The Lack of Transgender Representation in Coming-of-Age Movies
We all know the coming-of-age movies. The ones characterized by a heartwarming growing up story, indie music, and tragic nostalgia we all feel for that time of our lives. Think of the classics: The Breakfast Club, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, or even To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
Nevertheless, these sorts of movies, though, are greatly washed in stereotypes of teenage experience. You see mainly white cis girls and white cis boys becoming romantically involved and them facing hardships and successes —and although this isn’t inherently bad, it greatly ignores the people who do not fall into these categories.
Whether it is a personal memory or an iconic movie soundtrack that sticks with you, coming-of-age movies can change society. Representation in the media affects the way society thinks, and a lack of representation can be harmful for not only people in the minority group but also those who are trying to understand them. While over the past few years there have been more movies produced that do not fit this narrative, transgender representation specifically is still greatly lacking in this genre.
Boys Don’t Cry from 1999 is one of the few movies with a transgender protagonist. This film tells the true story of a young trans man in Nebraska who ran away from home and was taken in by a group of friends. However, none of these friends knew he was transgender until he received a court summons. This causes two of his friends to decide to attack, rape, and ultimately kill him.
Boys Don’t Cry was critically acclaimed, regarded as a great success, and received many awards, including an Golden Globe and Academy Award. While this film was one of the first to show a transgender person as the protagonist and not as a gag or unstable crimminal, it was nothing short of a nightmare for many transgender viewers. The protagonst was a hero for the cis gendered audience, for many saw the film as a thought provoking sad story and nothing more. But for anyone who was trans watching the film, it was a warning about what would happen to them if they came out openly. Although this movie helped open doors in representation, it was neither an effective representation of or heartwarming tale for transgender people.
Another film from 2005, TransAmerica, had somewhat of the opposite problem. In this film the main character Bree is about to get sex reassignment surgery. In the film, moments of tension between Bree and her family as well as hardships Bree faced in society are greatly downplayed. While the film showed the realities of sex reassignment surgery, it lacked the emotional depth to make the film feel accurate of many peoples’ experiences.
In recent history, any sort of transgender representation in media falls mainly into one of these three pitfalls: (1) as a film with a deepset warning and lack of meaningful messaging, (2) a film with all emotional depth light and downplayed, or (3) a film filled with hallow characters who are nothing more than comedic relief and gags. Films that fall into these pitfalls portray extreme realities of life for transgender people, and they do not provide role models or representation that youth who may be questioning their gender can look up to.
For me personally, if I were to have seen effective representation of trans and gender non-conforming people in the media, it may have been easier for me to figure out my own identity. As a non-binary person, people who are like me were rarely portrayed in the mainstream and childhood media I consumed. Trans and non-binary people were shown either as characters with extreme stories or as gag jokes in sitcoms. This representation is not a reality for most people who are trans. Not every trans or non-binary person faces extreme hate crimes like the protagonist in Boys Don’t Cry. Not every trans or non-binary person has an easy journey through transitioning as portrayed in TransAmerica. These stories, while each in their own forms are not bad, are not enough representation for trans people.
I recognize that this is just my own opinion, and my experience may be different from many others. But I think it's time that trans people are included in coming-of-age movies. If someday a movie were made representing both the hardships and successes of a teen’s coming of age as a trans person, it could help young trans people in their own journeys. If I had seen a film like that, I could have seen myself in the character’s journey.
So, calling all film-makers, let's create more representation in the media.
By Eleanor Berger
Boston University journalism and film student, who loves trees and wishes to be in an indie film rock band