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Scarlet Johansson Had the Worst Response to Backlash Against Her Playing a Transmasculine Character
Hollywood is just not getting it.
Scarlett Johansson's questionable acting decisions continue with her role in the upcoming film, Rub & Tug.
After coming under fire for her whitewashed role in 2017's Ghost in the Shell, Johansson has teamed up with the same director, Rupert Sanders, to play Dante “Tex” Gill, a transmasculine mastermind who ran a Pittsburgh sex work empire in the 1970s.
While outlets initially described Gill as simply a woman who dressed like a man, even going so far to call him "sexually ambivalent," ScreenCrush points out that according to his obituary and transcripts, Gill identified and lived his life as a man.
Did the movie's writers not do substantial research? Is the film simply trying to gloss over Gill's lived identity? We may never know.
But perhaps even more irresponsible is ScarJo's response to the criticism. Johansson addressed the backlash not by examining the movie's production or her own motivations, but by pointing the finger at other cisgender actors.
"Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman's reps for comment," a representative told Bustle.
Tambor, Leto, and Huffman have all been nominated for prestigious awards for their transgender roles; Tambor in Transparent, Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, Huffman in Transamerica.
Well... That was a certainly a choice.
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Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
