also major tadc last act spoilers
hi i’m the little brother and i’m peeved as fuck by the “trans story” being told through jax (i am trans)
it’s really just disappointing that a trans creator somehow managed to make one of the most meaningless, bullshit excuses of trans representation that i’ve ever seen in a piece of media. i understand that jax was essentially a self insert, and every trans experience is different—but i’m sorry, if your trans experience was manipulating and abusing (and being misogynistic to) all of the people around you and excusing it all because of your insecurity with your identity/transness, you are just an asshole. being trans does not make you an asshole.
i’m already seeing people treat jax as if he’s an angel that has been redeemed just because he turned out to be transfem and is suddenly void of consequences, and that genuinely rubs me the wrong way in SO many ways. especially because, i don’t know, jax DIDN’T EVEN CHANGE in the last episode. i’d be more lenient if they squeezed in a half-assed redemption arc after the whole confession, but no. jax did nothing this entire show. he was a piece of shit, remained a piece of shit, and died, and now we’re suddenly supposed to feel bad because he has a complicated gender identity??? are we fucking serious??? do you know how horrible of a mindset that is to have???
not to mention, jax being trans seems like something that was just thrown in there last minute. the only solid piece of evidence we have is the confession scene with ribbit. up until that point, the theory of jax being trans was just that, a theory. a theory from WAY left field until this last episode where, still, people can’t agree on whether or not that scene was an allegory for transness. the only other scene that even gets remotely close to hinting at jax being trans was the maid dress scene—and even then it wasn’t interpreted as a trans implication by the general audience. it was interpreted as jax fan service.
if you are a queer person who makes a show (which, mind you, already has other CANONICAL queer characters in it) that is now focused on a queer character where being queer is one of the main causes of their fundamental personality that has been portrayed throughout the entirety of the show. their transness SHOULD NOT BE AN ALLEGORY. it should be stated. people keep saying that if you don’t perceive it correctly then you’re not media literate—like, no. i’m just fucking sick (as a trans person) of trans stories in media being interpreted as something other than a trans story because it’s not explicitly stated that a character is trans. because, idk if you people have noticed, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T LIKE TRANS PEOPLE!! therefore, they’re not going to want to admit that a character is trans!! even with the overwhelming queer fanbase that tadc has, i’ve still seen a huge chunk of people that try so hard to interpret jax’s confession as anything other than a coming out scene. a lot of people refuse to see jax as a possibly trans character even when given evidence. i’m sick of having to fight for my life for trans rep that other people don’t believe is trans rep at all just because it’s vague. for the love of god, please just make characters trans.
even in the last act when pomni goes into jax’s mindscape after he’s abstracted, not a single instance even in his INNER SELF did we see him perceive himself as a woman, as someone who WANTS to be perceived as a woman, or as someone who’s debating their gender identity at all. you could argue that jax’s transness was behind the locked door, but that still holds up my point. if we do not see the experience even in the depths of this character’s own inner mind, the deepest part of this “complex character” that we will ever get to see, if this experience is physically locked behind a door that will never be explored for the rest of time even by the character themselves, then…that experience doesn’t exist anymore. jax isn’t experiencing anything relating to being trans, at least anymore. that’s what’s frustrating me about people suddenly correcting people on jax’s pronouns being she/her. they aren’t. that doesn’t HAPPEN in the show. even in the real world where jax’s life is supposedly better than it had ever been, he doesn’t transition. they don’t even address it.
i DO think that scene with ribbit was an allegory for being trans, i DO think that jax was meant to be a trans character now. but, even if he is, he’s a pretty damn bad one. the “representation” that people are claiming they’re getting out of this last ep is almost nonexistent, and even when it’s there, it’s almost disrespectful.
idk. maybe none of this makes sense. my feelings are complicated 😭😭😭
this doesn’t mean i hate anyone who perceives jax as a woman btw… i definitely understand wanting to see a poorly written trans character in your own eyes, matter of fact i think people SHOULD rewrite jax as a canonical trans woman who actually undergoes some character development and has a meaningful fucking experience. but the people who are trying to convince people that jax IS a woman now and should be treated as such, bro. naw. that shit didn’t happen.
it’s 4am though i should go to bed holy shit. goodnight
