Transgender Cinema

Quick Takes: Movies and Popular Culture

by Rebecca Bell-Metereau

Transgender Cinema gives readers the big picture of how trans people have been depicted on screen. Beginning with a history of trans tropes in classic Hollywood cinema, from comic drag scenes in Chaplin’s The Masquerader to Garbo’s androgynous Queen Christina, and from psycho killer queers to The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s outrageous queen, it examines a plethora of trans portrayals that subsequently emerged from varied media outlets, including documentary films, television serials, and world cinema. Along the way, it analyzes milestones in trans representation, like The Crying Game, Boys Don’t Cry, Hedwig and the Angry Inch,and A Fantastic Woman.
 
As it traces the evolution of trans people onscreen, Transgender Cinema also considers the ongoing controversies sparked by these movies and series both within LGBTQ communities and beyond. Ultimately it reveals how film and television have shaped not only how the general public sees trans people, but also how trans people see themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT, Film

130 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2019

About the author

Rebecca Bell-Metereau is professor and director of media studies in the English department at Texas State University. She is author of Hollywood Androgyny and Simone Weil on Politics, Religion and Society, along with numerous articles and chapters on gender, acting, stardom and society.

Reviews

[Mansoor · Rating 1 out of 5]

مریدان ایدئولوژی جنسیت مدعی‌اند که جنسیت برساخته‌ای اجتماعی است. یکی از پیامدهای این دعوی آن است که ورود یک جنسیت جدید به عرصه‌ی جنسیت‌ها مستلزم رخ دادن یک دگرگونی اجتماعی است. پس چطور این جماعت می‌توانند "جنسیت‌های جدید" حال حاضر-مانند ترنس و جنسیت نادوگانه/غیردوریختی*-را به گذشته فرافکنی کنند؟! این در تناقض آشکار و زننده با دعوی بنیادین ایدئولوژی جنسیت است. هرچند بیهوده است که از جماعتی منکر تکامل انتظار داشته باشی به لوازم منطقی ادعاهای خود پایبند بمانند

*non-binary

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full disclosure I stopped reading this when it became clear it not only failed to deliver good analysis, but it’s actively transphobic. Do not recommend.

[Sucre · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did I go into this expecting the wrong thing? I thought this book would analyze movies with transgender characters and talk about both harmful and beneficial ways transgender people have been portrayed in media. Instead, I got a book that is essentially just listing off movies that have "transgender" characters aka any kind of gender nonconforming character that this author can think of.

It's just pages and pages and pages of her summarizing specific movies, sometimes even describing films shot by shot! There's also paragraphs of her listing all the awards specific directors (that I had never heard of) had won. If you're lucky there's a paragraph pointing out "controversial" aspects of these movies, aka actually harmful stereotypes and tropes that the author won't admit are harmful and reductionist.

There is no real thesis to this book, and the author makes every effort to have no opinion on anything. This book is sorely lacking nuance. It feels like a cis woman gleefully listing off her favorite movies that include crossdressing while ignoring how the way transgender people are depicted in movies is often extremely harmful.

[Jae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose this was an adequate introduction to transgender cinema, but there was a lot more plot summary than analysis and more terminology errors than I would expect from someone who studies trans people.

[Mars Nicoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good Trans Cinema 101 with interesting insights and film suggestions, does its job. Ultimately what I really cannot forgive is how the author keeps deadnaming so many of the trans folks mentioned here. It's unreal. I flinched for it every two pages. How much is it gonna take for cis people to understand that when you mention a trans person by name you do NOT need to open a parenthetical to inform me what they were "formerly known as"?

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5? like i didnt hate it enough to be 1 star but it was bad and -0.5 for deadnaming people

[Le Gault · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't recommend this. The author consistently dead names real trans people, misgenders, ect. They give WAY too much space and room for outright TERF rhetoric. It's ridiculous. Above all that, it's not even very informative on Trans Cinema. Really disappointing that a book this recently written, is so of the past.

[Kyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made it to p.17 before finding information that was fully incorrect and the work cited was another book by this same author. Looked ahead a couple pages and a shocking amount of the references were this author referring to their own stuff. Checked reviews and decided to abandon ship. Safer to do your own research I guess.

[Luke Sutherland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every day I get closer to believing cis people should not write about us

[Adron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Love the ally disclosure and then the at best bachelor level analysis sprinkled with deadnaming and and confusing ftm vs mtf whatever at least i have a movie list