Trans Media Arts: Transgender Entertainment News
Aloha! Welcome back, and if you are new, welcome to! This is where I share a little transgender entertainment news. I found a few good ones to share but as the hour is late, I must get right to it. Off we go!
Peter Parker pal Zack Barak.
Huge news from The MCU, or The Marvel Cinematic Universe, which BTW is owned by Disney now—The new upcoming film Spiderman: Far From Home, will have not one, but two transgender characters. The actors, Zack Barak and Tyler Luke Cunningham, will play buddies of Peter Parker, who of course plays the teenage Spiderman. Tom Holland scored the role of Spiderman after a couple of duds with another actor. Now, Spiderman is fully immersed in, and intertwined with the white-hot Avengers crew and their movies. The new Avengers movie is coming April 26, 2019 and is expected to be huge after the success of Avengers-Infinity War. Spiderman: Far From Home will be released on July 5, 2019. This is huge news for the transgender community and for acceptance into mainstream media. Also, it spotlights trans men, and shows that they can be part of the new wave of trans actors too, not just trans women.
Nicole Maines
Nicole Maines, a young trans woman who has a twin brother and told her story in a book called Becoming Nicole-The Transformation of an American Family, has scored a recurring role on the TV show Supergirl. Until now, she had yet to reveal her character and her superhero suit. In recent episodes he has been revealed and has a really cool costume. Her super alter-ego is known as Dreamer. Her powers are her ability to see into the future, including the ability to see seconds ahead in order to anticipate her opponent’s attacks. She is an excellent fighter as well. The extent of her powers may yet be revealed in Supergirl this season, but, every girl needs a super girlfriend to beat up the baddies with, especially a trans woman Superhero. Yes, Dreamer is openly trans in the show too. Pretty cool. Dreamer will finally suit up on the Feb 17th show. But, we saw a glimpse of her costume in the episode “Blood Memory” on January 27th.
Ines Rau
A French trans woman who was the first openly trans woman to appear in Playboy, wants to become an actress. Ines Rau believes her life so far has prepared her for acting. “I have been many women, I was living in Malibu with someone for two years. I was engaged. He broke up with me. I have slept on the streets. I have been a man and so many things. I can use all those tools from my life experience for my characters. Because what is a better (acting) school than the life you had?” She has not signed any contracts yet but has a TV show coming out in France. She would love to appear on the American TV show Pose.
Valentina, a 27-year-old drag queen who appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race, recently appeared on Fox’s production of Rent Live! and played another drag queen named Angel Dumott Schunard. (An injury to a cast member made it necessary to air a taping of the dress rehearsal so the broadcast was not live.) In the role, her character is HIV-positive and a drummer at the musical’s heart. Loosely based on the opera La Boheme, Jonathan Larson’s Tony—and Pulitzer—winning rock musical Rent tells the story of a group of New York City artists dealing with the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1989. Valentina had a strong start but was eliminated in episode 9 of season 9 of Drag Race after flubbing the words in a lip-synch battle. However, she was crowned Miss Congeniality, a cash prize awarded to the fan favorite. She has also appeared on the RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars show.
Valentina as Angel.
And now, the bad news. Diego Luna, most known for Y Tu Mama Tambien, Rogue One: A Star War Story, and . . . a cis man, is playing a trans woman in the film Berlin, I Love You. I guess Hollywood and the world have not quite gotten the message that it is just not cool for cis people to play trans roles anymore.
As trans actress Jen Richards put it, cis audiences reward them because they see being trans itself as a performance. Trans actors would rather perform THE STORY, not our gender. Richards breaks down how casting cisgender men to play transgender women perpetuates the myth that transgender women are men. The myth, Richards explains, dehumanizes trans people, reduces their gender to a performance and inevitably leads to more violence against trans women. So it goes. Hollywood does seem to be getting the message, as I have shared in the stories above, but there are still directors and casting directors, as well as cis actors themselves, who are STILL not getting the message.
And finally there’s this: Finnish singer-songwriter Saara Aalto has debuted a powerful new music video for her song, Dance Like Nobody’s Watching, which tells the story of a transgender woman’s childhood. Transgender dancer Jessica Allen – who has previously had roles in Cats and with the English National Ballet Company – stars in the music video.
That’s All Folks!! I’m going to bed. See ya next time!
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Category: Media, 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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