. I suppose the only exception to this would be casting white actors in black/asian roles , as that would involve racial sensitivity and is clearly unacceptable. There is a sort of grey area with mixed race actors, but even that can be controversial.
As for transgender roles, I suppose it would be fair enough to consider transgendered actors first, however if none are suitable then other actors should be considered. After that, it's up to the actor and director to make it work.

I remember Richard's tantrum on twitter at the time and how upset they were that a man was chosen to play a Transwoman, they felt it was akin to blackface - just a man dressing up and pretending to be a TW. Didn't seem to see that this is how many women feel about TW insisting they are women and female.

This is what Richards wrote recently on it.

www.newnownext.com/matt-bomer-anything-transgender/06/2017/

Didn't seem to see that this is how many women feel about TW insisting they are women and female.

This.

I can't find anything to suggest Richards is pre or post op either.

Acting is basically pretending to be something you're not. With some exceptions, anyone should be able to play any character. So why can't a man play a transexual?