Are most transexual characters killers or

[Edi]

Topic moved from Testing to OT by request.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I seem to recall the show 'Dirty Sexy Money' had a transexual character played by an actual post-op. The actress' name was 'Candace Cayne', a stringly beautiful woman. On the show her character was having an affair with a guy running for senate, and functioned as a moral compass and anchor in a world of high society and corruption.

She was (I believe) the first regular character on a tv show to be played by a transexual woman.

[Serafina]

*snip*

Yes, you pretty much got that right apparently (i never saw that show, i looked it up now), you only got her name slightly wrong: Candis Cayne. And yes, she is looking quite good - you can easily google her and i linked her wikipedia-article, so i won't spam pictures. Plus, i'm not certain that the pictures i would want to link are entirely NSFW


For that matter, i don't particulary care if a transsexual character is played by a transsexual actor. It certainly guarantees that the acting is better as far as the characters transsexuality is concerned, but it's hardly a requirement. A straight actor can play a gay actor as well, and you don't have to suffer from a medical condition just to play a character with one.
And after all, a transsexual person won't look that different (if at all) from a cissexual person after transition. Before transition, you'll hardly find transsexual actors - the same goes for those in transition. So it doesn't "look more realistic" or anything as well - the only thing that could suffer from taking a cissexual actor is the portrayal of some specific things, such as the gender dysphoria itself or some coming-out moments.

[Dalton]

What's your opinion of Transamerica?

[Serafina]

What's your opinion of Transamerica?

It's not a movie i watch all that often, but that's mostly because i a) don't like road movies and b) the character in question is waay to old for me to identify with.
Also, i REALLY don't like the main plot hook - no surgeon would give an appointment without a letter from a psychatrist, and no psychatrists would ask for this action at this point.

But you know what - i shall watch it tomorrow (in about 14-15 hours) and give you a proper opinion.

Edit: This will be delayed until tomorrow or this night, since i screwed up my planning today and now lack the time to see the move.

[Serafina]

Well, anyway, here is my opinion about Transamerica in relation to this topic:

-While i don't like what the psychiatrist is doing (she is more or less forcing Bree to do something at gunpoint), i like how she's justifying it: repressing one's past like Bree is doing it at that moment is not healthy, and i know a couple of transwomen who have problems due to doing that.
-IMO, this also shows in Brees behavior for most of the movie, it is very tense and gender-dysphoric. While this is hardly the case with all transwomen at her stage in transition, it's a good thing to portray IMO.
-Furthermore, it's nice to see how this is slowly changing throughout the movie. In reality that's of course a longer process, but hey, it's a movie.
-Brees relation to her relatives is summed up in a very nice sentence: "I wish that, just once, they could look at me and see me - that's all." It's a perfect description of my problems with most of my relatives.
-Overall, i think the movies portrays Brees "transition" very well. Transition isn't just a physical process, but also about getting accustomed to one self - to the new gender role, how to deal with ones past and so on.


So yes, it's a pretty good portrayal of a transwoman and some of the problems that she has to deal with. It has a very good main message (at least as far as i read it): That transitioning should be a process where you are open and honest with yourself, and that you are far happier when you do so. We clearly see this happening to Bree here - she starts out trying to find the "right" answers in order to get her SRS and ends up trying to reconcile her relationship with her son whom she did not want in the beginning.

[Sriad]

I always thought Lord Fanny from The Invisibles was a pretty strong and admirable transexual character, but YMMV. She IS a killer, but so is everybody else in the comic.

No, really, pick a fucking naming convention and stick with it.

Just sayin'...

As nerds, we can use technical terms where called for:

"Used to look like a guy" = MTF
"Used to look like a gal" = FTM
(Say the letters.)

No bits cut/shuffled around = pre-op
Bits rearranged = post-op
In the middle of ongoing adjustment = transitioning

In non-technical conversation (ie most of the time) = the gender of their choice

If you do that and someone still gets pissed off they're probably carrying a chip on their shoulder, though if someone tells you they have a specifically preferred terminology the polite thing to do is use it for them.

[The Yosemite Bear]

the web comic "Venus Envy" has a transgendered main character, oh and it's set in high school, so the straigh Blairs and Jocks are the villians.