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coffeesp00ns  ·  2088 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Breaking: entertainment industry promotes unhealthy views of minority group

Indeed, Trans people are actively saying "Listen, if you won't cast a trans person in this role, at least cast a cis person of the appropriate gender in the role." We've been saying it for a long time. In the case of this most recent role, We even have a great option - Oliver Platt, a "name brand" actor, is a DEAD RINGER for Tex. The only problem is he's 6'3", but I feel like we can work around that. Platt's got a bunch of award nods, he's been in a bunch of notable films and tv, and he looks like the guy (unlike Johannsen).

In regards to situations like Transamerica, and Boys Don't Cry, and other older films, we need to look at them through the lens of history. At the time, just making a film about a transgender person was groundbreaking. Just being represented, even though it wasn't by a trans person, was huge for the community after decades of being seen as nothing more than sex workers and murder victims on screen (of course, Brandon Teena was a murder victim, but at least we got his story first instead of just his dead body at the beginning of a Law and Order episode).

Transparent had criticism from the trans community right from the very beginning, but it was hushed for the same reason - popular show with a trans main character, we should be grateful. Then it came out that Tambor abused the trans women on the set (as well as women on other sets, such as Arrested Development), and all of that criticism came back like a dam had broken. "We told you so," "why didn't you cast a trans woman in the role in the first place", etc.

Basically, the trans community is sick of being the equivalent of Alec Baldwin playing Harriet Tubman. We get it, you need to make money to make a film, but there are so many better options than what you're choosing and it's like you (by you I mean the industry) are trying to be tone deaf.