Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 01:52:48 PMI think some of the worst comedies are about 'flawed', i.e. non-conforming, characters and how they don't fit into 'normal' society. And I think some of the best comedies are about humanly flawed characters trying to get by in a deeply flawed society. You can go for the easy laugh and write something like 'Ace Ventura' or you can go for the deep laugh and write something like M.A.S.H.
I don't see how you can see *either* of those two examples as being anywhere in the same *galaxy* as a positive portrayal of trans-women.
As for M.A.S.H. --- Klinger, for one, isn't anywhere in even the broader transgender *spectrum*. He's just playing the part in hopes that he'll get fired from the army and therefore able to leave the war-zone. It's not a *negative* portrayal of transgender people -- or even a *neutral* portrayal --- but it isn't a *positive* one either. It plain and simply isn't a portrayal at *all* of trans people --- not positive, negative, or anywhere in-between.
As for Ace Ventura --- that movie is *extremely* *negative* and very *hurtful*. Scenes from that movie were etched into my brain so as to haunt me every time I even *considered* dating. The titular character, when he learns he kissed a trans-woman --- he burns the clothes he was wearing and puts a plunger to his mouth --- and to top that off, his extreme reaction is never shown as having been even slightly unreasonable -- but rather, it's portrayed as what a red-blooded straight guy would very *reasonably* do in that situation.
For years, this scene was etched in my brain every time I would even *think* about trying to date.
I found that movie to be not just deeply offensive --- but extremely hurtful.
Yes --- I'm all for showing cases where the men are shown acting overtly negative to the idea of being intimate with a trans-woman ---- but only if their adverse reaction is *portrayed* as being silly and unreasonable --- whether you portray that man as-a-whole to be a buffoon --- or whether you portray him as an otherwise-sensible guy who in this *instance* is acting *like* a buffoon (depending on what plans you have for the guy later in the plot).
Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 01:52:48 PMA lot also depends on depth of character in the writing and how far you are willing to go to show not only the character's observable flaws but also the reasons and history behind those flaws. Even villains can be sympathetic characters if you write them as human first and evil second.
But if the portrayal is *positive* then it should be something that promotes breaking *down* barriers of exclusion that transgender people face ---- not *fortifying* those barriers the way Ace Ventura does.
You want a sympathetic-villain character? That sounds like an interesting idea too --- though I could see it more likely in a serial-drama than in a sit-com. Shakespeare had a pretty good formula for doing that as he demonstrated with another group that was very hated and maligned (and exiled from) England during his day --- Jews. Yes, Shylock is a very good example of a sympathetic villain. He is clearly an antagonist --- but he isn't inherently evil. Rather, he has the very-human motive of the fact that he's been so badly treated by many Christians in Venice, including Antonio ---- and he's just gotten so bitter that he's out for revenge. However --- though
The Merchant of Venice is considered a "comedy", it is not so much by the
modern sense of the word.
The transgender character on Ace Ventura, on the other hand, is
far from a sympathetic villain. She is a deranged sociopath --- and the portrayal is not only offensive, but deeply hurtful.
Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 01:52:48 PMLet's take a look at the classic trans 'gag', a transwoman pissing at a urinal. Throw it in without any context and at it's worst its a cheap laugh and can be incredibly offensive.
Now let's add the backstory of having to really pee and agonizing over which restroom to use. Everyone has had the experience of badly needing to pee... Having to pee is a comedy goldmine. How desperate would a cis-gendered woman need to be before using a public urinal? Connect with that and create a sympathetic 'I can understand that need' feeling in the audience. You can still play this situation as comedy... but in the context of a human being dealing, possibly in a flawed way, with a flawed situation. Suddenly you no longer have a cheap 'gag, you have a humorous social commentary.
Yes --- with that I can agree with you.
