Trans Media Arts

Caitlyn and her new friends.

Welcome TGForum Arts & Entertainment fans! As usual, there are a lot of big things going on in our little TG world. One of the biggies in TG entertainment continues to be I Am Cait. Now, about to air its 4^th episode on Sunday Aug. 16, the show is starting to roll. We are getting to know Cait better. I really have enjoyed the past two episodes about the road trip. I love that they came to my City of San Francisco and surrounding areas like Napa and Sonoma to film adventures that Cait took the crew of trans girls on. They sure do dine a lot! But then, that is a good way to get everyone talking around a table, and with the wine flowing at the Napa stop, things got real.

Cait has a huge heart, which offsets her “privileged” status. You can tell that although uninformed on subjects like sex work and “The Pink Cloud,” which Jenny Boylan introduced her to, she is trying very hard to do the right thing and do this show right, while keeping it entertaining. Episode 4 looks like Cait is back home and dealing with her family. She has to come to grips with trying not to get caught up in all of the new trans feelings and be mindful of her family ties. I am excited about where this show can go. I hope she continues to delve into areas that can help transgender lives and continue to change hearts and minds.

A New Film About Stonewall

One of the hottest controversies of this late summer season are around the upcoming movie from director Roland Emmerich of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow fame called Stonewall.

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The movie centers around a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe-haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build. This emotion runs through Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born.

Gracy

The problem is, people are crying whitewash. Using a made-up good-looking, white kid from the Midwest marginalizes the people who were there, especially the people of color. Though the crowd scenes in the trailer represent the racial diversity of patrons at the Stonewall, and in the uprising, this Midwestern kid is shown in an inciting role. Credit for actually sparking the riot is, unlike what we see in the trailer, given to a number of different minority players. There are the likes of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a transgender woman who refused to show police officers ID and got a broken jaw for her stance; Storme DeLaverie, an African-American lesbian who threw the first punch, and is often cited as the Rosa Parks of the gay community; and Sylvia Rivera, who Emmerich mentions, a 17-year-old Puerto Rican drag queen who was fed up with the constant harassment.

Rivera in 2010.

Roland Emmerich, a white, gay man himself, issued a statement defending his decision to use a fictional character in this film. “I understand that following the release of our trailer there have been initial concerns about how this character’s involvement is portrayed, but when this film — which is truly a labor of love for me — finally comes to theaters, audiences will see that it deeply honors the real-life activists who were there — including Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Ray Castro — and all the brave people who sparked the civil rights movement which continues to this day. We are all the same in our struggle for acceptance.” 

We will have to wait until September 25 when the film opens in theaters to see how it plays out. They say there is no bad publicity, but I would have to think that this bad buzz will affect the box office of this sanitized film.

Pretty Little Liars Controversy

That bear should be worried.

Speaking of controversy, the show Pretty Little Liars has received heat about its big shocker. A sociopathic villain was revealed to be transgender. Cece, the character in question, has been tormenting the main cast with stalking, taunting and mind games for 6 seasons. Now, the writers reveal her to be transgender. Not only does it seem like bandwagon jumping for ratings and to be topical, but it also perpetuates the stereotype of trans people being sociopathic — a double foul.

Executive Producer Marlene King defended the decision (this sounds familiar) by stating, “I didn’t want people to think that this person was a villain because of their gender identity. She was a villain because she came from a very, very crazy family, so genetically she is probably a little crazy too. It was really important to us as a show and to the studio and the network that people took away that message exactly. We didn’t want to go backwards for the trans community, we wanted to go forward.”

I don’t think she is helping her cause any by using words like “genetically” and “very, very crazy.” If anything, she reinforces the total lack of understanding of what it means to be transgender. From what I hear, the show has seen better days, and this may be another nail in its coffin. The show returns in January to air the second half of the sixth season on ABC Family.

Becoming Us Becomes Better

Son and dad.

Also on ABC Family, Becoming Us, a reality TV show about a teenager and his trans father, is well into its first season. I am catching up on the show. It’s interesting to see the feelings of a teenage son about his Dad who essentially is another Mom now. He is really struggling with the news that Carly, his trans father, will be getting her GRS surgery done soon. I was a little iffy about the show based on the first episode and its stiff performances, but episode two has the players becoming more comfortable in front of the camera. Its nice to have shows to watch that are essentially, about you. I love watching all of these shows and never dreamed that there would be so many to choose from.

Sense8 Was the Job of a Lifetime for Jaime Clayton

Great news for Sense8 fans as the Netflix show from Lana Wachowski of The Matrix fame, a transwoman herself, gets renewed for a second season. I am a fan of this show and a huge fan of Jaime Clayton, the transwoman who plays Nomi on the show. Her character lives in San Francisco and I enjoy seeing her in that setting.  The show has completed 12 episodes and has been described by Jaime as a 12 hour movie with 3 acts. She describes what drew her to the project and why she jumped at the chance.

Nomi (R.) and her girlfriend.

“It was a combination of a lot of things. For me, the biggest thing was to be able to work with Lana [Wachowski]. To be able to be on a set with someone who is trans, who is directing me, who had written this part of a trans character was a dream come true. I thought to myself, ‘I want this experience. I want to be able to do this.’ It’s so rare in Hollywood. There’s more opportunity that’s being presented, especially really recently, for trans characters on television, but I thought, ‘Shit, when am I going to get to play one that’s actually written by someone who’s trans.’ I knew that that was really special.”

The show has a perfect appeal to sci-fi and thriller fans who seem to be a large part of the transgender community. I am trying to find some time to catch up on the show myself and will continue to follow this groundbreaking project.

I Am Jazz Shows the Downside of Being a TG Celeb

Jazz Jennings

Finally, on the TV show I Am Jazz, an 11 part series that airs on TLC, in episode 9 called We don’t read the comments, Jazz Jennings, a 14 year old transgender teenager, does read the comments on one of her YouTube videos.

“Sad that the devil is tricking you into thinking you were meant to be a girl,’ she reads, her voice shifting from flippant to more serious. ‘You’re a boy and always will be male. ‘Cause an individual is a man. There is no such thing as transgender. That’s something that was made up to make homosexuality sound good and accepted.’

‘Wow,’ says one of her brothers, before trying to grab the mouse from her sister to protect her. ‘I think we’re done reading these.

But Jazz is sucked in and continues to read: ‘Someone please shoot it, if not I’m going to kill it myself and make it die a horrible, painful death.’

‘Is ‘it’ referring to you?’ Sander asks, shocked.

‘Yeah,’ says Jazz, also seemingly stunned.

Goldstein

But, as taken aback as Jazz might have been, the resilient teen bounced back, tweeting during the episode: “If someone says something negative then their opinion shouldn’t even matter. Stay positive, love yourself and keep moving forward.” We can all take a lesson from this amazing teen. Even in the face of hideous negativity toward her gender identity, she stays positive.

That’s all for now in our TV heavy, trans entertainment corner here. I will be back next month when I hope to score an interview with trans animation actress Julie Rei Goldstein of the new animated series Gen-Zed. She is the first trans actress to be the lead of an animated series. Bye for now all of you media hounds. Remember to stay positive, even in the face of negativity.

Tags: Becoming Us, Caitlyn, featured, Jazz Jennings, Sense8, Stonewall

Category: Transgender Community News, Transgender Fun & Entertainment