Critics

Since I wrote about movies in a previous post, I want to touch on a closely related subject. Recently, I watched a movie on Netflix called "Girl". It is a 2018 Belgian film about a fifteen year old trans girl named Lara who wants to become a professional ballerina while simultaneously going through her transition.

The movie won quite a few awards, and personally, I really liked it. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but I cried, it is a deeply emotional film, and I could certainly identify with her. The story is inspired by the life of Nora Monsecour, a trans female dancer from Belgium, so we know it’s not an entirely made up story.

However, I don't want to talk about the movie itself, but rather about something surrounding it that really bothers me. In my other post, I wrote about how movies are an art form, and how they are completely subjective. What gets my blood boiling is all of these so-called “critics” who think they know better. Even though the film and the lead actor (who is fantastic, by the way) won awards, critics, and to make matters worse, trans writers and other groups from our own LGBTQ+ community, heavily criticized it because of the way it depicted gender dysphoria and other sensitive aspects.

I mean, honestly. Here is a movie shining a light on people like us, depicting our real physical and emotional struggles, and trying to help society better understand what it’s actually like. Yet, these critics go out there and condemn the film simply because the actor (Victor Polster) is a cis man and not a trans girl, or because the director (Lukas Dhont) is also a cis man and not a trans director.

WTF?! Excuse my French. Are you telling me that if a movie about a cat is being made, the lead actor has to be a real cat, and preferably the director, writers, and crew need to be cats too, otherwise they can’t convey what being a cat is really like, therefore making it a bad movie? I guess that’s why people didn’t like "Garfield", huh?

Demanding that a character only be played by someone who matches that character perfectly in real life is absurd. Are you telling me I can’t make a film about a unicorn by attaching a horn to a horse? Do I need to track down a real unicorn? Can we no longer use makeup and prosthetics to age an actress, and instead we're obligated to hire an older actress for those specific scenes? Are we forbidden from casting an able-bodied actor to play a character in a wheelchair because real-life wheelchair users exist? Come on, seriously?!

There have been plenty of cisgender, heterosexual actors playing gay characters in TV shows and movies for as long as they've been playing trans characters. Yes, many of those older portrayals were highly stereotyped and faced valid criticism, but in my opinion, there have been some wonderful representations too, like Greg Kinnear's character in "As Good As It Gets". I might be wrong, but I don't remember people being up in arms saying that movie was awful because once again a gay man was being played by a straight actor. It’s one of my favorite films, though I’ll admit that’s mainly because of Jack Nicholson. Is there a character that guy couldn’t play majestically?

Look, I am all for equal opportunities. If you’re going to make a movie about Bigfoot, by all means, let Bigfoot audition! But if he doesn’t have the acting skills you’re looking for, are you just out of luck? Do you have to cancel the entire movie? And no, I'm not comparing us to monsters or mythical creatures I'm just trying to make an obvious point, so please don't misinterpret me.

From what I’ve read, the director of "Girl" actually did try to cast a trans girl for the role; that was their first choice. But the movie isn’t just about a trans girl transitioning journey; it’s also about her demanding dream of becoming a ballerina. That combination reduced the casting pool considerably. Sure, they could have used body doubles like they did for Natalie Portman in "Black Swan", but maybe they didn’t have the budget for expensive special effects. More importantly, you wouldn’t get the raw emotion and physical struggle from the lead actor because he wouldn't be truly experiencing the choreography and pain in the moment.

So since they couldn't find their lead during initial casting, they moved on to casting the other dancers both male and female. It was during that process that they discovered the actor who ended up playing Lara. Again, I think they made a great choice, and he gives an amazing performance. But don’t just take my word for it. Nora Monsecour herself allegedly defended the film, writing:

"Girl is not a representation of all transgender experiences, but rather a retelling of experiences that I faced during my journey. ... Girl tells my story in a way that doesn't lie, doesn't hide. To argue that Lara's experience as trans is not valid because Lukas is cis or because we have a cis lead actor offends me." "My story is not a fantasy of the cis director. Lara's story is my story." And: "The words people have used to describe Girl came close to my heart because the scenes they are criticizing are scenes that I had in mind during my transition. To criticize Lukas for portraying those things made me think, am I the only person who had suicidal thoughts or was bodily focused?"

She is completely right when she says the film isn't a representation of all transgender experiences. As trans people, we might share a lot of similar threads, but at the end of the day, we are all different. We each have our own reasons for identifying the way we do, we experience different levels of dysphoria, and we fight our own unique demons. Every single experience is valid.

If we don’t agree with a creative project because of how the subject matter was handled, we are absolutely entitled to our own opinion and beliefs. But don’t go around telling the world the project objectively sucks and shouldn't exist. Let everyone form their own conclusions. Personally, I have loved plenty of movies that critics tore apart, just as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed eating at restaurants, staying at hotels, and traveling to places that critics rated poorly.

"Girl" is a beautiful movie. Of course, I would also love to see more movies about trans women living normal, fulfilled lives, rather than just focusing on the painful parts of our journeys. We all know that side of the story all too well already. But wanting more of those stories or wanting more trans people involvement in them, doesn't make this particular one any less good.