Say Whaaaa? Cameron Snaps, Trannies Under Fire, and More of the Week's Outlandish Crap
We now interrupt our regular Friday afternoon office beer-pong league for Say Whaaaa?, your convenient survey of the week's most confusing, bizarre and/or incomprehensible news stories. The Say Whaaaa Singers are tuned up and justly baffled about this week's highlights; take it away, fellas.
5. Stupid critic tricks
At least we can rest assured there is complete separation of advertising and editorial at the Los Angeles Times, where an ad blaring critic Betsy Sharkey's six-month-old praise of Chloe (from the Toronto Film Festival) ran today near her latest review, which panned the film. Say whaaaa? It's not even like Sharkey was irresponsibly blurbed; she just straight-up changed her mind. I guess she's entitled, but still. Awkward!
4. The Asshole vs. the Antichrist
There's nothing inherently ridiculous about James Cameron calling out Fox News host Glenn Beck as a "fucking asshole," or about Beck coming back with the pseudo-apology for once saying Cameron was "running for antichrist" after a 2007 documentary supposedly challenge the resurrection of Jesus. But when Cameron challenged Beck to a debate? And then daydreamed about "shooting it out" High Noon-style with global-warming deniers? Say whaaaa? Culture war has never been more spectacularly desirable. Let's make this happen. Now.
3. TrannyGate
GLAAD is at it again, urging the removal of the midnight movie Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives from the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival program. Interesting, particularly for a film was made by a gay director who said on this very site he had consulted with GLAAD since last month about properly promoting his tongue-in-cheek "trannysploitation" genre effort. Censorship issues aside, it was weirder still to see GLAAD later reference the Tribeca alums An Englishman in New York and the Oscar-nominated Transamerica as acceptable portraits of transgender life, while, according to a spokesman, "Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives does not meet, and in fact devalues, the standard of excellence established by the festival." Say whaaaa? Tell you what: If and when GLAAD ever decides to recognize the standard of excellence established by last year's revelatory Tribeca exposé Outrage, then we can talk about this year. And they'd still be wrong. Nice job making the Trannies the first must-see of the fest, by the way.
2. John Corbett, you lie!!!
The Sex and the City co-star insisted to Movieline with absolute, unwavering authority that his character Aidan Shaw does not make an appearance in the film's forthcoming sequel. And of course, he showed up a few days later in a new teaser for it. Say whaaaa? "I felt really bad because for the last six months every time somebody said, are you in this movie? I had to lie about it." Corbett later told Ellen DeGeneres, which wasn't much consolation for having lied through his teeth when a simple "I can't comment on that" would have sufficed. To the doghouse with thee, sir. OK, I guess you can come out now.
1. Variety hits bottom
The once-mighty trade paper has fallen on more than hard times. It's drowning in entitlement issues that might have peaked this week when editor Timothy Gray actually said that he would push to the Web any scoops not offered to Variety first. Say whaaaa? One can only imagine the epiphany that blossomed in Gray's mind as he finished his sentence -- "Oh, wait, maybe that's where those scoops are supposed to go." Actually, maybe not. Anyway, Variety is dead, long live Variety. Or something.
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Film Festivals, and Gender Mockery
Today I'm sitting at home a bit ill, a day off from work. I have the window slightly open and I'm listening to the sweet chirruping of Yellow Breasted Chats in the backyard...
I'm still alive myself, but wondering how an innocent Trans woman feels several cities away from me, as she helplessly looks up into the beastly eyes of an unfeeling brute.
Knowing she will suffer a horrible demise within seconds as the result of the blind rage of a transphobic man who, earlier that evening, thinking that he'll finally get some "snatch" of quick pleasure from an apparently pretty girl he's met that night at the local bar 3 blocks down..."It's ok" thinks the potential killer, "In the movies they don't mean shit anyway, just another trannie freak she-guy that dies because it tricked me into thinking it was a girl".
I sit here pondering about how she feels... right before her life is taken... tears long welled up and streaming down dripping, falling from her chin - with thoughts about not having time to say good bye to her family and friends , her life "snatched" like some cheap toy in the hands of a five year old seeking quick thrills stealing from a Rite Aid...
I sit here reflecting on how and why a film called: "Ticked Off Trannies With Knives" now showing at the Tribeca Theatre in New York today, can possibly:
1) be taken seriously enough to be allowed run time at a film festival (Tribeca) that is supposedly held in high esteem by the elite "Filmanatti".
2) How did the management of Tribeca's Film Festival become blinded to the Transphobic elements attached to and in that production?
Quite obviously it depicts Transwoman as being over-the-top, "drag queeny", cartoonish, bad caricatures of women. They have cast gay and straight male actors to play lead characters who are Transgender (who have nothing to do with the communities of Trans people), with only 2 actual Transwoman delegated to very minor roles.This, done by a producer -David Luna, who has no knowledge, no connection, no back ground research, nor respectful recognition of Transgender/Transsexual people.
Obvious backhanded put downs and twisted sex-ploitation of characters that are touted to represent the Trans communities, are shabbily glossed over with a clumsy attempt to portray the gratuitous, bloody violence against the "Trans Women" in the film as campy comedy..; Not to mention that Gender Identities are mocked and deeply de-valued as is their humanity, as well as symbolized as nothing more than fetishistic sex objects and Pop culture jokes.
(We are investigating the accruacy of reports about this)
On the Trans and ouskirts of the NYPD police grapevines, word is being passed around that there were 2 new murders of Trans girls near Spanish Harlem, one of the vernerable enclaves of buroughs in New York City after the film's premiere...
Now a funny thought: What if Mr. Luna, the principal producer, were to wake up one morning to (re)discover that he is Transsexual? A perspective would change, through the crystal-clear glass of common understanding... that this film demeans actual transgender women, who already struggle for acceptance and respect in their day-to-day lives, more than worthy enough, to be valued for their contributions to our society.
I sit here somewhat happy, that at least there was SOME type of response to this parcel of sewage, crawling along, sprung from minds endowed with supreme ignorance... and coming to call on a public that has already been trained to hate, pathologize and marginalize us. Ashley Love and MAGNET - Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Trans people, GLAAD, Kelli Ann Busey and Dallas Transgender Advocates, Gender ID Coalition, as well other organizations, had begun a media campaign against the film and are at this moment protesting and encouraging vigils for past slain Trans sisters.
But... we need more. More people to stand up... with self confident assertiveness without aggressiveness, with a clearly unified voice overheard above the cricket chirping of the self-smug haters who wish to see us and our Genders controlled by their narrow social definitions, life experiences, standards of happiness or dead...
But... sadly, none of this actually matters to a (hopefully small?) percentage of Cis-Gender gay men (some were cast as "Transgender Women" in the "Ticked Off Trannies With Knives film) who do not see our Gender Identities as authentic, insisting that Trans Women are really "gay men in dresses", then joining in misogynist, oppressive and social separative action or inaction contributing to the humiliation, disenfranchisement and dehumanization of Trans Women.
-Anonymous