About Ray, a new movie with a star-studded cast, tells the story of a family working through the transition of their trans teenager. Will the movie be an important piece of trans cinema, or is it just another incident of a trans character being played by a non-trans person?
Just a few weeks ago, we saw the new trailer for Freeheld, a heartbreaking lesbian drama starring Academy Award winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice, The Kids Are All Right) and Academy Award nominee Ellen Page (Juno, X-Men: Days of Future Past). The film is about a couple that became accidental activists when their relationship was not recognized after one of them fell ill, but it looks like Freeheld won’t be the only LGBT movie starring an Academy Award winner this year.
About Ray is a film that follows a teenager on the road to transitioning to become a male. The stellar cast includes Elle Fanning (Maleficent), Oscar nominee Naomi Watts (King King, Birdman), Tate Donovan (Hercules, Argo), and Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking, Thelma & Louise).
Screenrant gives the following synopsis:
“About Ray tells the stirring and touching story of three generations of a family living under one roof in New York as they must deal with the life-changing transformation by one that ultimately affects them all. Ray (Elle Fanning) is a teenager who has come to the realization that she isn’t meant to be a girl and has decided to transition from female to male. His single mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts), must track down Ray’s biological father (Tate Donovan) to get his legal consent to allow Ray’s transition. Dolly (Susan Sarandon), Ray’s lesbian grandmother is having a hard time accepting that she now has a grandson. They must each confront their own identities and learn to embrace change and their strength as a family in order to ultimately find acceptance and understanding.â€
With a star-studded cast and a powerful script, this movie looks like it can definitely be an award winner, and may even be the next Boys Don’t Cry; however the Advocate noted that this is just another film revolving around a trans character played by a non-trans actor/actress. Boys Don’t Cry starred Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena and Dallas Buyer’s Club co-starred Jared Leto as Rayon. On the small screen, Transparent stars Jeffrey Tambor as Maura Pfefferman, although it should be noted that Transparent does have a trans male actor (Ian Harvie) playing the role of Dale.
What are your thoughts? Does this look like a good movie? Is it ok to have a trans character played by a non-trans actor? How about straight people playing gay and lesbian roles? Is it the same thing when a gay person plays a straight role? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
About Ray will be released on September 18, 2015
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