27 transgender film and TV portrayals that helped turn the tide

http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/07/21/27-transgender-film-and-tv-portrayals-helped-turn-tide

The Advocate/by Adam Sandel   07/21/2015

"The Pentagon is poised to lift the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in the military. Transgender actress Laverne Cox has graced the covers of Time and Entertainment Weekly, with headlines proclaiming "The Transgender Tipping Point" and "America's Transformation"."

"One of America's most beloved Olympic heroes, Caityln Jenner, is an out, proud trans woman. The transgender revolution is upon us. Just as public perceptions of gays, lesbians. and bisexuals have been positively influenced by varied and complex portrayals in mainstream media, the same can be said of portrayals of trans characters."

What? Roberta Muldoon in "The World According to Garp?" Seriously? That was the transgender character portrayal that probably drove me deeper into the closet and made me hate myself the most when I first saw the movie back in high school. The character was completely played for the ridiculousness of being a woman who looked like a linebacker, boasted about her football career, tackled a guy in one scene, and made a joke about how her penis was "removed surgically." I hardly call that "helping to turn the tide." It made me feel like a disgusting freak for thinking that I felt like a girl when I first saw it at age 16, because the film was basically saying to me "this is what you'd be seen as if you ever tried to say that you're a woman... a joke who's very clearly still a man." I'm shocked that anyone found it trailblazing, even though technically the character is very smart and nice in the film.

I remember seeing that film one very early morning on a cable station and thought it was one weird film.

Quote from: Carrie Liz on July 21, 2015, 10:02:52 PM
What? Roberta Muldoon in "The World According to Garp?" Seriously? That was the transgender character portrayal that probably drove me deeper into the closet and made me hate myself the most when I first saw the movie back in high school. The character was completely played for the ridiculousness of being a woman who looked like a linebacker, boasted about her football career, tackled a guy in one scene, and made a joke about how her penis was "removed surgically." I hardly call that "helping to turn the tide." It made me feel like a disgusting freak for thinking that I felt like a girl when I first saw it at age 16, because the film was basically saying to me "this is what you'd be seen as if you ever tried to say that you're a woman... a joke who's very clearly still a man." I'm shocked that anyone found it trailblazing, even though technically the character is very smart and nice in the film.

It was trailblazing in that it was the first time a trans character had ever been portrayed in a mainstream film.

I agree with everything you say. It was an unflattering betrayal, and the "surgically removed" line was played for laughs.

However, she was a fully drawn character, and they touch on her romantic woes, the hate she faces, and the difficulties of being trans when you're not passable. The tackle was portrayed as reluctant on her part. She hates that she has to do it - you can see it in her face.

She was far from the worse. Rebecca Romijn? Seriously? A supermodel to play an evil trans woman? And I hated Felicity Huffman's performance as a neurotic trans woman in Trans America. That was the one that made me glad I wasn't trans (little did I know...)

Like you, I'm surprised at the insensitivity of some of the choices.

Didn't even Sense8 which not only had a trans woman playing a trans character her role was pivotal, believable and had very little to do with her being trans.

Oh look, the Crying Game, known primarily for it's "surprise penis" moment and nothing else.

And Pricilla Queen of the Desert? Seriously? Terrible, appallingly unfunny movie.