Appropriation of Trans Women's Deaths in Cis Gay Film
via gudbuytjane:
Warning: Contains quoted descriptions of violence against trans people.
With the state of appropriation of trans lives in the queer community being what it is, I wasn’t terribly shocked when I found out about Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives, a new “comedy/thriller/‘transploitation” film directed by a cissexual gay man, Israel Luna. Trans women especially are subject to being reframed in cis people’s narratives, and gay men especially seem to have a sense of entitlement over the identities of trans women. This piece does a good job of pointing outmuch of the transphobia, transmisogyny, and cissexual privilege in the movie and in Israel Luna’s attitudes towards trans people.
Follow the link to read the full takedown. This is pretty disgusting stuff.
GLAAD has a call to action up about this:
Misrepresenting the Lives of Transgender Women
Writer/director Israel Luna based his film on the “exploitation films” of the 1970s such as I Spit On Your Grave, about a woman who was raped and sought revenge on her attackers. The five lead characters in Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives are brutally attacked by a group of men; two do not survive the attack, but the surviving three seek gruesome revenge on their attackers. The film is a pastiche of graphic violence and horror movie clichés, with a few scenes of campy humor.By marketing Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives as a “transploitation” film, by using the word “trannies” (a pejorative term for transgender people) in the title of the film, by casting transgender women in some roles, and by citing the murders of Angie Zapata and Jorge Mercado in the trailer, Israel Luna has attempted to place his film squarely within a transgender narrative.
However, while some of the actors in the film identify as transgender, the characters are written as drag queens, “performing” femininity in a way that is completely artificial. The very names of these over-the-top female caricatures (Emma Grashun, Rachel Slurr, et al.) drive this point home.
Because of its positioning as a transgender film, viewers unfamiliar with the lives of transgender women will likely leave this film with the impression that transgender women are ridiculous caricatures of “real women.” It demeans actual transgender women who struggle for acceptance and respect in their day-to-day lives and to be valued for their contributions to our society.
You can read the full call to action at the link above.
Edit: I didn’t catch it myself, and I apologize for that, but the GLAAD call for action others trans people who are outside the binary and promotes that there’s really one way to be a trans woman. I would suggest also writing to GLAAD about the problematic and offensive aspects of their call to action.
I also copied the link to this post in gudbuytjane’s excerpt above, but I want to make sure people see it. Unfortunately, one of the actors chose to defend the film in the comments, mobilizing transphobia and misogyny against trans women to do so.
If Israel Luna so desperately wanted to make an exploitation film, I think he would have been better off looking to his own community before attempting to claim ownership of trans women’s lives.
I don’t believe that diagnosis should be in the DSM at all.
Edit to add: Now that this is out of the way, the topic is about the OP, not the DSM-V.
Lisa Harney
25 Mar 10 at 11:28 pm
first comment, an attempt to derail. of course. because god forbid we try to face this stuff head on.
jayinchicago
25 Mar 10 at 11:41 pm
I know, right?
Lisa Harney
25 Mar 10 at 11:48 pm
But wait! There are like 3 trans women in this that make it all okay! And anyone who doesn’t like its camp low brow humor is humorless.
Nicole
26 Mar 10 at 3:50 am
I’ve seen half a dozen comments saying, “It’s transphobic to complain about this stereotyped representation, because there are all kinds of trans people and how dare you impose your gender fascism by implying that these trans women are not legitimate trans characters.” It’s a variation on, “Your ability to perceive racism makes you the real racist.”
piny
26 Mar 10 at 4:21 am
Also, seriously, it seems to be taking the “exploitation” label and turning it entirely on its head: the director isn’t trans, the movie seems to be everything but an expression of rage at cis people, or anything of the sort, really. You have to wonder if they just took the label out of hipster irony.
LDM
26 Mar 10 at 4:27 am
I think gudbuytjane put it pretty well when she said that cis gay men have a sense of entitlement over the identities of trans women. I mean, not all of them are as blatant as Jim Fouratt and his “trans women are really gay men trying to escape being gay” ridiculousness, but it feels like that entitlement’s pretty full-blown here.
Lisa Harney
26 Mar 10 at 5:04 am
I mean, I DO think there is some transphobia (and femmephobia/femiphobia) in the way some transsexual people attack images of drag queens, and erase how a lot of transsexual people work as drag/”impersonator” performers, etc., and I know it’s mostly been a derail in this case, but I’ve also seen some disturbing discussion alluding to how we’re all just “normal” and trying to “blend in” or whatever.
Betsy B
26 Mar 10 at 8:44 am
The tactics used by those who oppress trans people invoke fear, loathing and morbid fascination (eg the bathroom predator meme), the very emotions that this movie is using to gain attention with its title and trailer. The community’s enemies use this fear and loathing to oppress gay and lesbian lives as well. That a film by a supposed member of our community mimics their tactics is unacceptable and needs to be called out every time it happens.
Israel Luna wrote and directed a film about trans women when he is not trans and not a woman. His arrogance in thinking he could write well about things he has no clue about is what bothers me the most about this film.
Emelye Waldherr
26 Mar 10 at 12:02 pm
I think you give him too much credit, Emelye – I don’t think he even bothered trying to write well. I’m pretty sure he fully intended to produce a dehumanizing and othering depiction of trans people for cheap laffs.
Megan
26 Mar 10 at 12:59 pm
Just to clarify, in January ’09 there was an involved discussion in the Dallas Voice (a gay rag known for being pretty conservative on trans issues). This was surrounding the paper’s continual use of the term tranny by gay men. Luna got involved in a big thread involving a bunch of trans women talking about how they wish to be identified. In that thread (before the film was even made) he told them he was going to make a film called “Ticked Off Trannies With Knives”. Again, this was in a discussion of mostly trans women talking about how upset they were about being referred to with tranny.
According to the article in Queerty, after that thread, he basically said, “I’m going to go ahead and use my title because I think it’s just a few people who are upset about it.” Btw, it was from this thread the paper contacted RuPaul who informed them (as a non-trans spokesman for the trans community) it was okay for them to use tranny.
Luna knew this film would upset trans people. He also admits he was working with GLAAD for months about the content of the film… why, because he knew there would be a shit storm. I do think GLAAD dropped the ball in not making it crystal clear how offensive the film is. Sadly, that organization has, in past, had a huge blind eye when it comes to transphobia coming from the gay community.
Gina
26 Mar 10 at 4:47 pm
Thank you for the added background.
I admit, I am always surprised when GLAAD takes steps.
Betsy, I totally agree.
Lisa Harney
26 Mar 10 at 4:50 pm
Apologies, all. It turns out that Andy’s just another iteration of a troll who’s visited here in the past. I’ve removed his posts and put him on permanent moderation.
Lisa Harney
26 Mar 10 at 10:29 pm
ok, GLAAD’s criticism is absurd though. it’s just a fucked normalizing discourse about what “appropriate” femininity looks like. that’s fucking dumb shit. and also a seemingly absurd misunderstanding of camp as well. BUT BUT BUT LIKE THEY DONT ACT ENOUGH LIKE REAL WOMYN AND WHY CANT TRANS WOMEN JUST ALL ACT LIKE NORMAL WOMEN?! and also STOP PORTRAYING TRANS WOMEN AS MURDERERS THEY CAN ONLY BE IN MOVIES WHEN THEY’RE TRAGIC VICTIMS! dont seem to be compelling arguments to me…
ATickedOffTranny
27 Mar 10 at 3:07 pm
Is this in contrast to Israel Luna’s film, which is beyond busted in its treatment of trans women as victims or ultra-violent caricatures?
Lisa Harney
27 Mar 10 at 3:21 pm
I do agree that GLAAD’s criticism is pretty bad, but I have such low expectations of GLAAD at this point and all.
Lisa Harney
27 Mar 10 at 3:23 pm
idk, i’m pretty down with trans women being portrayed as ultra-violent actually.
ATickedOffTranny
27 Mar 10 at 4:12 pm
…by a cis gay man using Angie Zapata’s murder to sell his movie?
Lisa Harney
27 Mar 10 at 4:26 pm
By a cis gay man who explicitly made the film because he couldn’t handle that trans people don’t like the way cis people use the word “tranny?”
Lisa Harney
27 Mar 10 at 4:27 pm
You may be interested to read “transgender actress” Alexandra Billings blog on the subject of this film (which she has seen and supports).
http://abillings.livejournal.com/
She quotes a scene she loved in the film:
“In a scene in a crowded bar, about 10 minutes into the film, we get what is probably one of the most beautiful and spiritual explanations of who we are as Transgender women I’ve ever heard. A small speech done in exquisite off the cuff style about God, Adam, Eve, and the third sex: Ava- who in this version is a combination of both Adam and Eve.”
One of the respondents on the thread wrote:
“A small speech done in exquisite off the cuff style about God, Adam, Eve, and the third sex: Ava- who in this version is a combination of both Adam and Eve.” – Is this really what we need right now? A movie about trans women staring (some) trans women confirming that we aren’t *really* women, we get to be some mythical 3rd sex? And that’s empowering?
Billings replies:
“We AREN’T Real Women. We are Trans Women. Period. You can talk yourself into anything you want. You can have all the surgery and all the signatures and all the laws in the land proclaim you to be Female, and that will never, ever change the fact that we are Transgender. That’s the truth. That’s not an opinion, that’s the truth of our situation.”
Thank you Alexandra for that open minded explanation. Israel Luna… as always, fuck you so very much.
Gina
27 Mar 10 at 6:24 pm
I wonder what that’s supposed to mean. Maybe I could try that next time some guy starts saying sexist bullshit at me. I’m sure that’d go over amazingly.
“Transgender is a third category separate from male and female” is a really unsophisticated way of looking at things, and creates false equivalencies and exclusions all over the place.
Lisa Harney
27 Mar 10 at 7:19 pm
ugh. hearing a trans woman amplify the cis voice in the back of my head does not make me feel good.
Hey ATOT did it occur to you that GLAAD and this fucked movie have the same problem. cis gays speaking for us and getting it wrong.
estrobutch
27 Mar 10 at 10:20 pm
estrobutch – I love you for that
laughriotgirl
27 Mar 10 at 11:01 pm
I’m having anger-suppression issues at the moment.. so this is as controlled as i can manage and I’m sorry if it’s not sufficiently so.
The trailer to this film using real hate crimes for the sake of the film? Inexcusable and indefensible.
To say binary-identified transwomen are not real women? Exactly the same.
But…
GLAAD’s pathetic non-binary condemning words are also inexcusable and indefensible. To complain all S&GD people are painted as non-binary = valid. To say one word against the validity of any non-binary S&GD people = oppression.
And i fully respect the hurt for those for whom Tranny has been a word of hate and violence and stereotyping and i decry the wrong that it is.
But…
It’s also a valid identity for many S&GD people around the world. Those who DO identify as a third sex, those whose local country, culture and community did not demonise that word.
And I’ve had enough of it. Just as in ‘thats so gay’ the problems the missuse of the word not the word. And most of the criticisms of the word i’ve read contain anti-crossdresser/transvestite transphobia anti non-binary transphobia, anti non/partial-srs transphobia, homophobia and anti-sexworker prejudice. Sorry but thats not ok.
I’m not defending this film at all. And i’m furious about the trailer. I’m not defending bigots usage of the word Tranny. But while Tranny remains for even one person anywhere on this planet a valid self-identified identity term then it should be respected and defended as such for them.
It should be quite possible to defend the rights of those who use it for themselves in every instance its discussed without accepting it’s missuse or applications over all S&GD people and vice versa.
Battybattybats
28 Mar 10 at 4:25 am
He’s also using stereotypes of trans femininity to make his characters seem that much more camp, ridiculous, and batshit; that’s what femininity is usually coded as. The femme thing is part and parcel of the Faster Pussycat treatment. It’s not that these characters are high femme trans women, it’s that they’re caricatures of trans women and therefore high femme.
piny
28 Mar 10 at 8:06 am
Batty, you’re totally right, and I encourage everyone to write GLAAD about their problematic language.
But, simultaneously, the film Israel Luna made is offensive, transphobic, and misogynist, and exploits real murders and real dead women to sell its busted message.
Lisa Harney
28 Mar 10 at 6:03 pm
Lisa, i agree that what i have seen and heard so far of the film is indeed offensive, transphobic and misogynist. I already condemned that trailers foul exploitation. I’m furious about that. But my criticisms i raised in my post do relate to problems not just with GLAAD but also many of the people condemning the film. We have to speak out against transphobia in parts of our own communities reaction.
Considering some of the defences I’ve seen by some involved in making this film or supporting it and some of the attacks on it there is a lot of transphobia being expressed from the non-binary folk to the binary and vice versa. The ‘real women’ stuff quoted above as much an example of the problem of the divide of hate and disrespect, the wedge, driven through our community as GLAAD’s comment. Far too much each is dissing the others very identity and legitimacy.
And i fear that some non-binary people sick of so often being condemned or invisibalised may end up reactionarilly supporting this film because of the transphobic aspects of some of the criticism from binary trans folk. Thats why i think it important to raise these issues as we discuss whats clearly wrong with this film and it’s advertising.
Battybattybats
28 Mar 10 at 6:49 pm
Yeah, i think I want to post about how GLAAD failed separately from this, but I’m not sure I have the energy, so have at it here.
Also, I edited the OP.
Lisa Harney
28 Mar 10 at 6:56 pm
Especially since I don’t have so many personal problems with the word ‘tranny’, I get really fed up with having to give long explanations as to why the term is so problematic.
Then I read an excellent personal piece by Bil Browning at Bilerico,’Why I have a problem with faggots’, where he details times of insult and assault that were accompanied by the use of the word. Now if some major trans site were to run a thread with comments as contributions in a similar vein that could be referenced through their trans 101 sidebar…, it might help rebuttal of inappropriate uses of the term. Because the point isn’t about how acceptable to different people the word is, but the degree of triggering hurt it causes. And with tics like Luna, it helps to be able to show the obvious.
Sophia
29 Mar 10 at 5:37 am
There have been several blog posts about the use of tranny, but this isn’t a bad idea at all.
And yeah – as I understand it, Luna decided to ignore the people who said “tranny” was problematic and listen to those who told him it was okay.
Lisa Harney
29 Mar 10 at 5:42 am
While i agree with the issues with the frequent misuse of the word Tranny i have growing concerns with problems i see in many condemnations of it’s use. I wrote on them on my blog recently here: http://caveofrationality.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-calling-tranny-offensive-word.html and am happy for any discussion of my thoughts there con or pro so things don’t derail into that contentious topic here.
Battybattybats
29 Mar 10 at 10:20 pm
another major WTF: ‘Ticked-Off’ lands in Seattle film fest
http://www.dallasvoice.com/instant-tea/2010/05/03/breaking-news-ticked-off-lands-in-seattle-film-fest/
Israel Luna’s … film …. is headed to another on the opposite side of the country…. it has been accepted in the Seattle International Film Festival.
sharav
4 May 10 at 10:54 pm
I’m sorry, I forgot to mention how to contact the Seattle Int’l Film Festival:
info@siff.net
400 9th Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
Phone: 206.464.5830
Fax: 206.264.7919
sharav
4 May 10 at 10:57 pm