“Disclosure” did a great job of telling the history and narrative of trans people in film and Hollywood. Through this lens it helped paint a picture of how trans people are treated today and how representation as well as misrepresentation can affect a culture’s response to trans people in real life. I loved how the documentary was narrated only by trans women and men in film and media. They gave insight and shared how certain movies and TV Shows affected them and how cis people take these ideas that are portrayed in film and take it as truth. It was said in the film that only 80% of people are personally friends with a trans person and how most people get their ideas about trans people from the media which can lead to violent behavior if one sees trans people depicted as only “monstrous, sexually promiscuous, etc”. Someone said in the film that Hollywood taught America how to react to trans people. And in that we see trans men erased from representation and trans women only being represented in a way that is either appealing to cis men because women are a “commodifiable asset”.
The film touched upon ideas that I’ve never considered before like how black men in comedy and overall media often play a gender switched role. The idea of emasculating black men in our society considering our racist history and present day, plays into the notion that black men are violent. Emasculating them is a racist tool that downplays this “violence” and makes them a joke. I also appreciated when someone brought up how trans women play sex workers often in tv but never goes into why. Trans women face high unemployment rates and sex work may be their only option but this is never considered in film, therefor allowing people to jump to conclusions about trans women and planting the idea that they are merely there for one’s one pleasure, typically white men.
Recently I went to a film screening showcasing films made by young women. One of those women (unfortunately,I can not remember her name) is a young, trans woman of color who directed and acted in a film alongside her friends about what it feels like to be trans in a NYC high school. She had scenes that depicted her trying to become prom queen and the cis-girls of the high school told her she wasn’t “woman enough”, “pretty enough”, “passing enough”. She showcased how the boys who were attracted to her or wanted to be friends with her eventually ignored or began to bully her because of the backlash they got from other cis people about being friends with a trans person. At the end of the film she did become prom queen and her biggest bullies were educated on LGBTQ+ rights. At the end of the film there was a panel and she mentioned that just because her film has a happy ending doesn’t mean that is what real life is like. In real life she never became prom queen and survived high school by not saying much and staying to herself. She told us, however that showcasing people of trans experience in happy endings and situations that are deserving of all people will hopefully aid in the realization of these desires into real life. She also said that she wanted to depict herself as the prom queen so that other young trans women could see themselves in that moment and hopefully take it for themselves.
