There is a trend in films and television of transgender characters being played by cis gendered people. Take Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent, or Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl. While trans visibility is on the rise in the media, the reality is that these roles are very rarely played by trans people.
Laverne Cox, transgender star of hit television show Orange is the New Black commented that the unemployment rate for trans women is double the national average, and quadruple the national average for trans women of colour. In spite of more and more trans characters appearing on television and in films, this trend is all too prevalent in acting.
Cue Shorty – everyones favourite prime time drama that consistently works to break moulds. We’ve seen bisexual main and supporting characters, lesbian storylines, and an array of other plots that are so seldom seen on popular, long running television series.
Now, Shortland Street is doing it again with the appearance of Blue, a biologically female character who identifies as a boy. On top of that, the character themselves are also played by a transgender actor – something we have discussed as disturbingly infrequent.
Wellingtonian Tash Keddy will be joining the cast of the show as Blue, and says that they identify “somewhere on the male spectrum.”
Image | NZ Herald.
