Welcome to #TransTuesday! Over the course of 2023 I tracked every movie and tv show I watched to bring you TILLY’S 2023 TRANS REP IN MEDIA! We’ll discuss where trans people or issues appeared, under what context, and hopefully get a picture of how things are going!
At the end I’ll be comparing trans rep in 2023 to trans rep in 2022, so you might want to first check out the TRANS REP IN MEDIA 2022 to see how things were last year, what was good, and what went entirely off the rails.
Also I want you to PLEASE understand what an undertaking it is to take notes on EVERY SINGLE THING YOU WATCH FOR A YEAR (now for two years running). It’s a TON of work, and it means I can’t ever just brush off transphobia I see.
But if I don’t do this, people don’t know. Even trans people can miss transphobic jokes if they’re not always looking for them. So if I don’t point them out, it doesn’t get talked about, and then nothing ever gets better.
But I ALSO want to call out media that gets it right, that has wonderful and so very badly needed trans representation. We need to celebrate the good, too, especially in this heavily anti-trans climate we find ourselves in.
As with last year, this does not cover all movies and tv shows released in 2023. There’s no way for me to watch everything that’s released, it’s just not possible. And in our present flood of media, we might not even hear about something until a year or more after it comes out.
This is a representation of things I watched in 2023, but that were released recently (within the past couple of years). But Susan and I watch a LOT. We’re screenwriters, that’s part of the job.
So what you’re getting is one trans woman screenwriter’s experience watching the mediums she most loves for an entire year, and what was great, what was awful, and just how often there was absolutely nothing at all for me to report on.
I’m including the titles of everything we watched, and how many trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming people appeared in them. And I’m going to include titles even when NO trans people appeared, because that’s still remarkably the norm.
I tried my best to catch all the trans people but may have missed some, because not every trans person knows every other trans person (huge if true). And also because sometimes it’s not mentioned that a character is trans at all.
In fact, I missed a couple last year and had to add them in after the fact. Did you know the MCU has had a trans person in it? I bet you did not! Patti Harrison is in an episode of She-Hulk, playing a bride. She has actual lines, too!
But nothing in the episode mentions that she’s trans, so I, a trans woman, did not know or even suspect I was seeing someone like me FOR THE FIRST TIME in a gigantic media franchise that’s dominated the cultural landscape for the past decade.
Also, after the 2022 TRANS REP IN MEDIA trans tuesday, I learned that Janelle Monae was non-binary, which meant that even though they were playing a cis woman character in Glass Onion, it was at least representation in terms of actors.
I discussed this in the 2022 write up, but it bears repeating: IF YOU DO NOT SAY OR UNQUESTIONABLY VISIBLY CONVEY A CHARACTER IS TRANS, NOBODY WILL KNOW. Not even other trans people!
And then WE don’t know that we got to exist in those worlds and be part of those stories, and cis people don’t get to see and experience us just being a normal part of the world our stories inhabit, like we should be.
And we SHOULDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT. In an ideal world, there’d be a fair amount of trans rep in our media and we’d see it so often that it wouldn’t matter if a character’s transness was mentioned or not.
But we do not live in that world.
And until we do, seeing trans people on screen and as parts of our most popular mediums and art forms is VITAL to the acceptance we so badly need in this society. If we can see it, we can be it. It lets us know we belong and it’s okay to be us.
And now you see why the bigots fight so hard against it, why cis people gatekeep trans stories and trans creatives out of so much of our media. It’s the same reason you see so little representation for every other marginalized community too.
Of course not all of it is active bigotry, but the way the entertainment industry is structured, the easiest way in is by having a connection to those who are already in (largely cishet white people), or being able to be an assistant for next to no pay and often horrible conditions.
And who are the people who can afford to do that? Largely (wealthy, especially compared to many marginalized people) cishet white people.
So the system is self-perpetuating, because less marginalized people get into positions of power where they can help other marginalized people get jobs and tell our stories. And when we don’t, when we appear in media we didn’t get to help create…
It can often be harmful in so many ways. If you need a refresher on the perils of BAD REPRESENTATION and the harm it can do, there’s a trans tuesday on that and Lovecraft Country.
And if you need a refresher on the importance of GOOD REPRESENTATION and the joy it can bring and the good it can do, there’s a trans tuesday on that too, and Cyberpunk 2077.
A reminder: whether or not a trans person appeared in something does not indicate quality or whether I enjoyed it. I really liked lots of things that had zero trans people in them. But it remains difficult to love something and then wonder why there was no place in it for you.
Also a reminder that covid is still real and still a thing and my wife is immunocompromised, so we cannot go to theaters. So anything that hasn’t hit streaming/Blu-ray yet we have no way to see. Still, we saw a lot!
CAUTION: To talk about this there have to be spoilers by necessity! Okay, let’s get into it, starting with movies:
65 – 0
Banshees of Inisherin – 0
Barbie – 1
Trans woman Hari Nef plays Doctor Barbie, though she’s not mentioned as trans in dialogue. No other characters’ identities are either really buuuuut again, if you don’t say it how many people aren’t gonna know and thus miss that representation?
Barbie theatrical poster with Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken digging on a bright pink B with the text “she’s everything, he’s just Ken”
How many of you watched and had no idea there was a trans woman in that movie? So do we count that as trans representation? In terms of actors, yes absolutely. I saw a trans woman on screen and it was fabulous.
Hari Nef’s Barbie character poster, with a photo of her and text that reads, “this Barbie is a doctor”
But trans people can play cis characters, and nothing marks the character as trans, so largely most of the cis people who saw the movie had no idea they were seeing a trans Barbie, which would have been truly remarkable.
Anyway the whole movie is a big trans allegory, but in a way you probably wouldn’t think. I’m gonna do a trans tuesday all about it, so stay tuned.
Bottoms – 0
This was one of my favorite movies of the year, a lesbian teen sex comedy that made me feel seen in ways I haven’t felt before. But there are no trans people. There’s a couple of jokes, though…
Bottoms theatrical poster with the cast and text that reads, “a movie about empowering women (the hot ones)”
There’s one joke where a girl is talking about a guy and mentions his “male penis,” which is only funny if you think there can’t be any other kind (spoiler, there can, there are also female penises and nonbinary penises).
And there’s another scene where the head jock football quarterback is dancing in his room to “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which is again played for laughs but is only funny if you think a boy dancing to a love song is something he shouldn’t be doing.
Confess Fletch – 0
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – 0
Elemental – 1
There is apparently a non-binary character among Wade’s water family, played by non-binary actor Ava Kai Hauser. But I say “apparently” because I missed it entirely, and after watching remembered I’d heard there was some rep and thought I missed it.
Theatrical poster for Elemental, with water creature Wade hanging from the top and dripping water droplets downard, and fire creature Ember standing on the bottom and smiling up at him
And sure enough I did. The character has only a handful of lines and since everyone is calling this the first actual non-binary rep in a Pixar film I must have missed the they/them pronouns.
But if a trans person actively looking for the trans rep still misses it, what does that tell you about how effective the representation was? And I want you to realize even if I had picked up on it, the character is of literally no consequence.
If you removed them the movie would not have a single drop of difference. It’s well beyond time we got more than four lines and were actual characters and not set dressing. I’m in the animation guild, and through that I was able to see the Elemental script.
Now I don’t know which version of the script this was, because scripts go through so many drafts and revisions, and where it starts may barely resemble where it ends up. And things also get changed on set during filming, or for animated films, during recording.
And then they may change further during editing. So this isn’t fully determinative, but in the script *I* read, Wade has brothers and sisters but no non-binary sibling. There are no they/them pronouns used. he role may have been changed to suit the actor, which is great.
And though his siblings have names, Ava Kai Hauser is only credited on IMDB as “additional voices,” which seems… unfortunate, given they voiced a character with an actual name, incredibly small though it may have been.
And yet how sad is it that this still feels like progress?
Enola Holmes 2 – 0
At one point Enola swaps clothes with a boy to elude the police, and there’s a shot of the boy in her dress smiling like he super likes it. The moment is played for laughs, and again we are shown that someone perceived as a boy doing anything perceived for girls is worthy of ridicule.
The Flash – 1
Ezra Miller is non-binary, though they’re playing a cis man. So this counts as actor rep but not character rep. Buuuut Ezra is an abuser and a trash person, so it’s a definite mixed bag at best.
Ghosted – 0
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 – 0
Haunted Mansion – 0
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – 0
Joyride – 1
Deadeye is a character nicknamed that due to their… dead eyes. And, like, have you seen pre-transition photos of trans people? We’ve got those. One of the most beautiful and heartwarming things about transition timelines is watching our eyes come alive.
Joyride theatrical poster with the cast looking disheveled and sitting on luggage, with the text, “Four friends. One Trip. No luck.”
Suddenly there’s joy, and happiness, and LIFE. Deadeye was not named that by mistake. They introduce themselves with their “legal name” and then say to call them Deadeye. How much clearer could that be?
Multiple times through the movie, Deadeye mimes having a penis. And it’s played for laughs, but not by the movie so much as by Deadeye themselves. In the way of “ha ha wouldn’t it be funny if I had different genitalia?” as a “safe, joking” way trans people can dance around our truth.
They have a line later on where they say, “I’m not like the rest of my family.” And their family says they should smile more. Which you can see as sexism, OR… as because pre-transition trans people rarely smile, and when we did it was always kind of hollow.
In the final scene, Deadeye’s hair and clothes have become perhaps more masculine, and “they/them” pronouns are used for them in the final scene. And they’re played by by nonbinary actor Sabrina Wu.
It was written and directed by cis people, but the story wasn’t appropriating anything. It wasn’t ABOUT Deadeye being trans or nonbinary, their transition was just something that happened over the course of the story. Pretty great representation all around, I think.
The Little Mermaid live action – 0*
The Little Mermaid remains a huge trans allegory, including the Part of Your World song and the fact that Hans Christian Anderson may have been trans. I plan to dive into HCA’s published letters at some point to see for myself what clues may be there.
Until then, you can see the trans tuesday on THE INTENTIONAL (?) TRANS ALLEGORY OF THE LITTLE MERMAID’S “PART OF YOUR WORLD”.
And for more discussion on Hans Christan Anderson’s possible transness, and how difficult it can be to spot trans people from the past (even though we have ALWAYS existed), see the trans tuesday on TRANS HISTORY 1.
The Menu – 0
Monica – 1 (but the movie is all about her)
Trans woman Trace Lysette stars in this movie about a trans woman going home to help take care of her mother with dementia, who may not even realize that her daughter is her child, as she’s not seen her since she kicked her out, when she came out as trans.
Theatrical poster for Monica, showing Trace Lysette as Monica, eyes closed and face raised upward as a warm light shines down on her
This movie showed me several things I’ve never seen in a movie before, namely a trans woman having to deal with chasers. See the trans tuesday on CHASERS AND THE FETISHIZATION OF TRANS WOMEN for more on that.
The moment in the movie that just floored me is when, emotionally distraught and fed up, Monica un-modulates her voice as she yells in frustration.
For those not aware, for a trans woman who does gender-affirming voice therapy, one of the hardest things to do can be to maintain it when we get really emotional, because you’re just reacting and not thinking about how you sound. That moment was so powerful to me.
If you want more on exactly what gender-affirming voice therapy is like, there’s a three-part trans tuesday on TRANS VOICES.
I’m conflicted about this movie though, as it was written and directed by a seemingly cis man. But this is a very trans story, the kind that should only be told by trans people and not appropriated by cis folks.
See the trans tuesday on TRANS ROLES AND STORIES (and who gets to play them/tell them) for more on that.
The director said he worked with Trace Lysette through every step of the process, which is great, but… listen, if you’re a cis person who thinks there’s an important trans story that needs to be told, and you can help make that happen? GREAT.
But you need to empower trans people to tell that story. He could have brought Trace on as a co-writer or co-director, but he didn’t. Her only credit is in acting. It’s also possible the director may be trans and not out, or not know it yet.
But it appears to be a cis man telling an inherently trans story, and that makes me uncomfortable. And so my feelings on it are really complicated.
Morbius – 0
Nimona – 1*
This was also one of my favorite movies of the year. Nimona is genderfluid, but also the entire story is very much about being trans and the way the world treats you. But Nimona is played by Chloë Grace Moretz, who is a cis woman. So it’s character rep, but not actor rep.
Nimona theatrical poster, showing Nimona (a young person with bat wings and a demon tail) smiling on the back of Ballister (an adult man in a suit of armor). A large number of sharp weapons are pointed at them.
The movie’s based on a webcomic and graphic novel by ND Stevenson who is trans. ND has said, looking back, Nimona was clearly an intentional trans allegory (even if he wasn’t aware of it at the time).
I’ve mentioned time and again how just because we might not consciously know we’re writing about trans themes, doesn’t mean we’re not. We work through these things subconsciously sometimes, but that makes them no less intentional.
At first I thought I’d have to do a trans tuesday about how trans the movie is, how brilliantly it uses color, how they stunningly use the shape of eyes to convey so much, but then the filmmakers did all that themselves in an interview with Hollywood Reporter.
Still, a LOT of people have said they’d love for me to do a write-up on it and all the specific ways it speaks to transness, so look for that coming down the road sometime, too. This movie is magnificent and everyone should see it.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – 0
I loved this movie. Marcel is a shell with shoes and one googly eye, who yet is also explicitly male (despite being voiced by a cis woman). At one point people see videos of him and he gets made fun of for having pink shoes, and he says his grandfather had pink shoes.
But again we see the “apparent boy doing anything coded as for girls is worthy of laughter” joke, and goodness it seems to permeate everything. I doubt it’s even a conscious choice in any of these appearances, it’s just THAT implicit in our society.
If you want more on implicit biases and what those are, and why we NEED to root them out and get rid of them, see the trans tuesday on IMPLICIT QUEERPHOBIA.
GdT Pinocchio – 0
This movie is wonderful and ALSO works remarkably well as a trans allegory, but there’s no trans rep to be found.
Polite Society – 0
Quantumanina – 0
Quiet Place 2 – 0
Shazam Fury of the Gods – 0
There’s one very cringey bit where the wizard has his head appear on wonder woman’s body in the middle of someone’s dream, and it’s played for laughs. SO TIRED OF IT, YA’LL.
Strange World – 0
Super Mario Bros movie – 0
Tetris – 0
Three Thousand Years of Longing – 0
Wakanda Forever – 0
WolfWalkers – 0
That’s all the recent movies we saw, and the totals aren’t great. Basically as many jokes ABOUT trans people as there were trans people (not all of whom were even mentioned as being trans). YIKES.
Come back next week as we dive into the first part of television I watched in 2023!
Tilly Bridges, end transmission.
tillysbridges@gmail.com