Scarlett Johansson Is Going To Play A Transgender Man And There’s A Backlash

— julia (@tchallavenger) July 4, 2018

Scarlett Johansson is Scarlett Johansson-ing again. After being the focus of ire (and cheeky memes) for playing a character who was Japanese in the source material in Ghost In The Shell (though, to be fair, the rights-holders of the story were enthusiastic about her casting), Johansson is back in the doghouse after New Regency announced she’ll be reteaming with Ghost In The Shell director Rupert Sanders to play a transgender character in Rub and Tug, the biopic of Dante “Tex” Gill, whose real life story is so wild that some of my fellow transpeople are mad they didn’t know about him already.

— ray stoeve has a patreon now! (@raystoeve) July 4, 2018

Gill owned massage parlors in 1970s and ’80s Pittsburgh and used the parlors as a front for a prostitution ring, using contacts within the gay community to help circumvent the mafia. So who do you get to play a transmasculine crime kingpin from the ’70s and ’80s who is pushing 250 pounds, grizzled, gruff, and looks like this Scarlett Johansson, of course. The casting led to plenty of jokes and critiques, which we’ll get to in a moment.

Johansson responded to the initial criticisms by fanning the flames, issuing this statement to Bustle:

“Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”

Yeah, that’s… not good. Especially considering Tambor was fired from Transparent after multiple allegations of sexually harassing transwomen on set. Maybe don’t evoke him as a defense And transgender actors are rarely if ever allowed to audition for cisgender roles, so saying other cisgender people have taken the only roles Hollywood lets transpeople audition for isn’t so much a defense as it is a reminder to be even more ticked off because this just keeps happening.

So, as a transman, it behooves me to say a few words before we get to the jokes, which are the only silver lining to this cumulus cloud of bullsh*t. I almost never see myself represented in any form of media. (I mean, do you know how many times I watched Just One Of The Guys as a kid) When I do see a transgender character, they’re almost always a woman (either a transwoman, or — on extremely rare occasions — a transman being played by a woman), and they’re almost always either being murdered, murdering other people, or “deceiving” people by just existing all sexy-like.

And here’s another story of a transgender person being a criminal. I get it. Gill was interesting; it’s an interesting story. But is this all we are Criminals or victims And you can’t even cast a transman to play him And, if you insist on casting a cisgender person, you cast a cisgender woman instead of a cisgender man And you cast someone who is at least 150 pounds lighter than Gill was You can’t even look for an actor who could maybe sort of resemble the guy I mean, Lea DeLaria was right there.

Look, I get it. You can’t get funding without casting an A-lister. That’s the constant refrain in Hollywood. And if that’s the case, cast Johansson as the cisgender girlfriend of Gill’s, not as Gill. Better yet, just scrap the transman biopic, rewrite all the characters played by cisgender actors as cisgender characters, and re-title this Scarlett Johanssen Makes Out With Alexandra Daddario For 90 Minutes And Also They Do Crimes.

Better movie.

Anyway, I’m not the only one responding to this news with sarcasm. Folks on Twitter also weighed in. Some asked for help picking out a new headshot. Others feared what roles she’d take next:

Scarlet please just play a white woman

*Scarlet slowly begins placing the sombrero on her head*

— Dig Bick Energy (@BraveArcanine) July 3, 2018

BREAKING: Scarlet Johansson secures title role in Stuart Little reboot

— Fred Delicious (@Fred_Delicious) July 5, 2018

i can’t wait for scarlett to accept the role as a gay disabled black man in poverty directed by woody allen

— jovan (@ehjovan) July 4, 2018

*jazz hands* pic.twitter.com/AbCGAjypcC

— Abby Spice, Mama (@clapifyoulikeme) July 3, 2018

The year is 2045. Every role in Neo-Hollywood is played by Scarlett Johansson.

— aya charlatan (@ayacharlatan) July 4, 2018

Excited for Scarlett Johansson to star in the all-female reboot of Tropic Thunder

— Single Payer Now | Abolish ICE | Boycott Israel (@blueherring32) July 4, 2018

at this rate scarlett johansson might play me in my biopic

— Desus Nice (@desusnice) July 4, 2018

Others expressed confusion about who Scarlett Johansson is:

— 808s & Heartbroken (@renzgui) July 4, 2018

is this scarlett johansson pic.twitter.com/xVnvpWnxOx

— josh (@joshieers) July 5, 2018

Did Scarlett Johansson agree to play Black Widow because she thought it was an African American character

— Erik Tanouye (@toyns) July 4, 2018

future historian: scarlett johansson was an asian woman who uhh.. *checks notes*… scarlett johansson was a trans man… *fumbles* ladies and gentleman scarlett johansson was clearly humankind's first shapeshifter

— hattie (@hattiesoykan) July 3, 2018

Others pointed out or made jokes about how transgender people aren’t offered cisgender roles, either.

— Trace Lysette (@tracelysette) July 4, 2018

And not only do you play us and steal our narrative and our opportunity but you pat yourselves on the back with trophies and accolades for mimicking what we have lived… so twisted. I’m so done…

— Trace Lysette (@tracelysette) July 4, 2018

Actors who are trans never even get to audition FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN ROLES OF TRANS CHARACTERS. THATS THE REAL ISSUE. WE CANT EVEN GET IN THE ROOM. Cast actors WHO ARE TRANS as NON TRANS CHARACTERS. I DARE YOU #RupertSanders @NewRegency #ScarlettJohansson https://t.co/RkrW8MeGcG

— Jamie Clayton (@MsJamieClayton) July 4, 2018

hollywood: hmmm we have another trans part coming up, who should we cast

trans actor: ooh, i could do that

hollywood: nah, we need the star appeal of a cis actor, no one knows who you are

trans actor: could you cast me in something else

hollywood: ha ha ha ha ahahahhahahahahaa

— sovietblobfish (@sovietblobfish) July 3, 2018

In what is the bravest decision of my trans life, I have just accepted the lead role of cisgender woman Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming bio pic about her life

Next week, the “no discernible personality” immersion training BEGINS #actorslife #oscarbyanymeansnecessary

— Reed Brice (@thatdangdingus) July 4, 2018

Working with a dialect coach (who, full disclosure isn’t cis but lived with cis people for decades) to master the vocal fry needed to emotionally stick the landing on the big “SoulCycle is cancelled today” dramatic scene in the Scarlett Johansson bio pic #reedneedsanoscar

— Reed Brice (@thatdangdingus) July 4, 2018

Hey trans twitter, a favor please, don't ignore that this ScarJo thing is also fat erasure. Love, a fat trans man

— Kivan (@KivaBay) July 4, 2018

The main reason it’s wrong in 2018 to cast cis actors as trans characters, in two sentences:

“He plays a transwoman.”

“She plays a transman.”

Perpetuates the “confusion” around trans identity which leads to violence against trans and gender nonconforming people.

Ok, thanks.

— rb (@RheaButcher) July 4, 2018

We could recast ScarJo with a trans man and rename the character Black Widower.

Just a thought.

— ᴛʀᴇᴘᴇ ɢʀᴏᴜᴘɪᴇ #1 (@vesaldi) July 4, 2018

If only there were more roles for young, white, cis, straight, thin, abled, conventionally attractive women in Hollywood.

Then Scarlett Johanson wouldn't be forced to play the trans women and women of color that have long dominated film roles in the U.S.

— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) July 4, 2018

Come on, there’s a limited amount of cis gendered roles!

— chris laker (@ChrisLaker) July 4, 2018

When a cisgender actor plays a trans figure, that's like admitting that cis people don't live exciting lives worth dramatizing. Huge self-own

— rachel jane andelman (@rajandelman) July 3, 2018

trans men aren't allowed to live or speak on nuanced lives/issues or have their unique, overlapping scope/experiences catalogued because they're posthumously rewritten as lesbians, and in modern discourse as cis men, all depending on what's convenient for someone else's argument

— . (OVA) (@saint_vagrant) July 3, 2018

Some people snarked about her official statement or her career:

— Jen Richards (@SmartAssJen) July 3, 2018

Remember when Scarlett Johansson was a global ambassador for Oxfam and then she got a job repping Sodastream and Oxfam was like "yo sodastream factory is on stolen palestinian land" so she quit Oxfam

— Dr Sex Dracula, M.D. (@dubsteppenwolf) July 4, 2018

Scarlet Johansen couldn’t even do a Russian accent as Black Widow but they think she’s good enough to play Asians and trans men C’mon Hollywood

— Mike Lawrence (@TheMikeLawrence) July 4, 2018

Others blamed the industry:

— – A (@PS4andCATS) July 4, 2018

I do hate these situations because Scarlett will get shit more than like the casting ppl. Who is this fucking director and who is doing the casting on these movies What are their names Why aren’t they hiring consultants on this shit

— Patti Harrison (@Party_Harderson) July 4, 2018

Also:

1. It’s not just an issue with SJ. She didn’t have to take that role, but

2. The casting director didn’t have to cast her and

3. The director didn’t have to approve it and

4. So on and so on and honestly every cis person just needs to do better. It’s not that hard.

— ray stoeve has a patreon now! (@raystoeve) July 4, 2018

"If the casting director couldn't find a trans man, they should at least cast a cis man!"

If the casting director can't find a trans man actor to play a trans man part, fire them & get a proper casting director.

— ᴛʀᴇᴘᴇ ɢʀᴏᴜᴘɪᴇ #1 (@vesaldi) July 4, 2018

Dear Hollywood, here are the rules we the Trans decided: Until the world stops erasing/oppressing/murdering us, trans women play trans women, trans men play trans men, nonbinary people play NB people. If your project needs a “star” for financing, then it’s simply not good enough.

— Jen Richards (@SmartAssJen) July 3, 2018

y’all ain’t slick with this “how about we let actors freaking act!” shit re: scarlett johannson. the same folks who get huffy when they DEIGN to make female spinoffs in male-led franchises are suddenly down for a woman playing a trans man just admit you hate trans people and go

— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) July 4, 2018

I do not think Scarlett Johansson is an evil person or has ill-intent, but I do feel that if she doesn’t start hiring some career consultants moving forward we are 100% going to see her play Nelson Mandela in a biopic.

— Patti Harrison (@Party_Harderson) July 4, 2018

The sarcasm continued over the July 4th holiday:

— Ray (@SirEviscerate) July 4, 2018

clearly it’s time to write my graphic novel about historical trans figures traveling in time (a la legends of tomorrow) to beat up the cis celebrities playing them in movies

— ZR in EDIT HELL (@ZREllor) July 4, 2018

Yesterday Scarlett Johansson truly became Colin Jost's girlfriend,

— Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) July 4, 2018