Tropfest's Bamboozled: trans people's bodies should not be punch lines
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Version 0 of 1. If there's one thing that never ceases to annoy me as both a journalist and a trans woman, it's when people take it upon themselves to determine what should and shouldn't be considered as being offensive to me as a person – especially when it impacts on my life, and not theirs. Between “free speech” this and “my religious rights” that, sometimes I just wish they would let me live my life in peace, just as I let them live theirs. Take the Tropfest short film festival which took place in Sydney this week-end, where Bamboozled, a blatantly transphobic film, won the premier award. Director and co-star Matt Hardie attempted to utilise trans and gay people as a “nice punch”. Bamboozled starts with Peter being tapped on the shoulder out of the blue by his former partner Harry, who has medically transitioned genders from female to male since they last met 11 years previously. Back then, "Harry" was "Helen". Startled at first, Pete then proceeds to catch up with his former flame, while progressively getting drunk and eventually ending up in bed with Harry later that night. The next morning it quickly becomes apparent that Pete regrets having sex with Harry – however there's still one twist left to come. Namely, that Harry isn't really transgender, and that he's been play-acting for the real Helen, who wants revenge and has contacted a reality TV show to organise the deception. Given that trans characters have often been portrayed as murderers, sexual deviants and manipulators in similar productions – often with catastrophic repercussions for the trans community which has to fight stereotyping– I was therefore flabbergasted to find out that TropFest's judges thought that such an abhorrent film was worthy of being showcased. In the face of criticism, Hardie said that “If we're always worried about who we're offending, we're never going to make anything decent ... Everything's going to be watered down and bland”. I therefore assume that him and his supporters do not care who Bamboozled hurts. But consider this: as many as 41% of trans people who aren't allowed to be themselves attempt suicide at some time or another throughout their lives, in comparison to just 1.6% of the general population. I feel confident in saying that supposedly controversial romantic “comedies” like Bamboozled have an impact on not only how this small community is viewed by society in general, but how many trans people view themselves as well. The perspectives of society in general influences the confidence and wellbeing of trans people more than most people know. This notion is further reinforced by the fact that the Superintendent in charge of NSW Police's sex and gender diversity unit, Tony Crandell, recently stated that instances of rape, torture, domestic abuse and murder are between three to four times higher within the transgender community than any other demographic within society. Needless to say, those are some seriously disturbing statistics, particularly when you factor in that Crandell also highlighted the role that stereotypical jokes and punchlines about the physical appearance and behaviour of trans people has had in making these numbers so high. He said: In our 2012 transgender anti-violence survey, over half of respondents stated that they had experienced transphobia or discrimination, simply because of their sexuality or gender. However over three quarters of these people have never reported it. So that means when I go and look at our crime figures and pat myself on the back and say “Gee, we're doing a good job”, for the transgender community, I've got to times that by three. You've seriously got to wonder what exactly was going through Hardie's head when he decided that it would be fun to utilise both trans-people and lack of sexual consent in the way that he has in Bamboozled. Given that he has remained steadfast in stating that trans people are missing the “satirical” point of his film, I doubt we'll get answers to this question anytime soon. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |