Trans Slagging

[bcholmes]

On L. Wachowski's gender transition:

I'm always endlessly entertained when these mutants come out looking like this, cause I assume they picture themselves on the steps of a plantation home in a bonnet and a big flowing dress, cooling themselves with a fan and a mint julep while gentleman callers ask them to the cotillion. I got news for you freaks who go through this and think you're gonna be living the life of Jessica Simpson - you're gonna be different, but it's not that, and it's not good.

The thing is, the site that this appears on is called "What Would Tyler Durden Do?" Their image of Tyler Durden seems a wee bit more interested in maintaining the status quo than the Tyler Durden that I'm familiar with.

Comments

If you want obsessive coverage of this...

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

...check out The Matrix Explained (http://www.matrix-explained.com/) and Is Larry Wachowski transsexual? (http://www.matrix-explained.com/php/about-the-matrix-movies-133.html) from their forum.

Back in 2003 I spent some time on the forum, eagerly awaiting the third film and wildly speculating in the forums about stuff. It's abit dead now though, in comparison to those halcyon days.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I don't know what I was expecting, but some of the posts on that board are pretty pathetic. You'd think some of the people on that board were still living in their parents basements, preparing for the nuclear holocaust while planning how to blow up mailboxes.

And Larry Wachowski's gender reassignment wasn't exactly top secret. I had a panel on it in my track at Torcon, speculating on how it may have had an impact on his worldview leading to the creation of The Matrix. Hm, just a sec... ah, here it is.

Recently, it was announced in the news that Larry Wachowski, one half of the team of brothers that created the “Matrix” series of films, is undergoing hormone treatment in preparation for gender reassignment surgery. “The Matrix” is on the syllabus for a women’s studies course at the University of Minnesota, and even before these films, the Wachowskis were best known for writing the screenplay for the crime thriller “Bound”, which featured lesbian characters in the lead roles. Join in on a discussion of LGBT influences on these brothers’ work.

And now I see that you were actually on that panel, so this isn't news to you. :)

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Holy crap! This is total news to me. Fascinating.

I was less horrified than I expected to be by the comments. Heartening, really. I thought "Haven't we learned from the X-Men movies not only that Halle Berry is a piss-poor actress, but also that if we call those different from us "freaks," they'll eventually hurl cars or fire at us?" was priceless.

[rbowspryte.livejournal.com]

Yeah talk about an ass@#$e!
Why does the studio think this is important? Weird...

As for WWTDD. He looks like a guy with too much money and an opinion on everything..welcome to the future..too many ass@$es so little time (to listen to them all screaming!)

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

The first comment alone floored me:

"Gender reassignment? THIS I had most certainly not heard about. Kinda makes me enjoy the Matrix less."

What the hell? I mean, I know that some people have issues with the whole thing. I don't understand it from a "can put myself in their shoes and really grok the mental state" sense, but I know it exists. However, I'm totally floored that someone would say, "Wow, that totally ruins my ability to enjoy a movie they made.

Although maybe I need to look at that reaction more closely and learn from it, because I know that I don't feel quite the same about reading Orson Scott Card books now that I've read his homophobic diatribes.

[kat-chan.livejournal.com]

Although there's a bit of a difference between L. Wachowski undergoing what is essentially a medical treatment and Orson Scott Card spewing venom that he could keep to himself. It would be a more apt comparison to say that ceasing to enjoy "The Matrix" because L. Wachowski is a transsexual is like ceasing to enjoy Lou Rawls's music because he had cancer.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Gah. I will not read that site. I don't need to have my blood boil!Freaks? Who are they to define what a "freak" is?

By the way, I've had your last friends-only post open in my browser for a week (since you posted it), and I still haven't thought of anything to say. It's a bit late to offer sympathy, but I have been thinking of you.