More transgender visibility in movies, TV
Rodriguez’s sex-change assassin movie is a step back for LGBTQ representation
Problematic casting is in full bloom at the multiplex this spring.
A week after a “whitewashed” adaptation of Japanese manga
Ghost in the Shell starring Scarlett Johansson bombed at the box office with $18.7 million, The As
signment shot into theaters with a full arsenal of controversy.
The pulpy revenge thriller (on demand and in 10 cities nationwide now, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta) stars The Fate of the Furious’ Michelle Rodriguez as Frank Kitchen, a bristly hitman who unwillingly undergoes gender reassignment surgery after killing the brother of a demented plastic surgeon (Sigourney Weaver).
The critically derided movie (20% positive reviews on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes) drew backlash from journalists and LGBTQ activists when it premiered at Toronto Film Festival last fall, with Nick Adams, director of GLAAD’s transgender media program, slamming the way it turns “a life-saving medical procedure for transgender people into a sensationalistic plot device,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
But Assignment’s casting of Rodriguez (a bisexual woman) as a transgender assassin also points to a larger problem plaguing Hollywood, which continues to struggle with representation of minorities despite public outcry and diversity initiatives behind the scenes. According to GLAAD’s 2016 Studio Responsibility Index — which maps the quantity and quality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters in movies released by seven major studios — only one transgender character appeared in a 2015 mainstream release: Warner Bros.’ Hot Pursuit, which briefly used a transgender prostitute as comic relief.
Rodriguez has repeatedly defended her Assignment casting, as has director Walter Hill, who tells USA TODAY that the idea of having a trans actor play Frank “was discussed, but it wasn’t practical,” because of a lack of A-list trans stars.
“The movie was very difficult to get made with very well-known actors” such as Rodriguez and Weaver, Hill says. “It’s a question of marketability. You have to cast these things with names that (producers) are willing to finance.”
Progress has been more significant on television, according to GLAAD’s Where We Are on TV report for the 2016-17 season. The number of regular and recurring transgender characters has more than doubled since last year, rising from seven to 16: three on broadcast network shows, six on cable scripted series and seven on streaming shows. This year, Orange Is the New
Black’s Laverne Cox became broadcast’s first transgender series regular on CBS’ since-canceled Doubt, while Netflix’s The O.A., Fox’s Star and CMT’s Nashville all featured trans talent in their most recent seasons.
The sizable discrepancy between movies and television can be largely attributed to the fact that a greater number of series are released every year and have a much shorter production periods than films, which typically spend years in development.
“They can add a (trans) character in for a new season with only a few months’ notice, whereas for a film, you’re looking at a many-year cycle,” says Ann Thomas, founder of Transgender Talent, an agency specializing in placing transgender actors in the entertainment industry. “That’s why film is going to be a long way behind the curve.”
According to a GLAAD survey in 2015, only 16% of Americans say they know or work with someone who is transgender. It means that most people’s “whole image of who we are comes from media,” Thomas says. “Most writers are starting to realize that there’s a lot more depth to us than just a sex worker or something like that. It’s been great to see the change.”