Trans Media Arts: Music, Film, TV with a trans twist
Hi ya! Welcome to another rousing edition of TMAC. Happy Memorial Day everyone! Mmmm, save a cheeseburger and hot dog for me. I take mine medium please. Remember to keep our servicemen and women in your thoughts and honor those who have died fighting or have served. We have a lot of military in our community.
Rodriguez’s male character.
The character after surgery. Where did that heavy beard go?
The filmmakers of The Assignment, previously called (Re)assignment, defended their movie recently at its premier. The film, which I’ve covered before, involves an ace assassin who is double-crossed by gangsters and falls into the hands of rogue surgeon known as ‘The Doctor,’ who turns him into a woman. The film has received sharp criticism since it was announced thanks to what critics see as a problematic portrayal of a transgender person, even if it’s not meant that way. “First of all, [Michelle Rodriguez’s character] is not transgender. To be transgender, you have to believe you are in the wrong body,” said the filmmakers. “He’s forced into a body into which he does not identify with. He’s gone through a sex change, but it’s not a gender change. It’s not at all making fun of or exploiting the people in the transgender community.” Hmm, I think we have a ways to go before these kinds of things will stop. There are no movies about punishing someone by turning them a different race. This is just as wrong. I watched the trailer. It’s a very run-of-the-mill, throwaway revenge film. I couldn’t help but cringe when Rodriguez lowers her voice to sound more masculine. I just sounds like Michelle Rodriquez talking lower. Terrible.
Life of Agony, featuring trans lead singer Mina Caputo, will put out their first new album in over a decade, A Place Where There’s No More Pain, in Spring 2017, and they’re currently teasing it with a short video that showcases the band performing a number of heavy new riffs as well as the soaring chorus of the title track. “And I just want to disappear and hide,” Mina sings at the end of the clip, which was directed by Leigh Brooks of Firebelly Films. The album will be the group’s first since the singer’s gender transition.
Hunter Schafer
“Adulthood is bullshit,” multi-talented artist Hunter Schafer told Dazed when she was selected as one of the Dazed 100, a list that highlights the next generation of youth culture. “And I think some of the most successful and radiant people are those who have been able to get back to that instinctive and child-like part of their selves again. It’s a telling comment coming from someone who is only 18, yet has done so much. Schafer, who has been drawing since she can remember, is a gifted illustrator and comic artist who is influenced by the likes of Tim Burton and Skottie Young. She creates ink and watercolor images that combine moody fantasy with teen angst. “My parents were really good about not sitting me down in front of a TV.” They really nurtured the creative part of her. Today, on Instagram,with almost 5,000 followers, she uses the platform to tell visual stories about herself and her community.
Jaime Clayton
My TG friends have been raving about Sense8. The Wachowski-helmed, Netflix original follows eight people across the globe who are suddenly granted the power of sensates, a hivemind that allows them to communicate with each other telepathically. As they discover their powers, they begin to be hunted by powerful force named BPO, and the sensates must work together to survive. Jaime Clayton plays the character of Nomi Marks, an ass-kicking transgender hacker living with her girlfriend in San Francisco. Clayton, a transgender woman, has the unique opportunity to play a transgender character, and believes that Nomi and her girlfriend, Amanita, have the strongest relationship on the show. “Nomi has the most honest relationship in the series,” she explains. “One of the reasons I wanted this project was I wanted to play a trans character whose story wasn’t about her being trans.”
Okay folks, enjoy your holiday and make sure you check out all of the writers here on TGForum. See ya next time!
Category: Music, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
I am a transwoman originally from Pittsburgh, PA. I have been living full time for 5 years. I work in retail but am an artist/Graphic Designer and aspiring writer. I tend to address the controversial in my writing. I would love to change the world one article at a time. I moved to The San Francisco Bay Area to start over, again. But recently moved back to the East Coast. The adventure continues...Subscribe
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