Me too. No knowledge. I was born in 1950, and in 1956 or thereabouts I was going to sleep wishing I would be changed while sleeping. For decades I hid because I had nothing to go on. I didn't fit. It wasn't until the internet was born that I realized I was one of millions. In 1996 I jumped to my truth. I will be 75 in May. I'm proud of what I have done in life and for my community. I will always be proud of us Disney or not.
Having watched Squid Game 2, I think she is one of the best representations I've ever seen in media. She was written extremely well, portrayed extremely well and became my favorite character.
@@versia2565the casting was due to the prejudice and ‘blacklisting’ an actual trans actor would get in the korean industry if they played a trans role openly :(
I shouldn't have even clicked this video bc seeing her in the thumbnail pissed me off so badly. She is the BEST trans representation ive seen in a long time. Seriously so, so important how front-and-center she is. Squid Game 2 is the most explicitly anticapitalist, extreme leftist media ive seen be so popular worldwide since Parasite. And it's a lot more blunt and unignorable than Parasite. And a powerful, surpemely well written trans woman has a strong role at the front of the cast. The backlash I've seen from some ppl in the trans communtiy against squid game has reeked of opinions ignorant of Korea's situation. Particularly how easy it is for the Korean audience to ignore any trans character if they arent korean, look entirely cis, or are written badly. All of which squid game avoided. I'm glad that trans people are getting representation even when they don't pass. I think its MORE important, *especially* for Korea where trans healthcare is lackluster. I am a trans woman, i dont pass. I have very rarely seen passing trans characters that make me feel representes. And squid game is so absurdly, overtly political, it truly would be a slap in the face to the trans community to cast a ciswoman in the role. Particularly the Korean trans community.
It's too late. Disney may have removed the scenes that point to her trans identity, but now that everyone knows, it'll forever be head-canon. I think it could be fun to make a huge online fan art movement to fix this or even change the wiki for the character? They can't control everything.
4:28 Also, I heard rumors of inside discussions in Disney, where the executives in their “infinite” wisdom wrote off their recent failures as because of “inclusive” characters. So Disney being Disney the executives reportedly wish to just backpedal. It’s honestly sad cause this sounds like a great opportunity, but unfortunately Disney finds it easy to relate that to their problems, instead the possibility they had previously made bad stories. We truly need not just more trans representation, but good trans representation.
20:00 I think it's worded that way because technically it probably would have been possible to find a trans actress, but probably either not at the level, or not one from Korea. Like you definitely could find a Korean trans actress somewhere on this world, but it probably wouldn't have worked out. Because maybe she then doesn't speak Korean well enough or isn't a good enough actress or something like that. I think they went for this solution, not necessarily because they gave up but also to make sure that there isn't a compromise in the series just for casting a trans woman. It would have been great if she was acted by a trans woman, but I think it worked out well enough that I think it was the correct choice.
I LOVED player 120 so bad, she was such a good representation and a very good character, and had a rly heartwarming relationship with the older woman, the transphobia she faced was such a good showing of realistic day to day transphobia and social isolation that can come with being trans in a non accepting society (minor spoilers after this!!) Seeing the older woman warm up to her and begin to accept her transness despite being transphobic and uneducated in the beginning was so adorable and sweet 😭😭 it made me so happy
This channel has helped me immensely..staying up to date with what’s actually happening with things that can help me and my community and helping me feel comfortable as a person..thank you
From the outside it look like Hwang Dong-hyuk want to sink his own ship by casting a controversial rapper as one of the show's villain to introduced a trans character to a local audience that might not be open to it but it work Without spoiling Hyun-Ju's a very interesting and complex character that has very interesting, complex and often endearing relationships with the other character especially her teammates. I honestly think they might not have been able to do as much with the character if they would have flown-in some trans actress from let's say Thailand that wouldn't have been as fluent in Korean than a native from the place so casting a cis male (cuz the character was in early transition) was truly the next best thing to give the character the depth that we got. Plus there's that other character I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up as trans (if they survive) but at the very least kinda subvert gender norms to an extend and also have an interesting arc. Disney should take note if they want to be less weak and pathetic.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I am so excited and happy that they did the representation well C: it's really awesome that the director took such a risk
Wait??? What (other) character do you think from Squid Game is trans??? I have a guess too, but I've never heard anyone say this, so I'm intrigued by this theory.
@@egg_bun_ Dae-Ho (the marine with PTSD), he's got soft feature that whisper skin care, long enough hair to make a bun and is better at playing a girl's game than staging a coup. As i say, maybe not a trans woman but surely gender non-conforming.
Excellent discussion. Disney is a good one to start with. Disney lost tons of money with their show Acolyte. There was a trans actress in one scene. There were two witches which were in a lesbian relationship and one of the characters seemed to be LGBT questioning. They even had a pronoun controversy from one scene. As you can imagine the lonely bros that inhabit the Star Wars fandom tore the show to shreds in their videos, they review bombed the show to hell, and reminded some of the more levelheaded but easily influenced people that watched the show that they’re also deep down inside uncomfortable with space lesbians, etc. They also heard their deep dark thoughts replicated in the comments section of videos over and over. There’s so much hate and fear out there. Disney used to try to half assedly sprinkle new ideas into star wars but they have been getting backlash for it since the second sequel movie. They never handled the situation appropriately or with a solid plan and did not fend off attacks well. You bet the right wingers took advantage of that. Disney was pretty clueless. I’m just saying what I’ve seen in the Star Wars realm and I’m sure other fandoms have experienced this too. On to a very difficult topic for me. One of the reasons I questioned my gender early on was sports. My father made me join baseball and basketball teams since elementary school. I never wanted to play the reindeer games and prove myself to mean boys that were really cruel to me and boys with even less athletic skills. I never wanted to follow anyone that was cruel and knew very little about things that were not stereotypically boyish. If anything, sports made me see the dark side of competitiveness and the nature of this country’s arrogant ethos. The need to compete to be the perfect “boy” which was socially imposed on me made me realize I was not where nature intended me to be. I have very mixed feelings about the sports narrative. Competitive sports aren’t a good thing in my opinion. I realize however that people have different perspectives. Mine is rare and unique. They have my sympathy for their courage and determination but I’m really not interested in the sports narrative. Sports tends to recruit people with the worst characteristics anyway. You will end up trying to change the most conservative and Darwinist people around. It doesn’t make sense to me. Sports has ties to extreme nationalism and tribalism too. Just my opinion that’s all.
Acolyte was a mess entirely apart from right wing backlash. For £17.5m per episode (!) they managed neither a captivating story nor good setups. When the barely written villain is the best and most memorable character, you have a problem. Inclusion was quite possibly the only part of Acolyte they did right.
Acolyte had problems yes but I disagree with you. Qmir was an excellent character and the story had potential. Heck I was also a great character and so was Sol. The lightsaber battles were exceptional. Two of the episodes were directed by a very talented and scant grade director. I don’t know why you think I had a problem with inclusion. I definitely do not think they are doing things right in the sense that they did not defend characters that were attacked very well as if they didn’t expect backlash but star wars is the right wing of sci fi and it’s full of hate content lonely bros. It’s important that they added LGBT characters and added different ethnic groups and it’s good they did in spite of backlash. If you do not think the smear campaign influenced many fans you’re gravely mistaken. Before this show only one movie from the sequels had an LGBT scene which is very hard to miss. Then one day you have a main character that flirts with another of the same gender, two lesbian women and the use of pronouns in one scene that raised eyebrows. It was a daring show in many ways and I respect it with all its serious flaws over Mandalorian which took two popular characters out the toolkit and repurposed them to ensure a successful show. I’m referring you to tapping into the yoda and Boba fett cults. They took no risks but Acolyte did. Did they make a perfect product? No. But they pushed against the current “cultural tipping point” and you have to give them that.
I wouldn't be surprised if the director of squid games really couldn't find anyone. Especially since he was very much looking for someone who was less "stealth" to properly portray the character like it's done in the show. To my mind I know only 1 openly gay Big Korean celebrity. The social conservatism is on a level that most Westerners would not be able to grasp. Unfortunately cis-straight celebrities take their lives there all the time and for the smallest slights that here would barely make the news. So for a trans person to step up? I just don't see that happening As for getting an American...uhh not going to lie you can usually tell when someone isn't 'native'. Of course for non-korean people no one would notice but i'm sure it would've taken korean audiences out of the story. ie selena gomez' recent role in a Emilia Perez where her every word feels like nails on chalkboard to a native speaker. Then to do find someone, do all the language training...it probably wasn't feasible. of course that's just my speculation
Yes. You are spot-on. See my comment after you. TOP who plays Thanos actually tried to commit suicide in 2016 due to the public scrutiny he experienced simply for getting caught with marijuana and a vape - both illegal in Korea.
As a semi-out nonbinary person myself, I think it's also important to remember there is room for some nuance in regards to casting choices as they relate to LGBT+ issues. Just because an actor seems (or even claims) to be cis/straight doesn't mean they're not closeted, or even working through some questioning feelings or deep empathy. I only realized I was queer because I started exploring the idea of it in my writing. (I think about actors like Kit Connor, who was forced to come out before he was ready to because of all the flack he was getting for portraying a bi character as a "straight" actor.) So, yeah. I'm willing to give a bit more grace to casting choices like this, especially when it's possible some of the actors in question COULD be closeted in some way.
This view doesn't really make any sense. You shouldn't pressure people to out themselves but that is a separate issue entirely from portraying something that you are not. When it comes to trans people, it isn't just a problem that cis people are playing them, it's that no trans people are playing them at all. If the only portrayals people can see of trans women are cis men, it promotes a minstrel-like perception of them. If there's an abundance of trans actors in trans roles, then having some femboy playing a trans woman in the occasional role would be no big deal.
I really enjoyed the trans character in squid game 2 and felt it was definitely an adequate portrayal but of course would have preferred to see a trans actress. Still, it didn't ruin the season for me at all - that character was just done well enough that I still enjoyed watching her and rooting for her.
English being a secind language for the creator i have no issues with how he described the outcome of the search. The use of thar one word does change the intent ofvthe statement BUT as I note having English as a second language a slip like that could be quite natural.
@@LeahPassaniti Definitely unfortunate. But so glad that he did include the character. I was going to watch anyway, but now really keen to watch. Re Disney, they disappoint. I grew up watching disney productions that were about acceptance and kindness and differences. All I can do is cancel my subscription and I am a massive Doctor Who and Orville fan! I wish that I had had the exposure to trans people in my youth. I would have understood more about who I really was back then, not the mask that had to wear.
20:14 I think that the part a little bit before and during this timestamp is being a bit hard on them. Something you always have to keep in mind when viewing statements from people who don't speak English or do but have never lived in an English speaking country is that: When you are speaking a foreign language (or translating to one) you don't always have the cultural context to know what you're implying or how to imply something. That is a HUGE factor in interpreting people who speak English as a second language and listening to them should always have that in mind But yes, it would have been nice if they, instead, casted a trans woman for the role, and I hope that, even if it didn't end up that way, they at least tried their best to find someone like that
Hiiii! This is my first time commenting, but I've followed you for a bit now! I live in the US right now (unfortunately), but I'm hoping to dip.. Which you also made a video on lol I just wanted to say thank you for doing all you do, you're iconic and amazing and a light in the darkness we seem to find ourselves in right now~ ♥
@@kuurakuutamo this means so much, thank you for taking the time to type it out ;-; seriously, it means a lot. We will get thru this, we will find a way forward ❤️
I don’t know, I honestly feel like the pressures more likely coming from their relationship with the coming US government, which again makes sense with the timing. It’s in Disney’s interest financially to be on good terms with the government of the country where they’re based and pay taxes (or lack thereof💀). Sadly the capitalists will always happily side with facism when it benefits them, they’ll always drop us the second it’s profitable 😞 unless by international interest you mean us over in the UK in which case maybe lol (guess we can thank Just Kidding Rowling for that and her continued bigoted influence on UK politics😡)
Leah glad to hear your take on these stories,I think Disney will continue to censor in this way sadly,but Squid games season 2 is progress, with limits,but is progress.Our community has made so much progress,more than people realise and I hope out progress continues (Matt) P s.if you have time Samantha Lux has made a video about Squid games and a video about Disney
I watched Samantha's video before making mine lol it was great. It's where I saw some of the scenes w 120 in it. Thanks for commenting C: appreciate you!
@LeahPassaniti Leah I think the director actually made a choice that enabled him to keep this important character in the season and I personally feel Park Dung-hoon plays the role of Hyun-Ju in a very human and sensitive way and shows a trans woman in a really positive way and in the current climate this is a welcome ray of light (Matt)
I wasn't able to watch Euphoria. It felt like being in a nightmare. I'm glad I experienced no pressure to have sex or use drugs when I was in high school
I'm just happy to see realistic and inclusive representation in an increasingly hostile world, I'm not going to nitpick over casting in projects that actually are trying, and seemingly succeeding, in doing something mindful and positive for the community
THE PIXAR THING MAKES ME SO SAD im in... almost the same position as that character, that being that im a trans (well, nonbinary) teenager and that wouldve been really cool to see :( even without the fact it wouldve shown people what being trans is (which is ABSOLUTELY something we need more of) we just barely get any trans representation in media let alone any of people around my age and itd be nice to get. acknowledged as existing yknow
I agree the wording on the squidgame actors could have been clearer - perhaps there were a couple of authentic options that were poor actors? They definitely could have worded it clearer though, your point absolutely stands.
I love hearing your vids. And no when I was in my teens in the 70s I only heard about drag queens. I think I was 18 before I heard someone use "trannie" when talking about a drag queen. My little brother is gay and a drag queen. He is Sirena of Richmond. I sometimes wonder if he would have liked to be Sirena all the time.
I think most people have no issue with DEI in concept. The issue has resulted from DEI's overbearing approach over the past few years. DEI has been pushed at any cost instead of being incorporated in a positive constructive way. The way DEI has been implemented in recent years is honestly doing more damage than good. Doing race swaps, making changes totally ignoring lore, and just terrible writing in general is creating a lot of mediocre media. Incoherent changes being made just to incorporate DEI is why a lot of people are pushing back. Squid Game proves it can be done well, it would be nice to see more of that instead of the slop the video game companies and Hollywood have been pushing out.
Just stop. These are complete non issues. Why the fuck are we talking about race swaps that don’t fucking matter and all this culture war bullshit. Remember when they cast nick fury as a black man and literally nobody gave a shit, and now he’s just black in the comics too because that’s the character we all resonated with, why does this culture war BS have to still be an issue. Corporations are actively censoring diverse representation in media, actively canceling diverse shows, and actively suppress their own artists. This war against “DEI” and “wokeness” and whatever is nothing more than a distraction. What it does is it pits consumers against each other while corporations play both sides and take in billions
We are talking about 0.6% of the population, then you talk about a cartoon meant for kids 4-8 years old. Why do children at this age need to be tackling this topic, when they haven't even started to understand their own self. If it's about representation, you just gave an example of having just that. Also being in a show geared towards adults gives it a better chance of reaching those that would understand it.
0.6% is the low estimate. but even if it was the exact percentage, it's still a *lot* of people in the world. children should know about trans identity because trans people are real whether or not they learn about it. some of those kids will also be trans themselves, and it only hurts them to keep trans people a secret.
I was 8 or 9 when I first heard about trans people. This was 50 years ago, so there were no "age appropriate" materials. What I read was an article that among other things dealt with gender affirming surgeries. I was fascinated. Knowing that trans people exist helped me understand myself and helped me go on through much of my life. If we can just let young people know that that's a thing and nothing to be ashamed of, that's all they need at this age. And that's not hard for kids to understand. More so for adults
In good faith that you're here to have a discussion, as a transwoman, around 8 is when I started understanding I was trans, or at the very least didn't "feel like a boy". I did not grow up in a very accepting household or community and felt pressured to keep it a secret (for 25 years lmao). Media that tackled transgenderism or even gender norms was important solace for me growing up; the episode of Llyod in Space ft Zoit being a lowkey pivotal moment in my childhood I really don't think you can protect kids by not acknowledging transgenderism, only estrange actual trans kids (who have just as many questions as the other kids 🤷♀)
0.6% is probably a very conservative estimate considering that in places where there is less stigma and more support for transgender people a lot more people are openly trans but even at 0.6% that means there are 48,000,000 trans people and all of them start out as children. Trans children deserve to see themselves reflected in the cartoons they watch. Some children already know that they are trans at that age and a lot know that they’re different than the other kids and don’t know why. I know that it would have been helpful for me as a kid seeing transgender characters in kids media.
because trans kids deserve to understand their experience before the age of 18. They deserve to know they exist and they deserve to understand their own persona lived experience as something other people experience. It's basic empathy.
I don't understand that casting thing. I would really like to see more trans characters played by actors/actresses of any gender and also more trans actors playing characters of any gender, not limited to trans ones. 🤍🧡
Fair enough! I think mostly the sentiment is because representation was so sparse and so limited for so long, many movies that have portrayed trans people have used cis ppl.. it's more about making sure the representation is actually happening
I get your point, but I'm not sure I agree completely. If I read a book with a female character that I'm hot for, I don't want said female character played by a transwoman, because I want a nice sexy feminine voice and all that good stuff. But yeah, why aren't more trans characters played by actual trans people?
Also finding and casting a real trans woman in S.K. could be extremely dangerous for her. I just want characters that are written and acted well. Whether cis play trans or trans plays cis or gay plays straight or straight plays gay. Any well done representation would be great! Cast more trans folks as cis characters, its acting! Lets not limit anyone to their irl identity to get a role.
They used to cast white people as Black people in shows 100 years ago. It was called a "minstrel show" or "Blackface". The problem with it was that it was often used as a mockery of Black people, and it was in an industry that heavily discriminated against and refused to give roles to Black people. You can draw parallels to how the entertainment industry has treated transgender people and why some may wish that more roles go to trans people until there's some level of balance achieved. Why do you think there were literally no trans actresses available in all of South Korea for the role? Is it because trans koreans don't exist, or because the Korean culture and entertainment industry heavily discriminates against them? If the latter is true, do you think it's good that a discriminatory system and society is in charge of portraying trans women in media and that they are using cis men to play them? Stuff to think about.
Me too. No knowledge. I was born in 1950, and in 1956 or thereabouts I was going to sleep wishing I would be changed while sleeping. For decades I hid because I had nothing to go on. I didn't fit. It wasn't until the internet was born that I realized I was one of millions. In 1996 I jumped to my truth. I will be 75 in May. I'm proud of what I have done in life and for my community. I will always be proud of us Disney or not.
you are an inspiration for me and many others to keep going. thank you. 💜
@@RobisonRacing68 I'm so proud of you too, you're amazing and I'm so thankful you're living your truth and loving it 💓
It is wonderful to hear the stories of fellow trans individuals, I'm glad you've found your truth!
Born in 1984 and my story is practically the same. We're not going anywhere, sister.
Having watched Squid Game 2, I think she is one of the best representations I've ever seen in media. She was written extremely well, portrayed extremely well and became my favorite character.
I needa watch all of it still, but that's great to hear. C:
I'm salty that a cis man in playing the character but it's good to know it's well written
Honestly same, I was doubtful considering they cast a cis-man, but instantly fell in love with her after watching the show
@@versia2565the casting was due to the prejudice and ‘blacklisting’ an actual trans actor would get in the korean industry if they played a trans role openly :(
I shouldn't have even clicked this video bc seeing her in the thumbnail pissed me off so badly. She is the BEST trans representation ive seen in a long time. Seriously so, so important how front-and-center she is. Squid Game 2 is the most explicitly anticapitalist, extreme leftist media ive seen be so popular worldwide since Parasite. And it's a lot more blunt and unignorable than Parasite.
And a powerful, surpemely well written trans woman has a strong role at the front of the cast.
The backlash I've seen from some ppl in the trans communtiy against squid game has reeked of opinions ignorant of Korea's situation. Particularly how easy it is for the Korean audience to ignore any trans character if they arent korean, look entirely cis, or are written badly. All of which squid game avoided. I'm glad that trans people are getting representation even when they don't pass. I think its MORE important, *especially* for Korea where trans healthcare is lackluster. I am a trans woman, i dont pass. I have very rarely seen passing trans characters that make me feel representes. And squid game is so absurdly, overtly political, it truly would be a slap in the face to the trans community to cast a ciswoman in the role. Particularly the Korean trans community.
It's too late. Disney may have removed the scenes that point to her trans identity, but now that everyone knows, it'll forever be head-canon. I think it could be fun to make a huge online fan art movement to fix this or even change the wiki for the character? They can't control everything.
You are right you always got rule 34 for that
4:28 Also, I heard rumors of inside discussions in Disney, where the executives in their “infinite” wisdom wrote off their recent failures as because of “inclusive” characters. So Disney being Disney the executives reportedly wish to just backpedal. It’s honestly sad cause this sounds like a great opportunity, but unfortunately Disney finds it easy to relate that to their problems, instead the possibility they had previously made bad stories. We truly need not just more trans representation, but good trans representation.
oh wow, that is really discouraging to hear. I hate how dumb executives are. Seriously, some of the most out of touch people ever.
Yet Moana is doing numbers... Amh
20:00 I think it's worded that way because technically it probably would have been possible to find a trans actress, but probably either not at the level, or not one from Korea. Like you definitely could find a Korean trans actress somewhere on this world, but it probably wouldn't have worked out. Because maybe she then doesn't speak Korean well enough or isn't a good enough actress or something like that. I think they went for this solution, not necessarily because they gave up but also to make sure that there isn't a compromise in the series just for casting a trans woman. It would have been great if she was acted by a trans woman, but I think it worked out well enough that I think it was the correct choice.
Big agree, and you explained this all very well! Thank you
@@LeahPassaniti Thanks. And thank you for the great video 🩷
I LOVED player 120 so bad, she was such a good representation and a very good character, and had a rly heartwarming relationship with the older woman, the transphobia she faced was such a good showing of realistic day to day transphobia and social isolation that can come with being trans in a non accepting society (minor spoilers after this!!) Seeing the older woman warm up to her and begin to accept her transness despite being transphobic and uneducated in the beginning was so adorable and sweet 😭😭 it made me so happy
This channel has helped me immensely..staying up to date with what’s actually happening with things that can help me and my community and helping me feel comfortable as a person..thank you
@@MMBassGirl this means so much, thank you. I'm doing everything I can to help 💜
From the outside it look like Hwang Dong-hyuk want to sink his own ship by casting a controversial rapper as one of the show's villain to introduced a trans character to a local audience that might not be open to it but it work
Without spoiling Hyun-Ju's a very interesting and complex character that has very interesting, complex and often endearing relationships with the other character especially her teammates.
I honestly think they might not have been able to do as much with the character if they would have flown-in some trans actress from let's say Thailand that wouldn't have been as fluent in Korean than a native from the place so casting a cis male (cuz the character was in early transition) was truly the next best thing to give the character the depth that we got.
Plus there's that other character I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up as trans (if they survive) but at the very least kinda subvert gender norms to an extend and also have an interesting arc.
Disney should take note if they want to be less weak and pathetic.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I am so excited and happy that they did the representation well C: it's really awesome that the director took such a risk
Wait??? What (other) character do you think from Squid Game is trans??? I have a guess too, but I've never heard anyone say this, so I'm intrigued by this theory.
@@egg_bun_ Dae-Ho (the marine with PTSD), he's got soft feature that whisper skin care, long enough hair to make a bun and is better at playing a girl's game than staging a coup. As i say, maybe not a trans woman but surely gender non-conforming.
The creator of Squid Game didn't even want to do a season 2...
Excellent discussion. Disney is a good one to start with. Disney lost tons of money with their show Acolyte. There was a trans actress in one scene. There were two witches which were in a lesbian relationship and one of the characters seemed to be LGBT questioning. They even had a pronoun controversy from one scene. As you can imagine the lonely bros that inhabit the Star Wars fandom tore the show to shreds in their videos, they review bombed the show to hell, and reminded some of the more levelheaded but easily influenced people that watched the show that they’re also deep down inside uncomfortable with space lesbians, etc. They also heard their deep dark thoughts replicated in the comments section of videos over and over. There’s so much hate and fear out there. Disney used to try to half assedly sprinkle new ideas into star wars but they have been getting backlash for it since the second sequel movie. They never handled the situation appropriately or with a solid plan and did not fend off attacks well. You bet the right wingers took advantage of that. Disney was pretty clueless. I’m just saying what I’ve seen in the Star Wars realm and I’m sure other fandoms have experienced this too.
On to a very difficult topic for me. One of the reasons I questioned my gender early on was sports. My father made me join baseball and basketball teams since elementary school. I never wanted to play the reindeer games and prove myself to mean boys that were really cruel to me and boys with even less athletic skills. I never wanted to follow anyone that was cruel and knew very little about things that were not stereotypically boyish. If anything, sports made me see the dark side of competitiveness and the nature of this country’s arrogant ethos. The need to compete to be the perfect “boy” which was socially imposed on me made me realize I was not where nature intended me to be. I have very mixed feelings about the sports narrative. Competitive sports aren’t a good thing in my opinion. I realize however that people have different perspectives. Mine is rare and unique. They have my sympathy for their courage and determination but I’m really not interested in the sports narrative. Sports tends to recruit people with the worst characteristics anyway. You will end up trying to change the most conservative and Darwinist people around. It doesn’t make sense to me. Sports has ties to extreme nationalism and tribalism too. Just my opinion that’s all.
Thanks for commenting! It is sad that there's so much backlash from the star wars fandom. Sadgee
Ive heard the show was also just not good.
Acolyte was a mess entirely apart from right wing backlash. For £17.5m per episode (!) they managed neither a captivating story nor good setups. When the barely written villain is the best and most memorable character, you have a problem. Inclusion was quite possibly the only part of Acolyte they did right.
@@Neskaausart Nobody liked the Acolyte
Acolyte had problems yes but I disagree with you. Qmir was an excellent character and the story had potential. Heck I was also a great character and so was Sol. The lightsaber battles were exceptional. Two of the episodes were directed by a very talented and scant grade director. I don’t know why you think I had a problem with inclusion. I definitely do not think they are doing things right in the sense that they did not defend characters that were attacked very well as if they didn’t expect backlash but star wars is the right wing of sci fi and it’s full of hate content lonely bros. It’s important that they added LGBT characters and added different ethnic groups and it’s good they did in spite of backlash.
If you do not think the smear campaign influenced many fans you’re gravely mistaken. Before this show only one movie from the sequels had an LGBT scene which is very hard to miss. Then one day you have a main character that flirts with another of the same gender, two lesbian women and the use of pronouns in one scene that raised eyebrows. It was a daring show in many ways and I respect it with all its serious flaws over Mandalorian which took two popular characters out the toolkit and repurposed them to ensure a successful show. I’m referring you to tapping into the yoda and Boba fett cults. They took no risks but Acolyte did. Did they make a perfect product? No. But they pushed against the current “cultural tipping point” and you have to give them that.
I wouldn't be surprised if the director of squid games really couldn't find anyone. Especially since he was very much looking for someone who was less "stealth" to properly portray the character like it's done in the show. To my mind I know only 1 openly gay Big Korean celebrity. The social conservatism is on a level that most Westerners would not be able to grasp. Unfortunately cis-straight celebrities take their lives there all the time and for the smallest slights that here would barely make the news. So for a trans person to step up? I just don't see that happening
As for getting an American...uhh not going to lie you can usually tell when someone isn't 'native'. Of course for non-korean people no one would notice but i'm sure it would've taken korean audiences out of the story. ie selena gomez' recent role in a Emilia Perez where her every word feels like nails on chalkboard to a native speaker. Then to do find someone, do all the language training...it probably wasn't feasible. of course that's just my speculation
Yes. You are spot-on. See my comment after you. TOP who plays Thanos actually tried to commit suicide in 2016 due to the public scrutiny he experienced simply for getting caught with marijuana and a vape - both illegal in Korea.
As a semi-out nonbinary person myself, I think it's also important to remember there is room for some nuance in regards to casting choices as they relate to LGBT+ issues. Just because an actor seems (or even claims) to be cis/straight doesn't mean they're not closeted, or even working through some questioning feelings or deep empathy. I only realized I was queer because I started exploring the idea of it in my writing. (I think about actors like Kit Connor, who was forced to come out before he was ready to because of all the flack he was getting for portraying a bi character as a "straight" actor.)
So, yeah. I'm willing to give a bit more grace to casting choices like this, especially when it's possible some of the actors in question COULD be closeted in some way.
This view doesn't really make any sense. You shouldn't pressure people to out themselves but that is a separate issue entirely from portraying something that you are not. When it comes to trans people, it isn't just a problem that cis people are playing them, it's that no trans people are playing them at all. If the only portrayals people can see of trans women are cis men, it promotes a minstrel-like perception of them. If there's an abundance of trans actors in trans roles, then having some femboy playing a trans woman in the occasional role would be no big deal.
I really enjoyed the trans character in squid game 2 and felt it was definitely an adequate portrayal but of course would have preferred to see a trans actress. Still, it didn't ruin the season for me at all - that character was just done well enough that I still enjoyed watching her and rooting for her.
This is disgusting as a trans person myself. I believe we need more representation not less and not erasure from society
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English being a secind language for the creator i have no issues with how he described the outcome of the search. The use of thar one word does change the intent ofvthe statement BUT as I note having English as a second language a slip like that could be quite natural.
Yeah it could just be a translation thing, I just felt that the wording was unfortunate. Not really casting blame for it. Thanks for commenting
@@LeahPassaniti Definitely unfortunate. But so glad that he did include the character. I was going to watch anyway, but now really keen to watch.
Re Disney, they disappoint. I grew up watching disney productions that were about acceptance and kindness and differences. All I can do is cancel my subscription and I am a massive Doctor Who and Orville fan!
I wish that I had had the exposure to trans people in my youth. I would have understood more about who I really was back then, not the mask that had to wear.
20:14
I think that the part a little bit before and during this timestamp is being a bit hard on them. Something you always have to keep in mind when viewing statements from people who don't speak English or do but have never lived in an English speaking country is that: When you are speaking a foreign language (or translating to one) you don't always have the cultural context to know what you're implying or how to imply something. That is a HUGE factor in interpreting people who speak English as a second language and listening to them should always have that in mind
But yes, it would have been nice if they, instead, casted a trans woman for the role, and I hope that, even if it didn't end up that way, they at least tried their best to find someone like that
Hiiii! This is my first time commenting, but I've followed you for a bit now! I live in the US right now (unfortunately), but I'm hoping to dip.. Which you also made a video on lol I just wanted to say thank you for doing all you do, you're iconic and amazing and a light in the darkness we seem to find ourselves in right now~ ♥
@@kuurakuutamo this means so much, thank you for taking the time to type it out ;-; seriously, it means a lot.
We will get thru this, we will find a way forward ❤️
I'm getting a feeling that this happened because of the international audience Disney wants to cater to sadly.
@@seedofkorn maybe! Not sure about international pressures
I don’t know, I honestly feel like the pressures more likely coming from their relationship with the coming US government, which again makes sense with the timing. It’s in Disney’s interest financially to be on good terms with the government of the country where they’re based and pay taxes (or lack thereof💀). Sadly the capitalists will always happily side with facism when it benefits them, they’ll always drop us the second it’s profitable 😞 unless by international interest you mean us over in the UK in which case maybe lol (guess we can thank Just Kidding Rowling for that and her continued bigoted influence on UK politics😡)
I think it has a lot more to do with them cozying up to the incoming far right US government.
America is now an openly fascistic country. they're catering to their home audience.
Leah glad to hear your take on these stories,I think Disney will continue to censor in this way sadly,but Squid games season 2 is progress, with limits,but is progress.Our community has made so much progress,more than people realise and I hope out progress continues (Matt) P s.if you have time Samantha Lux has made a video about Squid games and a video about Disney
I watched Samantha's video before making mine lol it was great. It's where I saw some of the scenes w 120 in it.
Thanks for commenting C: appreciate you!
@LeahPassaniti Leah I think the director actually made a choice that enabled him to keep this important character in the season and I personally feel Park Dung-hoon plays the role of Hyun-Ju in a very human and sensitive way and shows a trans woman in a really positive way and in the current climate this is a welcome ray of light (Matt)
At least we have Jules from Euphoria
I've never seen it! I'll look into it
@ Oh that’s awesome! She’s definitely one of the best trans rep characters I’ve seen imo
I love Euphoria so much. I want the next season. The last thing we saw kind of leaves you hanging.
I wasn't able to watch Euphoria. It felt like being in a nightmare. I'm glad I experienced no pressure to have sex or use drugs when I was in high school
tfw the only good trans fem character we've gotten in decades literally transitioned before male puberty and has loving parents
I'm just happy to see realistic and inclusive representation in an increasingly hostile world, I'm not going to nitpick over casting in projects that actually are trying, and seemingly succeeding, in doing something mindful and positive for the community
THE PIXAR THING MAKES ME SO SAD
im in... almost the same position as that character, that being that im a trans (well, nonbinary) teenager and that wouldve been really cool to see :(
even without the fact it wouldve shown people what being trans is (which is ABSOLUTELY something we need more of) we just barely get any trans representation in media let alone any of people around my age and itd be nice to get. acknowledged as existing yknow
I agree the wording on the squidgame actors could have been clearer - perhaps there were a couple of authentic options that were poor actors? They definitely could have worded it clearer though, your point absolutely stands.
I really enjoyed this video, lady. Great content. Much love.
@@msravenmystique thank you 💓
I love hearing your vids. And no when I was in my teens in the 70s I only heard about drag queens. I think I was 18 before I heard someone use "trannie" when talking about a drag queen. My little brother is gay and a drag queen. He is Sirena of Richmond. I sometimes wonder if he would have liked to be Sirena all the time.
I think most people have no issue with DEI in concept. The issue has resulted from DEI's overbearing approach over the past few years. DEI has been pushed at any cost instead of being incorporated in a positive constructive way. The way DEI has been implemented in recent years is honestly doing more damage than good. Doing race swaps, making changes totally ignoring lore, and just terrible writing in general is creating a lot of mediocre media. Incoherent changes being made just to incorporate DEI is why a lot of people are pushing back. Squid Game proves it can be done well, it would be nice to see more of that instead of the slop the video game companies and Hollywood have been pushing out.
Just stop. These are complete non issues.
Why the fuck are we talking about race swaps that don’t fucking matter and all this culture war bullshit. Remember when they cast nick fury as a black man and literally nobody gave a shit, and now he’s just black in the comics too because that’s the character we all resonated with, why does this culture war BS have to still be an issue.
Corporations are actively censoring diverse representation in media, actively canceling diverse shows, and actively suppress their own artists. This war against “DEI” and “wokeness” and whatever is nothing more than a distraction.
What it does is it pits consumers against each other while corporations play both sides and take in billions
We are talking about 0.6% of the population, then you talk about a cartoon meant for kids 4-8 years old. Why do children at this age need to be tackling this topic, when they haven't even started to understand their own self. If it's about representation, you just gave an example of having just that. Also being in a show geared towards adults gives it a better chance of reaching those that would understand it.
0.6% is the low estimate. but even if it was the exact percentage, it's still a *lot* of people in the world. children should know about trans identity because trans people are real whether or not they learn about it. some of those kids will also be trans themselves, and it only hurts them to keep trans people a secret.
I was 8 or 9 when I first heard about trans people. This was 50 years ago, so there were no "age appropriate" materials. What I read was an article that among other things dealt with gender affirming surgeries. I was fascinated. Knowing that trans people exist helped me understand myself and helped me go on through much of my life. If we can just let young people know that that's a thing and nothing to be ashamed of, that's all they need at this age. And that's not hard for kids to understand. More so for adults
In good faith that you're here to have a discussion, as a transwoman, around 8 is when I started understanding I was trans, or at the very least didn't "feel like a boy". I did not grow up in a very accepting household or community and felt pressured to keep it a secret (for 25 years lmao). Media that tackled transgenderism or even gender norms was important solace for me growing up; the episode of Llyod in Space ft Zoit being a lowkey pivotal moment in my childhood
I really don't think you can protect kids by not acknowledging transgenderism, only estrange actual trans kids (who have just as many questions as the other kids 🤷♀)
0.6% is probably a very conservative estimate considering that in places where there is less stigma and more support for transgender people a lot more people are openly trans but even at 0.6% that means there are 48,000,000 trans people and all of them start out as children. Trans children deserve to see themselves reflected in the cartoons they watch. Some children already know that they are trans at that age and a lot know that they’re different than the other kids and don’t know why. I know that it would have been helpful for me as a kid seeing transgender characters in kids media.
because trans kids deserve to understand their experience before the age of 18. They deserve to know they exist and they deserve to understand their own persona lived experience as something other people experience. It's basic empathy.
the casting is frustrating, but i was shocked by the well-written trans character
Agreed! Done surprisingly well!
I don't understand that casting thing. I would really like to see more trans characters played by actors/actresses of any gender and also more trans actors playing characters of any gender, not limited to trans ones.
🤍🧡
Fair enough! I think mostly the sentiment is because representation was so sparse and so limited for so long, many movies that have portrayed trans people have used cis ppl.. it's more about making sure the representation is actually happening
I get your point, but I'm not sure I agree completely. If I read a book with a female character that I'm hot for, I don't want said female character played by a transwoman, because I want a nice sexy feminine voice and all that good stuff. But yeah, why aren't more trans characters played by actual trans people?
Also finding and casting a real trans woman in S.K. could be extremely dangerous for her.
I just want characters that are written and acted well. Whether cis play trans or trans plays cis or gay plays straight or straight plays gay. Any well done representation would be great!
Cast more trans folks as cis characters, its acting! Lets not limit anyone to their irl identity to get a role.
They used to cast white people as Black people in shows 100 years ago. It was called a "minstrel show" or "Blackface". The problem with it was that it was often used as a mockery of Black people, and it was in an industry that heavily discriminated against and refused to give roles to Black people.
You can draw parallels to how the entertainment industry has treated transgender people and why some may wish that more roles go to trans people until there's some level of balance achieved.
Why do you think there were literally no trans actresses available in all of South Korea for the role? Is it because trans koreans don't exist, or because the Korean culture and entertainment industry heavily discriminates against them? If the latter is true, do you think it's good that a discriminatory system and society is in charge of portraying trans women in media and that they are using cis men to play them?
Stuff to think about.