Will Ferrell: 'I don't know why trans people are meant to be threatening to me'
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/will-ferrell-i-don-t-know-why-trans-people-are-meant-to-be-threatening-to-me/ar-AA1redIl?ocid=windirect&cvid=dd43eb4da7464781933cd82fdca96c58&ei=47
Story by Adam White (26 Sep 2024)
Why, I ask Will Ferrell, does transphobia exist? He blinks, opens his mouth agape, and shakes his head. "I think we fear what we don't know," he replies, softly.
I'm asking Ferrell about transphobia because of a new documentary, Will & Harper, named after the actor and his best friend of nearly 30 years, the comedy writer Harper Steele.
"There is hatred out there," Ferrell continues. "It's very real and it's very unsafe for trans people in certain situations." He ponders my original question. "But I don't know why trans people are meant to be threatening to me as a cis male. I don't know why Harper is threatening to me." The pair have a gentle rapport – there are lots of appreciative smiles back and forth. "It's so strange to me, because Harper is finally... her. She's finally who she was always meant to be. Whether or not you can ultimately wrap your head around that, why would you care if somebody's happy? Why is that threatening to you? If the trans community is a threat to you, I think it stems from not being confident or safe with yourself."
This guy just keeps getting more and more of my respect. He seems to get it. People aren't threatening to you unless you feel insecure enough about yourself that you make them threatening to you. We are tribal as a species. have been since we came out of Africa. If you aren't in our tribe, you're a threat. No matter what we've done, how much we've learned in the thousands of years we've been here... we can't seem to shake this caveman mentality in a lot of people.
"If someone's happy, why is that threatening to you?" This sums it up. It's the most pertinent and seemingly unanswerable of questions. From what I can gather where I live... it's threatening to men because it makes them question their masculinity, and it's threatening to women because it makes them question their femininity. It just makes people look at who they are when they see people who don't fit into the mould society has made for everyone.
It's insecurity. Pure and simple. But that isn't the fault of the trans person for wanting to be themselves. Don't hate someone for making you look at who you are. That isn't fair. We all just want to live our best lives.
I watched "Will and Harper" on NetFlix this morning. It's worth watching.
Quote from: Jenn104 on September 28, 2024, 03:32:37 PMI watched "Will and Harper" on NetFlix this morning. It's worth watching.
I will probably watch it because I like Will Ferrell and think he's a very switched on dude. It just bothers me that something like this has to be made into a media thing but I guess this is what he does for a living. And the more I hear from him, the more of a fangirl I am.
Just finished watching the film. Was really such a nice film. Both Will and Harper are great. And such an insight into the USA (I'm from UK). When Harper went into a bar by herself I really thought there would be trouble, but turned out the opposite. Just wish could say the same for the media posts after they went to the steak house.
I don't think the UK is any different.
Thanks for starting this thread, otherwise I doubt if I would have seen the film on Netflix.