Transgender Representation In Film

There has been very little written on transgender representation in film, and what exists focuses almost exclusively on two films, Transamerica and Boys Don’t Cry. The term “transgender” is often used to denote everyone from those who have chosen to transition from female to male (FTM) or male to female (MTF) to drag queens/kings, androgynous people, cross dressers, and gender queers. For the purpose of this paper I would like to be very clear in what I mean – I am using transgender explicitly for those who are FTM or MTF, or, in the case of films involving children, those characters that have expressed a desire to transition from their birth sex. Sometimes trans issues are indirectly addressed in films, this may stem from the filmmaker being cisgender (when someone identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth) and not confident in representing the trans community, being uncomfortable with the subject matter of a trans character, or from the pressures of the film industry to have a more universally relatable character. The little data and writing I found on the topic goes to show just how underrepresented the community is in

However, the bottom line of cost and profit is still what gets films made within the studio system. Within the independent film world, writers, directors, and producers have more freedom to follow their interests and passions. Foreign filmmakers seem to operate with even more freedom, making bolder films with braver meanings and messages. U.S. distribution of foreign films is not always attainable due to the subject matter not necessarily playing well in Middle America/lack of return for the distributors. Content of studio films often seems to be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator of an audience and smart independent and/or foreign films rarely achieve big box office numbers. Where do transgender characters fit into this world of