Where the Trans community is in film and TV in 2019
For many of us our day to day living is in a bubble filled with people who look, and act just like us. Television and film can often be our first exposure to different individuals outside these bubbles.
I, like many of us, had my first experience seeing someone from the transgender community shaped through the lens of film and TV. As a cisgender person myself, I had no idea what it meant to be transgender.
This first interaction with the transgender community can be reflective and influential on how we perceive this gender group. For this reason, positive diverse representation in the media is crucial to shaping the way we view the LGBTQIA community and breaking negative stereotypes.
Ever since 1997, when Ellen Degeneres made ground breaking history by coming out as gay on her popular TV sitcom Ellen, LGBT representation in film and TV has steadily risen.
Whilst, LGBT characters cast in the late 1990s often fell into problematic stereotypes on shows like Will & Grace and Dawson’s Creek, this era marked the start of meaningful LGBT representation.
However, GLAAD an LGBT advocacy organisation focused on media representation annual “Where We are on TV” 2018–2019 report found there is still a long road ahead before the trans community is equally represented on TV. The report found, “Of the 433 total regular and recurring LGBTQ characters on scripted broadcast, cable, and streaming programs, only 26 (six percent) are transgender.”
As, many of us learn about the trans community through entertainment media, it is crucial Hollywood is inclusive of a diverse range of trans characters and explores a variety of stories in the way that stories about cisgender, straight people are told.
Despite, the steadily growing representation of the transgender community in film and TV, misrepresentation is still unfortunately commonplace, which can reinforce negative stereotypes and prejudices in real life.
As according to Jessica Jobe, “If consumers base their expectations on what they see on television or read in books, they may inadvertently make assumptions about cultures or environments that are simply untrue.”
For transgender women in particular, their representation on screen in film and TV is especially negative often cast as villains and criminals, thus damaging to their fight for equal treatment.
As John Phillips suggests in his book Transgender on Screen, “Western popular culture is heavily normative, so that sexual perversions and gender deviations of all kinds are routinely demonized.”
A GLAAD study found out of 102 television episodes featuring transgender characters, 21% of them featured a trans women as a villain.
Take the hit Netflix show Orange is the New Black for example, which features trans character Sophia Burset played by trans actress Laverne Cox. Whilst, this show has been praised by many as a positive example of trans representation, Sophia falls into the two common stereotypes trans characters are cast as criminal and a victim, which can lead to negative prejudice.
As Nick Adams, GLAAD’s Director of Transgender Media & Representation puts it, “Networks must be more responsible about what they put on the air.” As, informed viewers we have a responsibility to make sure the film and TV we consume positively represents the trans community accurately and fairly.
By improving trans visibility and representation in the media, the public acceptance and quality of life for the trans community will significantly improve.
Whilst, trans visibility has come far since 2013 with Laverne Cox on the cover of Time Magazine, Caitlyn Jenner’s transition and successful trans-inclusive streaming series Netflix’s Tales of the City and Amazon’s Transparent, there is still a long way to go.
In supporting positive representations of the trans community in film and TV we as a wider community can break down negative stereotypes and misinformation. This can give the trans community the confidence to press through their struggles and discrimination by having positive role models on screen to look up too.
