Trans Representations in Contemporary, Popular Cinema: The Transgender Tipping Point

199 Pages·2022·21.437 MB·English

by  Niall Richardson, Frances Smith

TRANS REPRESENTATIONS IN
CONTEMPORARY, POPULAR CINEMA
This book analyses how contemporary genre cinema represents trans- identified
characters.
Informed by key debates within transfeminism, queer theory, contemporary trans
studies – and engaging with the concerns voiced by gender critical feminism –
this culturally oriented book critiques the representation of trans characters in a
range of cinematic genres, including the musical, period costume drama, the road
movie, melodrama, coming- of- age stories, and romances. The case studies address
the ways in which trans identifications have been coded within the narrative and
stylistic expectations of the genres. Are genre films successful in affirming trans
identifications or do they reinforce trans stereotypes and anti- trans discourses?
This is a timely and accessible book, which addresses Anglophonic, European and
Latin American cinemas, and is ideal for students studying courses in Film Studies,
Media Studies, Cultural Studies or Gender Studies.
Niall Richardson convenes MA Gender and Media at the University of Sussex.
He is the author of the monographs The Queer Cinema of Derek Jarman: Critical
and Cultural Readings (2009), Transgressive Bodies: Representations in Film and Popular
Culture (2010) and Ageing Femininity on Screen: The Older Woman in Contemporary
Cinema (2019). His research focuses on the representation of minority groups in
film and media – especially how these intersect with gender and sexuality.
Frances Smith is a senior lecturer in film at the University of Sussex. She is the
author of Rethinking the Hollywood Teen Movie: Genre, Gender and Identity (2017);
Bande de Filles: Girlhood Identities in Contemporary France (2020); and, with Timothy
Shary, is co- editor of Refocus: The Films of John Hughes (2021) and Refocus: The Films
of Amy Heckerling (2016). Her research focuses on contemporary US and European
youth cinemas.

TRANS
REPRESENTATIONS
IN CONTEMPORARY,
POPULAR CINEMA
The Transgender Tipping Point
Niall Richardson and Frances Smith
Cover image: MicroStockHub, iStock / Getty Images Plus #1317001455
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Niall Richardson and Frances Smith
The right of Niall Richardson and Frances Smith to be identified as authors
of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 48337- 1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 48335- 7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 03942- 6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003039426
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgement viii
Introduction: Transing Genres 1
1 Film Musicals 19
2 Heritage Cinema 43
3 Road Movies 65
4 Melodrama 90
5 The Coming- of- Age Drama 108
6 Romance 133
Conclusion: Gender Critical Feminism 152
Bibliography 164
Index 184
ILLUSTRATIONS
0.1 The liminal, non- ‘passing’ trans body coded as a comic fool 11
0.2 Miriam: the successfully ‘passing’ trans woman who is therefore
coded as dangerous and predatory 13
1.1 Inviting the spectator to sing along, and identify, with Hedwig 34
1.2 Ulysses voguing on the street on his way home from school while
a passer- by looks on 41
2.1 The iconic Swinton deadpan gaze into the camera in Caravaggio,
questioning the spectator’s right to ‘read’ the image of femininity 49
2.2 The Lady Orlando literally being chased by a trans- chaser in her
own garden 51
2.3 The unanchored point of view shot glorifying the architectural
splendour of Savannah 53
2.4 The standard heritage visual pleasures of costume and grand setting
conflated with Lili’s transness 60
2.5 Lili’s blue dress set against the mise- en- scène of the yellow houses 62
3.1 The three queens in awe of the seemingly never- ending Australian
outback 69
3.2 A moment of cruel comedy where the perma- tanned, peroxide-
blonde mother is coded as an object of ridicule because of her
failed feminine performance 76
3.3 Cis actors playing ‘unconvincing’ women on the screen thus
implicitly questioning the very concept of feminine ‘authenticity’ 77
3.4 An image of middle- class, white domesticity – resembling the
cinematography of 1950s melodrama 78
3.5 Simulating the standard road movie cinematography and framing in
the representation of Razmik’s cab 83
3.6 One of several close- ups, capturing the protagonist deep in thought 84
Illustrations vii
4.1 Ruth represented as the stereotype of the ‘pathetic’ trans 94
4.2 52 Tuesdays: transing the maternal melodrama 99
4.3 The expressive mise- en- scène, characteristic of melodrama,
emphasising how Marina is seen by transphobic society 102
4.4 Marina assaulted by the transphobes 104
5.1 Le Monde de Pam 114
5.2 Laure/ Mikaël (Zoé Héran) cuts up a swimming costume 118
5.3 Lara (Victor Polster) applies tape to her body 125
5.4 Joe (Sasha Knight) turns away from the women and watches the men 128
6.1 Calpernia (Lee Pace) meets Barry (Troy Garity) in her dressing room 139
6.2 Fabio (Max Befort) helps Lukas (Rick Okon) with his weightlifting 144
6.3 Ricky (Michelle Hendley) and Francesca (Alexandra Turshen)
recognise one another in Boy Meets Girl 148
newgenprepdf
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Some of the debates addressed in the Introduction have previously been
discussed in Chapter 5, 'Representing Ageing Trans-F emininity', of Niall
Richardson's Ageing Femininity on Screen: The Older Woman in Contemporary Cinema
(London: Bloomsbury, 2018).
INTRODUCTION
Transing Genres
In May 2014, Time magazine published a cover story titled ‘The Transgender
Tipping Point’ which argued that the social movement around trans rights had
gained so much momentum that it was now challenging deeply held beliefs about
gendered identification. This idea was celebrated in much of the Western media
with many journalists pointing out that trans people were ‘everywhere’ in popular
culture and, the following year, Vogue even declared 2015 to be the ‘Year of Trans
Visibility’.
It is certainly the case that there is considerably more trans visibility in the media
than ever before. Recent years have seen the film directors, the Wachowski siblings,
both transition; trans fitness models Ben Melzer and Aydian Dowling have been
featured in men’s workout magazines; trans actors have held leading roles in the
television dramas (Laverne Cox in Orange Is the New Black (2013– , USA); Rebecca
Root in Boy Meets Girl (2015– , UK) and MJ Rodriguez, Dominque Jackson and
Indya Moore in Pose (2018– 2021, USA); the Hollywood actor Elliot Page has
come out as a trans man and, of course, one of the most publicised trans persons
in recent years has been the former Olympian athlete Caitlyn Jenner. While it is
true that trans people have gained greater visibility, critics have noted that this
representation has been a double- edged sword. As Stephanie Berberick points out,
media depictions of trans people may be increasing but so too are the assaults, and
even homicide, of transgender men and especially women (2018: 124). This can be
labelled as ‘the trap of the visual’ (Gossett et al. 2017: xv) in that the media may
simultaneously increase awareness and understanding of trans issues but can also
inspire greater transphobia (see also Koch- Rein et al. (2020)). Arguably, recent anx-
ieties about ‘bathroom predators’, and ‘unfair’ advantages in both professional- and
school- level sports, have been enhanced – if not even created – by media discourses
(discussed below). Perhaps even more noticeable is that although there is greater
visibility of trans- identified celebrities, and trans characters feature regularly on
DOI: 10.4324/9781003039426-1