Trans Arts & Entertainment — Trans Media Arts
Dave Chappelle
Hello everybody and welcome to 2018 and another year of transgender entertainment news! Hopefully everyone had a good holiday season. Mine was . . . okay. I still have my tree up. One thing that remains on the rise in 2018 is transgender people in the media. I am here to bring you a few stories about these folks. TV is hot as usual. Let’s dig in, shall we?
Dave Chapelle, a black comedian known for his crude and insensitive jokes, and his Comedy Central hit Chappelle’s Show, has a new Netflix special called, Equanimity. In it, he talks about a letter he received from a transgender fan who loved his jokes, but was really put off by the way he depicts transgender people. He jokes about Caitlyn Jenner, dancing with a trans person in a club and insinuates that it is easier for trans people to change their gender than it was for Cassius Clay to change his name to Muhammed Ali. Chapelle has been known to be a transphobe for years now and is once again drawing the ire of activists for his transphobic jokes. Chapelle claims to be trying to understand what we as trans people go through to be our authentic selves, but clearly has a long way to go in his understanding that trans people have been the butt of jokes for too long. The person who wrote the letter, Tyler Foster, recently published an essay on being the writer of the letter to Chapelle. Tyler posted a screenshot of the note that Dave Chapelle sent in response. Tyler writes in the essay, “At the time, I wanted to believe what Dave wrote. Sadly . . . his statements in the letter that his intent ‘isn’t malicious’ and ‘I do care,’ his transgender material has only gotten more hateful across the board.” To see what Chapelle said in his Netflix special take a look below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txwgTU1MuB4
Ames McNamara as Mark.
A reboot of the iconic show Rosanne, which originally ran from 1989 to 1997 will return to television, and while it features the old cast, one of the new characters that will be introduced is Rosanne’s 9-year-old grandson Mark, who dresses like a girl. The character is played by Ames McNamara. The show’s executive producer Sara Gilbert, who is reviving her character Darlene, explains the boy is not transgender, transitioning or gay. Gilbert says, “He’s not a transgender character. He’s a little boy. He’s based on a few kids in my life that are boys who dress in more traditionally feminine clothing. He’s too young to be gay and he doesn’t identify as transgender, but he just likes wearing that kind of clothing and that’s where he is at this point in his life.” Sounds like America will be introduced to a gender-fluid, or gender non-conforming character.
The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) in Canada has pulled a BBC documentary called Transgender Kids: Who knows Best? from its slate of programming after a number of online complaints. The synopsis for the documentary states, “Increasingly, parents are encouraged to adopt a ‘gender affirmative’ approach — fully supporting their children’s change of identity. But is this approach right?” says the synopsis for the doc. This synopsis suggests that maybe parents should NOT be supportive of their trans kids and be open to some sort of conversion therapy or to hide or quell these feelings.
The cast of Pose.
The creator of the Fox TV show Glee, Ryan Murphy, has been green-lit to bring his latest television project to FX. The show, Pose, is a dance-musical series featuring the largest transgender regular cast in U.S. television history. The series will star Evan Peters (American Horror Story) and Kate Mara (The Martian, House of Cards) as a New Jersey couple who get sucked into the glamour and intrigue of New York City in the 1980s. Through their story, the series will chronicle life and society in New York, the rise of the “luxury Trump-era universe” and the downtown social and literary scene. Sounds like a good mix of red-hot ‘80s nostalgia and music.
A book called Meanwhile, Elsewhere is a collection of science fiction stories from transgender writers. While the shelves and online outlets are packed with transition stories, this refreshing book delves into the creative minds of trans people. The stories take a decidedly transgender-oriented direction. Sybil Lamb’s Cybervania showcases a cyber-dystopia where queer bodies are modified and then remodified endlessly. And Rachel K. Zall’s Control reveals an oddly enticing sexual encounter between a trans man and a trans woman in a future where facial recognition cameras are watching one’s every move. Ay?e Devrim’s No Comment tells a story about a Muslim-American trans woman who receives a womb transplant, only to discover that her womb is pregnant with the second coming of Jesus Christ. Cool and crazy stuff!!
So long, and see you next month!
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Category: Media, Transgender Community News, 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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