Occasionally you read something that just makes you squint, or look out the window and make sure it's still Planet Earth you inhabit, and not some bizarre parallel Twilight Zone-ish universe. Whilst scrolling through my Twitter feed today, I read some items that reminded me of why the creators named it TWIT-ter. The progenitor of this silly tweet is a trans activist. Anybody who knows me is aware I am fully supportive of the LGBTIQ community and their issues. Anybody who knows me will also be aware I hate the stymieing of art in all its forms. Acting is an art form. Therefore when I see a tweet that suggests cis male actors should have to undergo twelve months of real life experience to play a trans woman, I tend to roll my eyes so far back I can see my brains. And believe you me, I am quite sure I have abundantly more brains than someone who would suggest something so asinine.
One of my favourite movies is 'The World According To Garp;, and if you've seen it you will be aware there is a character named Roberta Muldoon, who is a transsexual. Roberta was formerly Robert Muldoon, No. 99 for the Philadelphia Eagles. Roberta is played by John Lithgow, in a performance that I think must surely be the pinnacle of his career. I introduced a friend to this movie one day; we viewed it at the flat in Double Way where she then lived. She was enthralled by the movie, and even more so when Roberta is introduced into the story. She hesitantly asked, 'Is this a guy?' I daresay the fact that Lithgow is a very tall and imposing figure, who towered over the rest of the cast, is what tipped her off. I confirmed the actor playing Roberta is male, and she just shook her head and exclaimed what a convincing job he was doing at playing a female. I'm not sure what preparation Lithgow undertook when getting ready for the role. Perhaps he just checked out the women in his life to study the way they held themselves when walking, or practised speaking in softer tones. Maybe he walked around in women's shoes to become accustomed to the footwear into which we occasionally shove our feet. But I think I can state with the utmost confidence - even without knowing the man personally - he did not undergo gender reassignment surgery.
I can state with the same confidence that when, in preparation for the role of Hannibal Lecter, Sir Anthony Hopkins didn't really kill people and eat them, accompanied by a nice Chianti or not. He might have read some psych reports and case studies, and spoken to some psychiatrists when trying to figure out how to act the depraved Dr Lecter. He might have sat down and thought: 'This guy seems to be a cross between Frasier Crane and Jeffrey Dahmer - I think I'll go for that angle when I'm getting into character.' He possibly took some direction from Jonathan Van Demme during filming. But you must agree it is extremely unlikely he slaughtered some poor sap and ate his liver, particularly given Sir Anthony Hopkins is vegetarian.
Matt Damon didn't really go to Mars to prepare for 'The Martian'. Gary Sinise didn't really undergo amputation of both legs below the knee for 'Forrest Gump'. To my knowledge, Eddie Redmayne doesn't have the same academic qualifications as Professor Stephen Hawking, nor does he have the same debilitating disease. Hell, the actors who played the Nazis on 'Hogan's Heroes' were Jewish.
Can all you people who jump up on some social justice bandwagon and insist actors either undertake unrealistic courses of action, or else stay within roles that pertain to their birth gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexuality, please remember they are ACTING!!! They are entertaining us, and often doing a very good job of what they do, which is ACTING. Our word 'hypocrite' comes from the Greek word for actor, so it's ease to correlate it with doing something outside their accepted societal 'norm', but for the love of Christ on a pogo stick fitted with an outboard motor: it's ACTING!!! Moaning about people contributing to their chosen professional art form is hardly likely to raise sympathy for your cause.
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