DO NOT WATCH ABOUT RAY THE DIRECTOR IS SUPER TRANSPHOBIC!! She refused to cast an actual trans boy in her movie because she said her movie was about a girl who decided to transition, not a boy. This disenfranchises trans boys and men who are pre-transition or who do not want to undergo surgery at all by saying that by not transitioning their existence as a man or boy is invalid.
gross i had no idea that the director purposefully decided to cast a girl for the role :( i figured that she wanted someone pre-transition but there weren’t enough trans guy actors that were teens/youngish and pre-t.
i do have a point to make (not that i want to invalidate what you’ve told me, bc i think that your point is more important), but: if about ray doesn’t do well, there might not be another trans movie for a long time. if it doesn’t do well, the producer/director/etc won’t think, “oh we should’ve been more sensitive/thoughtful/less transphobic when casting this,” they’ll think “oh looks like no one is willing to pay $10 or w/e to see a movie about a trans protagonist,” and they just won’t make another. some indie film companies still will, of course, but they won’t be as widely shown as more mainstream films. so i have mixed feeling about it. i won’t see it in theaters but i might watch it online later.
another thing!!! i watched a movie called tangerine a few weeks ago and it was so so good! it’s about two trans women of color (actually played by twoc!!) who are sex workers and it’s very good. also, it’s visually a really interesting piece. there are some slurs and violence type of trigger warnings, so watch out for that, but i highly recommend it!! also there is a significant amount of nudity and my personal suggestion is do not watch it with your mother.
