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Ugh, it’s… complicated, and I’m not really the expert.
I think one other issue is that hiring cis actors to play trans people can reinforce the idea that being trans is just a role. Like, if Jared Leto can put on makeup and play a trans woman, that suggests that trans women are just men in makeup. Even if the character supposedly isn’t, Jared Leto the actor is still really a man underneath, and the message there is not exactly subliminal.
Casting cis people as trans also contributes to a public impression that trans people are so exotic or so damaged that you can’t find a real trans actor, that it would be like asking Star Trek to cast real Vulcans.
And casting trans actors isn’t just a matter of giving jobs to those individual actors–it’s also an important form of representation. People see actors like Laverne Cox on screen, watch interviews with her, see that she’s not a disaster or a monster, and it helps shape their view of trans people for the better. A cis actor in a trans role can’t do that. At best they can give some kind of lukewarm shoutout to the vague and invisible “trans community.”
And a lot of cis actors have given bad performances as trans people, even when they were trying to do it in a sympathetic way. There’s been a lot of trying-too-hard and of poorly concealed discomfort with being cross-dressed.
Finally, if we must, how about we cast some cis actors to play trans characters of the same gender for once? It’s really not inconceivable, especially for characters who are supposed to be medically transitioning or who live in fantasy/sci-fi worlds. “Oh, but then how will the audience even know that they’re trans?” Well, unless it’s a plot point, maybe they won’t know. That’s true to real life, where not every trans person has a flashing sign over their head.
Despite all this, I still feel weirdly reluctant to say “so you must never hire a cis person to play a trans person.” I feel like in a better world it ought to be possible, just like hiring an English person to play an American isn’t a huge deal. But while we’re not in that better world, you really have to consider the message and impact of casting decisions.
(Your picture was not posted)
Ugh, it’s… complicated, and I’m not really the expert.
I think one other issue is that hiring cis actors to play trans people can reinforce the idea that being trans is just a role. Like, if Jared Leto can put on makeup and play a trans woman, that suggests that trans women are just men in makeup. Even if the character supposedly isn’t, Jared Leto the actor is still really a man underneath, and the message there is not exactly subliminal.
Casting cis people as trans also contributes to a public impression that trans people are so exotic or so damaged that you can’t find a real trans actor, that it would be like asking Star Trek to cast real Vulcans.
And casting trans actors isn’t just a matter of giving jobs to those individual actors–it’s also an important form of representation. People see actors like Laverne Cox on screen, watch interviews with her, see that she’s not a disaster or a monster, and it helps shape their view of trans people for the better. A cis actor in a trans role can’t do that. At best they can give some kind of lukewarm shoutout to the vague and invisible “trans community.”
And a lot of cis actors have given bad performances as trans people, even when they were trying to do it in a sympathetic way. There’s been a lot of trying-too-hard and of poorly concealed discomfort with being cross-dressed.
Finally, if we must, how about we cast some cis actors to play trans characters of the same gender for once? It’s really not inconceivable, especially for characters who are supposed to be medically transitioning or who live in fantasy/sci-fi worlds. “Oh, but then how will the audience even know that they’re trans?” Well, unless it’s a plot point, maybe they won’t know. That’s true to real life, where not every trans person has a flashing sign over their head.
Despite all this, I still feel weirdly reluctant to say “so you must never hire a cis person to play a trans person.” I feel like in a better world it ought to be possible, just like hiring an English person to play an American isn’t a huge deal. But while we’re not in that better world, you really have to consider the message and impact of casting decisions.
(Your picture was not posted)
