Mya Taylor Makes Some Movie History

While the Oscars broadcast and the people nominated for the awards will be melanin free, there are other awards shows that are far more diverse than the whitewashed Oscars.

Was excited to find out that Tangerine actress Mya Taylor picked up an Independent Spirit Award for her performance as Alexandra in that independent film that was considered Oscar worthy but unfortunately was snubbed by the Academy for consideration.

Taylor made a little trans history when she picked up that award for Best Supporting Female. She's probably the first out trans person to do so and noted in her acceptance speech that Hollywood needs to expand opportunities for trans actors.

 

Congratulations Mya!  Hope the award results in more acting opportunities coming not only your way, but for all trans actors.

My Thoughts About 'The Danish Girl'

The Danish Girl movie about pioneering trans woman Lili Elbe is being released this Friday, and it is already getting some Oscar buzz for its star Eddie Redmayne.

There has been a lot of commentary in Trans World about our irritation over Hollywood once again using a male actor to play a trans woman, and I share that irritation.  I would like to see more trans actors getting roles, especially when it comes to a trans woman playing a trans role on the silver screen or the small screen.

I'd also like to see reciprocity in trans actors getting to play cis roles since the excuse justifying this that comes out of cis people's mouths is 'the best actor should get the role'.   Okay, if that is the case, when will we see more trans persons, when they are  best person for the role, playing cis people?

Bella Maddo proved that we can do it, if given the opportunity.

I do have to admit I'm also somewhat conflicted about The Danish Girl as the opening date for the movie is fast approaching.    I'm curious about how this movie about one of our historical figures will be received.  .



Based on the increasing Oscar chatter and it getting moved up from a January 1, 2016 release date to one on Thanksgiving weekend, it may potentially be a lucrative reception.

The societal one is to be determined.

Open Letter To President Obama Concerning WH Trans Movie Night

TransGriot Note:  An open letter to President Obama concerning the upcoming Trans Movie Night on Monday from Annalise Ophelian that needs to be signal boosted

Dear Mr. President,
 
On behalf of Miss Major and everyone on the MAJOR! production team, we’re excited about the upcoming transgender movie night at the White House, as part of your LGBT Artists Champions of Change campaign. But we can’t help but notice that your media selections, The Danish Girl and episodes of Transparent, don’t offer particularly robust representation of transgender people. In particular, we’re concerned that you’ve chosen two works about trans women who are played by cisgender men, and that they focus on a limited white European perspective.
 
To help correct for this imbalance, we’d love to offer the White House an advance screening of our own documentary, MAJOR!, which follows the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. Miss Major is a 74-year-old Black transgender elder and activist, a veteran of the Stonewall Uprising and a survivor of Attica State Prison, who has been advocating for trans women of color for over 40 years.
 
We’d also like to suggest you check out the following films, which were made by trans folks or feature trans actors and actresses playing trans characters, and focus on the stories of trans folks of color. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but it’s a place to start, and we get that you’ve got a busy schedule.
 
You’ll notice that a lot of these films are documentaries. We think this has something to do with the incredible need for authenticity and truth telling about transgender lives.
 
STILL BLACK: a portrait of black transmen, dir. Kortney Ziegler (2008)
Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, dir. Susan Stryker & Victor Silverman  (2005)
Remember Me in Red, dir. Hector Ceballos (2010)
Tangerine, dir. Sean S. Baker (2015)
Pay it No Mind: Marsha P. Johnson, dir. Michael Kasino (2012)
The Believers, dir. Todd Holland (2006)
Gun Hill Road, dir. Rashaad Ernesto Green (2011)
Transgender Tuesdays: A Clinic in the Tenderloin, dir. Nathaniel Walters-Koh & Mark Freeman (2012)
 
And in 2016, we hope you have the opportunity to check out Happy Birthday, Marsha! and Free CeCe!, two amazing upcoming films that center Black trans women in their own narratives of survival and resilience.
 
With warm regards,
 
Annalise Ophelian, Psy.D.
Producer/Director: MAJOR!

'Happy Birthday Marsha!' Post Production Fundraising Campaign

The trailer for Happy Birthday, Marsha has been released.

It's a short film written and produced by Reina Gossett and Sasha Wortzel that tells the story of Marsha P. Johnson shortly before the 1969 Stonewall Riots and stars Mya Taylor in the title role.



The production team for this film is seeking to raise $30,000 so they can finish post production of this movie and get it on the silver screen where it deserves to be.

But I'll let them speak for themselves:

Last summer, we raised funds to shoot the film via Kickstarter (thanks to many of you) plus grants from Trans Justice Funding Project, Gil Foundation, Astraea Global Arts Fund, and many many individual donations. Since then the scope of the film has changed dramatically. Rather than making a traditional documentary, we shot a narrative, scripted film starring Oscar hopeful Mya Taylor as Marsha P. Johnson.

NOW we are raising the finishing funds needed to complete our film, so we can begin screening it for you! Raising this money will keep us on track to showing this film in early 2016! The funds raised will go directly towards:

• Editing - paying our amazing editor who cut the picture

• Motion Graphics and Titles - getting all our text and graphics designed

• Score- paying for the film's incredible original music 

• Sound design - creating the feel of 1969 NYC through sounds

• Sound Mix - getting the sound ready for theatres and your home speakers

• Color Correction - capturing the gorgeous colors and textures of 1969

• Festival submissions - paying submission fees ($20-$80) which add up fast

The world needs to see it, and I hope you'll consider contributing whatever you can so that the production team hits their fundraising goal.   Of course, if they exceed it, that's all good, too.

Here's the link to the Indiegogo campaign for Happy Birthday Marsha!.

Gender Reel Houston This Coming Weekend

Just in time for the TDOR and Trans Awareness Week is the inaugural Houston edition of Gender Reel that will take place at three locations from November 20-22.

Gender Reel is a coast to coast film and performance art festival founded in Philadelphia in 2011 by its executive director Joe Ippolito.  It is now in its fifth year as a showcase for films featuring trans, intersex and genderqueer identities  .

One of the Houston Gender Reel co-organizers Koomah, has been in contact with Ippolito for several years about bring it to Houston and with the help of co-organizers Stephanie Saint Sanchez and Jay Mays and funding from The Idea Fund and  the Houston Arts Foundation, the Houston Gender Reel stop is now a reality.

On Friday, November 20 the Gender Reel action will take place at the Rice Media Center at 6100 Main Street.   Saturday the Gender Reel venue shifts to the Frenetic Theatre at 5102 Navigation Blvd. and on Sunday November 22 it shifts to the Montrose Center at 401 Branard St.

The Gender Reel Houston action kicks off at 6 PM Friday at the Rice Media Center with an opening reception and screening of Kate Bornstein is a Queer & Pleasant Danger.

On Saturday November 21 is the Southern Showcase at the Frenetic Theatre at 9 PM that features Southern visual and performance artists followed by Tangerine.

On Sunday from 4-6 PM is Family Friendly Matinee and the Closing Reception

All events are open to the public and on a pay what you wish scale from $0-$20, with proceeds going to support the artists and trans and queer youth.

Hope you'll consider attending it.

MAJOR! World Premiere Coming Next Month!

You TransGriot readers are cognizant of the fact I have been tracking the progress of the documentary film on these electronic pages for the last few years.

Just received some wonderful news from Annalise Ophelian and StormMiguel Florez, the producers of the documentary film MAJOR! that focuses on the fascinating life of one of our trans elders in Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

I'm excited to announce that MAJOR! will have its world premiere in San Francisco's Castro Theater on Friday, November 13 as part of the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival.

I've had the pleasure of getting to see a preview of it, and those of you who get to see the premiere and MAJOR! when it hits your local film festival will be in for a treat.

And here's a link to the trailer for it.

It will be a fascinating look at the life of one of our Stonewall vets, and I even learned a few things about Miss Major I didn't know

I also hope I get the chance to jet off to San Francisco and see the premiere

Jordana Composing The ''Free Cece' Movie Soundtrack

You have heard me discuss Jordana LeSesne on this blog numerous times because I have much love for her, and you TransGriot readers have her to thank for me starting this blog.

She got me to commit to that January 1, 2006 start date for TransGriot, and stayed on my behind until I put up that first post on that date at midnight EST.

And the rest is history.

My musically talented little sis from another mother is a groundbreaking and amazing music producer that is on the comeback trail after breaking out in a major way in the 90's

Jordana is ramping up for a return to the music biz and has been tapped to create the music soundtrack for the upcoming Laverne Cox produced documentary movie Free CeCe that is in the crowdfunding stage.

Congrats Jordana!  can't wait to not only see that movie but hear the awesome soundtrack you're going to put together for it.  Also looking  forward to seeing what else is on the horizon for you.

Moni Goes To A Movie Premiere

As many of you TransGriot readers knew, the film Hello Forever with my homegirl Isis King was debuting last night at the ongoing WorldFest Film Festival here in H-town that started April 4 and runs until April 13.

Hello Forever is up for five awards during this festival, and there was no way I was missing it, since Isis was in town for it along with her castmate Rebecca Khoo, director Peter Kirk, writer Noelene Turton and other members of the Hello Forever team.  I'd also been aware of it since Isis traveled to the Philippines in 2011 to shoot it.

Masumay Booc and Jennifer Blair-Bianco round out the lead actresses in this film..

But you knew there was going to be Moni drama before we even get to the story about the movie. 

I went to the AMC 30, the host theater for WorldFest which is on the other side of town from moi and a 1.5 hour bus ride to pick up my ticket for tonight's 9 PM screening.  I needed to change clothes and check on my grandmother, so I headed back to the house to make sure she was okay.   After changing clothes, I bounced at 7 PM hoping to get to the theater by 8:30 PM.  

That unexpectedly got derailed when my initial bus while picking up peeps at UH gets stopped by an Asian woman asking a long list of questions to the driver about METRO routes and service to the UH campus that delays us just long enough to where I missed my connecting METRORail train and bus downtown.  I compound it by not taking the 81 Westheimer (because it only goes down Westheimer to Hillcroft and then turns toward Sharpstown) when it pulled up where I was waiting for it across the street from the Main Street Square station thinking that the faster 53 Briar Forest was coming that would hit the freeway and turn on Westheimer just past the Galleria and make up some of the time I lost.

Meanwhile as the ticking clock moving inexorably toward the movie start time revealed how much of an error that assumption was, I didn't get on the next westbound 82 Westheimer until 8:25 PM.  I arrive at the corner of Westheimer and Dunvale after a long anxiety filled ride through downtown, Montrose, Upper Kirby, River Oaks, Highland Village, the Galleria area, two construction zones and points west of the Galleria until 9 PM.   I still had to walk another ten minutes after crossing Westheimer across the massive parking lots of a Walmart and a Garden Ridge Pottery just to get to the AMC 30.   

Needless to say by the time I finally entered the theater at 9:15 PM the movie had started and I was pissed off because I was late, but put it on pause long enough to remember why I was there.. 

Hello Forever is set in Manila and tackles the subjects of poverty, corruption, single motherhood, human trafficking and sexual exploitation by following four women affected by it.  

To get through a world with odds stacked against them, they form sisterhood bonds to collectively get through their personal and group situations..

Isis plays Rommy, a transpinay with an American GI father who finds herself on the mean streets of Manila trying to make the money for SRS.



I won't say any more than that because I don't want to spoil the movie before y'all get a chance to see it, but I will say it was worth the 1.5 hour ride to see it.   I loved it because of the sisterhood despite the trying circumstances theme.  It didn't Pretty Woman sugarcoat how mean the world that sex workers inhabit can be, and I hope more film festivals get to see this independent film as the year continues.

I also got a chance when the movie was over to spend some quality time with Isis and the crew to discuss a long list of subjects before I had to take myself home and go back into blogger mode.  

And yes, when I find out how the awards broke down, I'll let y'all know.    

Isis Coming To H-town For WorldFest!

Well well, looks like I'll finally get that opportunity to give my sis that hug I promised her a few years ago.


The 47th annual WorldFest Houston Film Festival started yesterday at  the AMC 30 just west of the Galleria and runs though April 13.  When I lived over on the southwest side of town that theater was one of my fave places to watch a movie, but now that I'm on the other side of town I actually have movie theaters downtown and in Greenway Plaza that are closer to where I live now.    

I found out that one of the movies WorldFest will be screening this year is Hello Forever starring a certain New York based girl like us I know and owe a hug.   

Yes, I know it shocks some of you, but as I keep reminding you peeps, Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States, has culture and it's predominately a liberal-progressive oasis in the red and soon to be purple state. 

WorldFest also happens to be one of the oldest independent film and video festivals in the world.


Isis shot Hello Forever two years ago in the Philippines.  It is now having its debut during Worldfest at 9 PM Monday night and is up for several awards.

Since little sis is coming to H-town for it, I'm definitely planning on taking my behind there to see her and the movie.  

It'll also give me a reason to attend WorldFest for the first time ever as well.
  

Annie Is Black, And The Pointed White Hoods Come Out

A remake of Annie is about to hit your local multiplexes that when it was in the discussion stages, Willow Smith was rumored to be in the running for the part but it went to Oscar Best Actress nominee Quvenzhané Wallis.

And now that the trailer has come out for this movie coming soon to your local multiplex starring her and Jamie Foxx, I was shocked but not surprised to read that elements of white America are losing their damned minds on Twitter about it.

So the same whiteness that has no problem with Jared Leto being cast as a trans woman or defending 70% of movie roles going to white males, arguing that 'casting should be color blind' and 'the best actors should get the part' now has a racist foaming at the mouth problem with Quvenzhané Wallis being cast as Annie?   

Sigh.  The War on Blackness continues.

The same White America that last week was tying itself in pretzel logic like knots trying to justify a white man playing a transwoman as moi and the trans community complained about it, had no problem with that same white male winning an Oscar for that problematic portrayal, smugly told the trans community to 'get over it' while hiding behind Calpernia Addams' skirts to do so, is now having a vanillacentric scented hissy fit because a Black girl is playing Annie.

Their pointed white hoods are showing along with their white sheets. 


I'd need another post to document all the times that white people have played Black or other ethnic characters in movies.

John Wayne as Genghis Khan ring a bell?    Liz Taylor as Cleopatra?  Natalie Wood as Maria Nunez in West Side Story?  Laurence Olivier donning blackface to play Othello?   

Another example was Ava Gardner being chosen over Lena Horne and using the makeup Max Factor developed for Lena to play the mixed race character Julie LaVerne in the 1951 movie Show Boat when hello, Lena Horne practically was living that character's life.   
 
It's not like this is the first time a classic film has been remade with an all-Black cast.   There was the musical The Wiz that was turned into a 1978 film starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. 

Most recently the movie Steel Magnolias was reimagined with an all Black cast featuring Phylicia Rashad and her daughter Condola Rashad, Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard, and Jill Scott. 

IIt also speaks to another problematic issue that if the movie in question doesn't have Blacks interacting with Whites in servitude, deference, or emotional dependence, it results in whites leaving in droves after it starts.


I witnessed that phenomenon firsthand with the movie White Man's Burden. It starred John Travolta and Harry Belafonte in which the societal script was flipped and it was white peeps living in the hood and Black folks living in Beverly Hills.
I noticed whites leaving the theater and heard one brother say to one white guy exiting the theater, "What's wrong? Can't handle this movie? This is what we deal with everyday in America."
Another reality that needs to be dealt with is that in 21st century America, many of the orphans in those homes and the foster care system look like Quvenzhané.

As white people in this country, you can count on the fact that every week, a Hollywood movie will open that has casts who predominately look like you, and share your ethnic heritage and background.   I don't have that luxury as a person of color.  

An Annie that reflects my ethnic background is quite interesting to me, Black parents and the Black girls Quvenzhane's age who will see themselves reflected on the silver screen for once.

That should be celebrated, not racistly denounced..   

Why I STILL Have A Problem With 'Dallas Buyers Club'

I was not happy about Jared Leto's Golden Globe win for playing Rayon in the Dallas Buyers Club and the tone deaf acceptance speech.while accepting his award.  

Now that he's won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for it, I'm STILL not happy, and the comments by Jean-Marc Vallée the director of Dallas Buyer Club only added to my simmering pissivity about it.

Vallée made these comments when interviewed by the CBC's Jian Ghomeshi, who asked whether he ever considered casting a transgender actor.

"Never. [Are] there any transgender actors?" he said. "I'm not aiming for the real thing. I'm aiming for an experienced actor who wants to portray the thing."

Yeah, you ignorant transphobic fool, there are transgender actors.  And pro tip: Transpeople are not a 'thing'.  We are living, breathing human beings.       

Much of the problem I have with Jared Leto is not only his transphobic director, it's also the fact that trans people like Candis Cayne, Alexandra Billings, Aleshia Brevard, Calpernia Addams, Jamie Clayton, Harmony Santana, Jazzmun, Laverne Cox and the cast of Bella Maddo have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt we can play trans and cis people on the small and silver screens, and yet these trans roles when Hollywood bothers to create them STILL go to cis men and cis women.

I have a problem with some white peeps inside and outside the TBLG community reflexively rushing to Leto's defense because we trans peeps are calling out the problematic elements of his performance.  I also have a problem with them saying how great his portrayal was and dismissing our concerns about it as usual.

And yeah, I'm in agreement with my trans brother Kortney Ziegler when he takes to task elements of the white trans community who tried to compare the Rayon role to blackface.   Not no, but oh hell no on that. 

Dear everyone who is comparing Jared Leto's performance of a trans woman to blackface, here is a tip: nothing is like blackface but blackface. And likening the drag performance of a white cis man to the humiliation of ALL black people is lazy, racist, oh, and erases black transgender people. We exist.

Amen, Kortney.   So word to the wise, cease and desist with that.  Back to riffing on Rayon   I'm not the only transwoman who has a problem with that portrayal of what even Leto himself admits is a fictional character.   And don't even go there with the line, "But Calpernia Addams was his acting coach."    It was and still is a problematic, stereotype filled performance. 

So if the character in Dallas Buyers Club is fictional, why not give a transfeminine actor who knows intimately what it is like to be a trans woman a shot at it? 

I'm also tired of hearing the BS excuse that 'Leto was a known, proven actor and the transwomen weren't."  Once upon a time Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, Angela Bassett, Nia Long, et al were also 'no-name', unproven actors until they were given the role that showcased their talent.
We also have to have trans script writers behind the scenes writing the roles, too. Would Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope character on Scandal be the same without Shonda Rhimes writing and producing it?  We transpeople have the talent to rock any role. All we trans peeps need is the opportunity and for casting people and directors to free their minds so it can happen


Because you didn't do that, that's why it's getting panned by much of the trans community.

'Race-Themed' Movie My Azz, USA Today

I was not surprised when I heard that The Best Man Holiday was kicking butt and taking names at the multiplexes during its opening weekend.  

I said this when I wrote about it in my SUF post on Friday.

Already checked and many of the theaters I like to hit are pretty much sold out, so don't be surprised on Monday if you hear that it was the number one movie this weekend.

Thor made a last minute run to beat The Best Man Holiday in this weekend's money race by earning $38 million to BHM's $31 million, but even Miss Cleo and her defunct Psychic Hotline could have predicted a sequel to a beloved classic African-American movie with the same star studded cast that we've been waiting 14 years to see again would clock serious dollars. 

It actually made more money Friday night ($10.7 million) than Thor did ($10.4 million) before the screen advantage kicked in.   The Best Man Holiday was on far less screens (2024) than Thor's 3841, cost only $17 million to make, didn't have the same advertising budget as that (ho hum) comic book movie but still made big bucks.. 

So why was USA Today hatin' on the Best Man Holiday by calling it a race-themed movie? 

Yeah, you knew Black Twitter would put its collective foot in USA Today's and writer Scott Bowles' azz for that full of fail original headline and article as the race-themed Black blogosphere came for them in rapid succession. 

Birth of A Nation is a race-themed movie, Scott Bowles.  The Best Man Holiday isn't.  .

While the movie had a predominately African-American cast, the movie themes covered universal issues of friendship, love, family and loss just to name a few and will easily top the $34 million the original movie made back in 1999.

If Hollywood would make more movies in which I can see myself reflected on the silver screen in everyday situations as The Best Man Holiday does, I'd be more inclined to spend money at the multiplex.  I'd be even more inclined to do so if that particular African-American film is written and directed by someone besides Tyler Perry. 

And surprise surprise, even non-white folks would come to see them if you spent as much advertising dollars promoting them as you do on movies like Thor.
I'd also make some calls to the agents of Nia Long and Larenz Tate and work on getting that sequel to Love Jones made or call a few Black novelists and enter into discussions with them to turn their novels into movies.   


But if you're insistent on doing another comic book movie, I have two words for you if you want to make money:  Black Panther. 

Would love to see who would play him or what Wakanda looks like on the silver screen.

The K-11 Issues Are Still The Same...

That still doesn't change the fact that once again you had ciswomen playing what is ostensibly a trans role. 

Even with different casting.   

When I first wrote about the movie in 2009,  Nikki Reed and Kristen Stewart were set to play the lead roles in the movie K-11.   But as can happen with movies in development, scheduling conflicts can arise or other issues occur that force announced actors to pull out of a project.  

Kristen Stewart was forced due to a scheduling conflict to pull out of this film her mother Jules Stewart was producing.   She still has a small voice cameo in it and the role of Butterfly she was supposed to play was given to Portia Doubleday.   The Mousey role, the queen bee of the K-11 dorm went to veteran Latina actress Kate del Castillo after Nikki Reed dropped out of it.

Granted Calpernia Addams and Andrea James served as coaches for del Castillo, she embraced the challenge of it, and I'm not saying ciswomen can't or shouldn't play transwomen if they are offered the part.  Felicity Huffman, Kerry Washington, Rebecca Romijn, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Chloe Sevigny come to mind as ciswomen who have pulled it off successfully and to rave reviews in various movie and television projects.

But ciswomen are offered those roles far too often, especially when you have transwomen who are acting in Hollywood such as Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, Calpernia Addams, Candis Cayne, Alexandra Billings, Aleshia Brevard, and others who are striving to get the level of recognition these ladies have.

It would be nice for them to get paid and get a shot at a role they have some intimate familiarity with like transwomen in other countries get a chance to do more frequently than their American counterparts..

And I also have to agree with Gina Morvay of the Skip The Makeup blog and this comment she left on the original K-11 post that is still valid.

As you've pointed out, in many other countries trans people have played trans people... and, surprise, it comes out a lot more moving and full blooded than having someone like Nicole Kidman or Nikki Reed do their actor schtick and pretending it's accurate. And the biggest joke is, people would be more interested to see a film with real trans actresses or actors than seeing yet another Nicole Kidman bomb or Nikki Reed vehicle (anyone remember '13'?).

I know just like you, I'd be quite interested in seeing a movie or television series in which trans women play realistic trans characters.   I'm not holding my breath on that happening any time soon.

'Django Unchained,' Quentin Tarantino's Broken Clock Moment

 

TransGriot: Note: Guest Post from Renee of Womanist Musings 

Long before Django Unchained was released on Christmas day, there was a lot of buzz about this movie. Spike Lee called Django Unchained an insult to his ancestors and swore that he would not see it. On just about every major Black blog and Facebook page, there has been a discussion about how this movie deals with slavery, whether or not Tarantino is a racist and what this film says about the media in general. 

Leonardo Di Caprio has publicly stated his difficulty with having to repeatedly use the word nigger in the film, Samuel Jackson has refused to answer any questions regarding the usage of the word unless the journalist actually says nigger instead of the "N word" and Kerry Washington has spoken about the difficulty of her role and the staged whipping.   This movie was difficult for the actors, for the viewers and the critics.  In terms of race, I cannot remember the last time we had a movie become so much a part of the social discussion.

I am going to preface this review with the fact that I am not in the least bit a fan of Quentin Tarantino. I think he is far too comfortable using the word nigger in his work and much of the time, it adds nothing to the plot or development of the character.  A White man can never understand how deeply casual usage of this slur hurts Blacks and Tarantino's treatment of the pain itself, has a history of being cavalier at best.

Without doubt, the usage of nigger was ubiquitous throughout Django Unchained but unlike other Tarantino movies, a setting of two years before the civil war absolutely justified its usage. It would have been ahistorical for White plantation owners to use any other word to refer to Blacks, let alone their slaves.  It is wrong to apply 21st century standards and moral sensibilities to this time and would have made slavery itself seem like a benign institution.  The problem is that given Tarantino's comfort with the slur, it makes acceptance of its inclusion in Django Unchained, feels like giving him permission to continue to litter his work with it. 

I find it interesting that there was so much fixation on the word nigger considering the context, but no one had anything to say about grown men being forced to fight to death, a slave being eaten alive by a dog, whippings and brandings.  The very idea that Quentin Tarantino reduced the barbarity of slavery by his usage of slurs, when these violent events were a part of the movie is ridiculous. As a viewer, I had no doubt that Black life was viewed as cheap and that slavery itself was beyond dehumanizing. In fact, the brutality of the violence itself, made the moments of brevity absolutely necessary to give the viewer a form of relief.

Django Unchained is like no other western I have ever seen because of it's theme and of course Black protagonist.  Watching it, I could not help but realise that no Black director could have made this film because it would have been difficult to get the financial backing.  Even George Lucas had to fund Red Tails himself because studios refuse to believe that movies about Black history, or which have a largely Black cast, can possibly be successful outside of the coonery produced by Tyler Perry.

Though Django Unchained is a western and therefore filled with violence, many have refused to consider the genre and instead have labeled this simply a revenge fantasy. Tavis (I will sell out my people for funding) Smiley had the following to say:

The suffering of black people is not reducible to revenge and retribution. The black tradition has taught the nation what it means to love. Put it another way: black people have learned to love America in spite of, not because of, so if the justification for the film in the end is, as Jamie Foxx’s Django says, “What, kill white people and get paid for it? What’s wrong with that?”­ well again, black suffering is not reducible to revenge and retribution.

It's true that the Black experience is not solely reducible to revenge; however, the turn the other cheek doctrine of Dr. King is also not the definition of the Black experience. Yes, Blacks have resisted oppression and we have done so both forcefully and violently.  Does Smiley believe that there was never a slave uprising or that Haitians peacefully asked the French for their freedom?  Does he think that Blacks always slept fearfully waiting for the Klan to ride, or can he understand that some stood on their porches with shotguns determined to meet a threat to their lives with one in kind?  Not all resistance was, or is, non-violent, nor should we necessarily demonize people who respond to the violence that Whiteness has perpetrated on Black people with violence. Anger, rage and a desire for retribution are a part of the Black experience; we have simply been taught not to validate it, or see it as a viable response.  Because one of the fears of Whiteness is a reckoning for the great evil of slavery and Jim Crow, revenge has solidly been discouraged.

Quentin Tarantino tapped into this emotion, which is why it has resonated so strongly. Black rage is a real phenomenon and it is justified, I am just not sure that Quentin Tarantino is the one to tell this story because it is so far outside of his lived experience. Take for instance the character of the house slave Stephen, played by Samuel L. Jackson.  Stephen was clearly painted as evil and was directly responsible for Django, Dr. Shultz and Broomhilda being unable to leave the plantation peacefully.  When Calvin Candie was shot dead by Shultz, it was Stephen who fell to the floor ravaged by grief.  There has long been a problematic binary of house slaves equal sell out/ field slaves pro black.  To be clear, both groups were slaves and there is no such thing as a benign form of slavery.  The relationship between house slaves and their White owners was far more complex than Django Unchained could even hope to portray.

Django Unchained is a movie worth seeing.  Far too many people are willing to form an opinion on the movie based on what they have read or their discomfort with Quentin Tarantino. It adds to the dialogue about race and slavery even if Quentin Tarantino is so high on himself that he now sees himself as the sole arbiter of Black history in film.  Despite his Whiteness and out of control arrogance, he has made a contribution worth watching and thinking about.  Even a broken clock is right twice a day and Django Unchained is most certainly Quentin Tarantino's moment.

Say Hello To Lana

An ongoing story I've been tracking in these electronic pages is the rumored metamorphosis of The Matrix trilogy director Lana Wachowski.   

Since 2003 there have been 'did she or did she not transition' rumors flying from the Left Coast that were exacerbated by the 2010 Rolling Stone article about her that was printed without comment from the Wachowski siblings.

You would see the occasional sightings of Lana at various Hollywood events and LAX posted online or in various gossip blogs, but cricket chirping silence from either of the Wachowski siblings confirming or denying them.  Even the folks that were cast in their movies such as The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer or worked with them on projects such as V For Vendetta in which they were writing credited as The Wachowski's were tight lipped about it.  

Despite the increasing anecdotal and photographic evidence that said transition had already occurred, my personal thoughts on that is until a person acknowledges they are trans via press conference or interview, I consider them as a cis person until told otherwise..

The Wachowski siblings are set to premiere October 26 a new movie called Cloud Atlas that stars Halle Berry and Tom Hanks and have just released a trailer for it.  But what has gotten peoples attention is this will be the first movie that you will see Lana Wachowski's name in the movie credits instead of the old one.



Yep people, here's the strongest evidence yet short of a press conference (which I wish she'd do) that Lana Wachowski is a #GirlLikeUs.  As to whether she'll do a coming out interview about it, that remains to be seen.  

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I'd Like To See More Positive Films That Feature Trans Women Period

When I was checking out my Twitter feed Saturday night, noted a comment Isis made about how she wished she could see more romantic films that featured transwomen in them.

I presume she was talking about that new romantic film in Bangladesh with a trans character that has become a runaway hit there.  I concur with my little sis' thoughts on that subject 

But how about we get Hollywood to start casting transwomen in trans roles as a starting point, then go from there to non stereotypical trans characters to ones in romantic roles?

I know that Isis, Laverne, Alexandra, Calpernia, Candis, Jamie, Harmony and other trans actresses would love to play those types of romantic interest roles as soon as possible and I'd love to see that happen for them as well.   Since we trans women of color haven't gotten much positive Hollywood picture love, definitely would like to see myself accurately depicted on a silver screen before the end of the decade.    


I said this back in March 2009 and it's even more prescient in the wake of Isis' comment.  

What's going to have to happen is that transwomen are going to have to write, produce and direct their own stories, and one of those indie films is going to have to make enough money and garner enough awards to get the peeps in Hollywood's attention.


I think that's still the case three years later.  

With trans human rights and issues getting more coverage and attention around the world, this is our moment to press Hollywood to consider doing these types of productions because we need to see trans people positively reflected in popular culture.

And the sooner it happens, the better. 

The more positive portrayals in popular culture we get, the faster on trans rights struggle will gain traction and be ensconced in the general public minds that we are just like everyone else in society  because frankly, we are.

Transpeople have hopes, dreams, aspirations, complex personalities, interesting stories to tell and are looking for people to love us.   We also want our lives accurately depicted on the silver and small screens, too.

So yes, I'd like to see more positive films produced in Hollywood that feature trans people not only as major characters, but take the additional step of having trans actors in them.   Wile I'm not mad and I'm flattered that beautiful and talented cis women actresses such as Rebecca Romijn, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Kerry Washington have portrayed transwomen in the past, it's time to give some work to trans actresses as well who intimately know what is like to be #girlslikeus.

And if we have to write those scripts or produce those films our damned selves in order to accurately tell our stories, then that's all good too.

The Roberts Test For Trans POC In Media

I read an interesting post over at Womanist Musings in which she revised the Bechdel Test for disabled people .   It was built off of a post Tami Winfrey Harris wrote for Clutch magazine that created a Winfrey-Harris Test for POC's.

What's the Bechdel Test you ask?   It originated in 1985 from Allison Bechdel’s comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” and is based on three simple questions:.

1. Are there two or more women in it who have names?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man? 

Tami expanded the Bechdel Test in her Clutch magazine post to include the following four questions to ask in terms of POC representation in media created by her and several bloggers of color that included a certain Timmy's Ice Capp loving Canadian. 

          1. One or more named people of color
          2.  Who talk to each other
          3.  Who don't act in a service capacity (No magical brown people!)
          4.  Who are reflective of their culture and history, but don't communicate that through stereotyped action, such as an affected accent.   

Since the representations of transpeople in media are just as fouled up and especially for transpeople of color, introducing the Roberts Test For Trans POC's In Media to set up minimum standards for positive portrayals of us in these films, plays and television shows.  

     1.  Are there one or more named trans people of color
     2.  Who talk to each other
     3.  Who aren't shown putting on makeup
     4.  Who aren't killed off in the first five minutes of the show
     5.  Aren't played by male actors in drag     
     6.  Aren't the butt of a demeaning joke
     7.  Who aren't sex workers or drag queens
     8.  Who are accurately portraying the complexity of trans lives and reflective of their culture and history
                                                               9.   Don't communicate that through stereotyped or exaggerated actions such as speaking in drag queen English.  

If there are other rules for trans POC's in media you think should be there, leave them in the comment section.

Red Hook Summer And Why Spike Lee Isn't A Racist.

Guest Post by Renee, the talented and thoughtful editor of Womanist Musings.


At the Sundance film festival, Spike recently premiered his independent movie, Red Hook Summer.  Spike has had several problems over the years getting funding for his films, and I firmly believe that at least part of the issue, is Spike's commitment to telling our stories without the coonery that is featured in the typical Tyler Perry film.  To be clear, Spike's male privilege has at times made some of his work problematic and in fact, other than She's Gotta Have It, strong female roles have been few and far between. Even She's Gotta Have It, includes a rape as punishment for failing to agree to a monogamous relationship.

The reviews for Red Hook Summer have been decidedly bad. I have not seen the movie, so I cannot argue any faults or biases the reviews may contain.  In the question and answer period, Spike Lee and Chris Rock had a verbal scuffle.

Rock, who appeared to be joking around, said, "You spent your own money ... What would you have done differently if you'd actually gotten studio money? What else would have happened? Would you have blown up some (bleep)?"

Lee, apparently unamused, responded, "We never went to the studios with this film. I bought a camera and said we're gonna do this mother(bleeping) film ourselves. I didn't need a mother(bleeping) studio telling me something about Red Hook! They know nothing about black people! Nothing!" Lee then added, "And they're gonna give me notes about what a 13-year-old black boy and girl do in Red Hook? (Bleep) no!" [Source]

I have to agree with Spike when he points out that no White studio head has the slightest clue of what it to be a 13-year-old Black boy and girl.  This is especially true if we consider the class aspect that the movie seeks to interrogate.  These White men of class privilege are only interested in the bottom line, and not about depicting the true experiences of kids of colour, or even why such movies are desperately needed.

A negative reaction has become common place to much of what Spike says or does. The following are some comments on the discussion between Spike and Chris Rock.

Bluelife4: I like Chris Rock. He pokes fun at any race. But Spike Lee? He's a racist.

Wallace:  Spike Lee is one of the biggest racist I have ever seen. Man I'm tired of his low budget films. Enough already. Yes I am a black man. Racism from any person is wrong. I think this guy sucks. I'm a middle class worker who live one of the most racist states in the US (S.C.) and to hear this guy speak is crazy. Man grow up. Please. I think his anger comes from his height. Blame ur parents not the world.

Nicolas:  Spike Lee is an angry, racist little bigot. Always has been. No such thing as "reverse racism". The whole idea that you can say racist things about your own race is laughable. Racism is racism, black, white, yellow, brown, red, blue, etc....

The Love Doctor: I've been wondering for more than 20 years, when are we going to start saying that being racist towards white people is wrong too????

I was always taught that racism is wrong period. But it seems in our modern culture, discriminating against and being racist towards white people seems to be accepted in our culture...

Duntov: Seems like an Angry African-American that continues to prey on racism for his own gain and agenda. Go away until you can talk like an intelligent human. Stop the hate and move on.

Jack Plummer: Why is it okay for a black person to be a racist?

Hustonman:  On the Yahoo homepage it said Spike Lee went on a surprising tirade. Who is surprised? This agitator has had one tirade after another for twenty plus years. No class, no truth, just a little disgruntled man. A racist with a Napoleon complex.

These comments all appeared on the first page of the article, and as you might imagine, they continue in the same vein no matter how deeply into the article you go. Spike speaks without apology about race and racism in the U.S., and this makes people uncomfortable.  Many either have bought into the bullshit idea that the world is now colourblind, or they very firmly believe that their thoughts, or actions, are not part of the problem -- and this includes the sell out negro -- who made sure to announce that he is Black.

Whiteness may not like to admit it, but Blacks of the African diaspora are entitled to our continued rage, and the very suggestion that we should moderate our speech to suit their comfort level is only an indicator of how far we still have to go, rather than the unreasonableness of our position.  Spike Lee is not a perfect man, but he is most certainly not a racist.  No Black person speaking out against White supremacy will ever be a racist.

These commenters are not the first to refer to Spike Lee as racist for his approach to race and film, and they most certainly will not be the last. Whiteness would very much love the definition of racism to be prejudicial thoughts, acts, or language against another race.  It's a nice and simple definition, which allows Whiteness to be able to claim to be oppressed by people of colour.   It allows Whiteness to be able to circumvent our rage, and once again center themselves in the conversation.  Most importantly, it allows Whiteness to deny and alternately censure our speech on the alleged grounds that we are all equal. This is why the co-option of the term racist, is an absolute disservice to people of colour.  It's ahistorical, in that it ignores the ongoing inequality in power relations between Black and White.  When a White person acts, ze does so with the full institutional weight of Whiteness at their behest. An analysis of race without an acknowledgement of power is an incomplete and faulty analysis.  This is specifically why it is necessary to understand and accept that racism equals privilege plus power.  No matter how angry, or hate filled a person of colour may be, they do not exist with the institutional power to act on their feelings. For all of the class privilege that Spike Lee has managed to amass over the years, the fact remains that he still a Black man in America and that makes him an oppressed person.

Spike's status as a racially oppressed Black man means that his speech is not welcome, and that is particularly so when he is confronting racism.  While I may not agree with everything that he says and does, there can no be denial that he continues to be relevant.  He has forged ahead to make movies that White run studios have not seen as important, and it is because of this struggle that he is so derided.  When he spoke of being tired of yet another White WWII war movie, Clint Eastwood's response was to tell Spike to "shut his face".  If you cannot acknowledge that Black blood was shed in the battle fields of WWII, only to come home to Jim Crow, then you fail to see the truth. When he spoke about the coonery and buffonery engaged in by Tyler Perry, Mr. Perry was affronted.  He was happy to ignore the tradition in which his movies were made and the negative effect that they have had on Blacks.

There are certainly many criticism that can and should be levied at Spike Lee, but being a racist is not now or ever will be a legitimate charge.  The truth of the matter is that Whiteness loves to engage in revisionist history, and at times it is supported by Blacks, but finding even hundreds or thousands of Blacks to agree to their own continued colonization and oppression does not make the truth less true, or any less relevant.  Truth tellers are never embraced in their lifetimes and as Dr. King has shown us through his life and death, in the end, until their speech can be used to bolster the oppressor they are relegated to being understood as angry, disgruntled and hateful.  By this statement I am not saying that Spike Lee is the equivalent of Dr. King, only that truth when told without embellishment, to favor the ruling class will always be unwelcome.