about ray

This movie isn't even out yet, and I'm still sort of disappointed about it. No, wait. I'm very disappointed about it. 

I've had a lot of discussions about diversity in film, books, etc. with a lot of people. Even though it's super important, it's also really important that diverse people can tell stories about themselves. It's especially important, because if that doesn't happen, stuff like about ray does. 

I've basically made it a policy not to post links on here, but there's an interview that the director of the film did. One that made me really freaking upset. In case you didn't know, the film is about a young transman and his journey through transition. 

But, like, he's portrayed by Elle Fanning, who is a cis female. (She's actually been pretty respectful in all of the interviews that she's done about the film so far, but that's besides the point.) And honestly, all the director does is refer to Ray by his incorrect pronouns. 

She also kept calling him a girl. And said it's not a story about a trans person, just a confused girl. Which is really freaking annoying, actually. I know that I'm not trans, so this isn't really my space to talk about. But I at least wanted to bring light to the situation. 

Basically, the director said that they used Elle Fanning so that the movie would make a certain amount of money. She also said that the movie was originally about three generations of women, which I actually think she should've done.

I guess it's possible for cisgender actors and directors to create stories about trans people, but I don't know how authentically they can do it. Obviously, the director doesn't know much of what she's talking about. In this situation, you can tell that she decided to focus on a trans character because it would be "cool." 

Or, you know, seem progressive and hopefully make a lot of money that way. 

Basically, don't make movies about people whose lives you have not lived unless you want to do the work. I figured that was common sense, but I guess not.

*shrugs*

xoxo, 

Camryn