Halle Berry to play transman in new film, and outrages transpeople and their allies

[Lamahaha]

www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/06/halle-berry-transgender-trans-man-new-film-2020/?fbclid=IwAR1mCDvwgDdpjBQPxSjxsg0cr7QHPBLTVBjbHKPC9HGCxz-CB5XVHVwXP9A

I'm sorry it's p-news but I found it again here so you don't have to click them. I have no idea what site this is.

www.themarysue.com/halle-berry-should-not-be-playing-a-trans-man/

I found the pnews article on FB posted by the outraged mother of a transchild. They are upset because HB keeps saying the character is a woman when in fact "he's a man". The misgendering wasn't appreciated.
Also HB cannot possibly "get" this character.
I just wonder if there are that many transmen who are good enough actors to be offered the role. Surely it's all about acting ability.
HB sounds very woke about the whole thing but is getting it completely wrong by referring to the character as a woman...
which she is

There's no reason why she can't do this. That's the whole point of acting, playing the role of somebody else.

If that bloody specious git man can play The Danish Girl then H. Berry can act a transman.

Funny, no mention of thingy - I want to say Steerpike but that's wrong - who played The Danish Girl. I guess that's OK with PN then? Only women actors get called out?

What don't they get about acting?

Eddie Redmayne. I knew it was something like Steerpike! 😉

I had a conversation about this trend for puritanical with my just left uni DS last weekend. His GF is portuguese and training to be an actor. He was shocked at an actor apologising for playing a Vietnamese character. Does that mean mean his portuguese girlfriend can only ever act as a portuguese character?

He wasn't impressed, I explained purity spirals to him.

Carefully scripted faux reality shows appear to be the only acceptable acting where transgenderism is concerned.
I do not think the TRAs realize that they are shooting themselves in the foot every time they demand control of casting and narrative.

It always makes me laugh at the "Trans people should play trans characters" argument is rolled out. If that's the case they shouldn't play "cis" roles then should they? They are going to be rather limited in their employment opportunities.

If you had a male acting a transman it would just be silly. Transmen by definition have to be played by a female.

They will end up canceling the movie as usual. Histrionics don't make a movie.

Traditionally a huge number of leading man roles were played by gay men. From Rock Hudson to Rupert Everett. Representation has been great (even if the times have forced a lot to lie about their sexuality). Lesbians haven't done half bad either.

Women have had a shit time. Only window dressing, sexually harassed, shitty parts for teenagers partnered with grandfathers, sexual assault used as a plot device, paid less... I could go on. Let's cancel every sexist piece of crap on Netflix and see what remains. Anything that doesn't pass the Bechdel Test. Anything where there's a gap of more than 10 years between the leading man and woman. Anything where the female lead earned less than half what the male did. Should be fun.

Black actors similarly shit time. Netflix actually has started to redress this a little, with black leads. But there are massive amounts still to do.

Then we can head down the purity spiral of everyone else.

But but ... I thought we were all supposed to agree TWAW

And HB is a woman.

So where's the problem?

Ah, for fucks sake, the whole POINT of acting is that you pretend to be something you're not.

My last show before lockdown I played Leontes, King of Scilia. I'm neither a man, nor royal, nor Italian. Or consumed with a paranoid delusion that my pregnant wife (who -guess what? Wasn't actually pregnant!!) is having an affair with my best friend. We got round these seemingly insurmountable differences by acting.

Does someone want to tell them that Robert Downey Jnr isn't actually a superhero, too?

@AmIInvisible

But but ... I thought we were all supposed to agree TWAW

And HB is a woman.

So where's the problem?

The character she's playing is F-to-M, aka "transman" - so the (lesser heard) mantra "TMAM" applies instead.

Some people are allowed to play the opposite sex but it's the worst thing in the world to play the opposite gender. Unless you're trans. Or something.

Every now and then I try to apply logic to the gender identity ideology and for my pains get a headache but little else.

It really depends if the transition forms part of the film.
If it does, then a transman can't play that part because they would need to play a woman at the start and a man later in the film. That would be very difficult for someone who has already transitioned.

If the part is a transman throughout then any female can play that role. In order to be a transman, you are a female who identifies as a man. So then it's simply a question of finding the best actor for the role.

@Voice0fReason

It really depends if the transition forms part of the film. If it does, then a transman can't play that part because they would need to play a woman at the start and a man later in the film. That would be very difficult for someone who has already transitioned.

If the part is a transman throughout then any female can play that role. In order to be a transman, you are a female who identifies as a man. So then it's simply a question of finding the best actor for the role.

That's it exactly.

Based on the small population of trans men, would any be as good an actor with the experience that Berry has in order to pull this off? TBF Berry hasn't even done it yet, it could be really shite.

Beaches

CC Bloom : I'm playing a prison guard on death row.
John Pierce : I know, I did the casting.
CC Bloom : Well, I thought I'd have a better part.
John Pierce : Not yet.
CC Bloom : But this isn't me.
John Pierce : Well
[pause]
John Pierce : Act like it is.
[smiles]
CC Bloom : [turns to leave] He hates my hair.

It's weird to think of casting as a process that should be politically correct. It is the most objectifying, blunt process imaginable.

People look at your body, your height, your ethnicity, your physical health and ability etc etc.

And the producer will 'just know' when someone is right for the role.

It isn't something you can look at through this lens. It's a visual medium and often the main goal is to make money.

I like writing and producing plays for awareness-raising so I get on and get funding for it and do it.
I don't expect everyone else to take the same approach.

I had a nonsensical exchange with someone a year ago (in fact, an English teacher) who said something along the lines of:

Friend: It's ridiculous having a straight man play a transwoman in the Danish Girl, he has no idea what a transwoman's experiences are. No cis actor could do it. That role should be reserved for a real transwoman.

Me: but doesn't that limit transpeople's acting opportunities? That would mean they could only ever play trans characters.

Friend: no because the trans person is an ACTOR. That means they can imagine and create roles that they themselves haven't personally experienced.

Me:..........

No matter how many times I argued they just couldn't see the contradiction. Transpeople could apparently play any role because acting, but nobody but transpeople could play trans roles because identity and life experience.

The ultimate goal of PC is silence.

This happens now every single time a film even blinks at the subject, and the end result is usually that the film is abandoned and Hollywood plus everyone else learns again, this lobby is unrealistic about being able to understand that big names in lead roles are necessary to sell films and the financial risk of any film is the main brief, not political correctness, and dealing with the inevitable kicking off and all the slung mud is just not worth the hassle.

End result: there's a major lack of trans representation in films which helps nobody.

transdimensional oops, sorry. Back to read the thread properly.

So presumably an actual trans man can play the part?
But since TMAM then a man should be allowed to, right?

Also IAPBU but under the trans umbrella pretty much anything is trans so Halle Berry in character as a woman who identifies as a man plus costume etc fits the definition of trans.