i keep seeing people who are upset about jax’s transness being subtle because it leaves cis / transphobic audiences more easily equipped to ignore that aspect of the story. i feel the same way to an extent, but i can’t fully agree.
first off, gooseworx included a character with they/them pronouns AND a lesbian sex scene. while it’s not the type of representation that cuts deep and says a great deal about queer people, i think showing that to a huge audience deserves props, especially in a world where the second-best queer representation in recent popular media is from fucking scary movie.
also, i kind of see why gooseworx decided to tell jax’s story in an understated way, even if that subtlety had unfortunate side effects. the way jax's character arc is treated feels very artful, which is the reason why i cry every time i listen to that stevie wonder song now. if her transness was outright stated, it would've been very nice and definitely appreciated, but with something like this, it's hard to keep a balance between saying too much and saying too little WHILE keeping jax's integrity as a character intact.
but anyway, the point i want to make with all of this is that i’m just overall glad that characters like jax, zooble, and gangle get to exist on the big screen, regardless of how overt jax’s transness is, and it really excites me to think about how this could be a sign of times to come.
it feels like people are forgetting what a big deal tadc’s success is. a decently queer movie with a trans creator is making millions right now. this has real potential to completely change how mainstream media treats trans representation (i.e. that there’s potential for there to be more of it and for the quality of it to increase), and thinking about that possibility makes me less upset about what could’ve been.
cinemas need more jaxes and better jaxes, and i hope episode 9’s commercial and cultural success leads to filmmakers/showrunners/whatever feeling like they should try their hand at giving audiences some jaxes.
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