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Abstract

This dissertation is an exploration of the representation of transgender bodies in mainstream Hollywood film. Using Boys Don’t Cry and Dallas Buyers Club as case studies, it aims to assess how the spectacle of transgender bodies is used to communicate ideas of transness. It asks to what extent these ideas are perpetuated through a transgender perspective, or whether the presence of cisgender normativity is hegemonic in these respective attempts to depict trans experience sympathetically. It uses key theories of spectacle and the gendered body from both trans and cisgender perspectives to form a basis of thinking around the visual choices present in the films. It then asks how these choices make the body speak to the audience and relates the reception of these chosen films to the wider discourse surrounding trans cinematic embodiment.
This dissertation proposes that despite the intended reading of these texts to be trans sympathetic, the transgender perspective in both films is restricted to a temporary lens, as both revert to normative views of the body and gender from a cisgender, and at times patriarchal view. This, as a result, exemplifies the treatment of trans people in society, and raises questions about the agency of cisgender creatives and actors telling trans stories. This dissertation aims to offer an overview of the harmful ways in which Hollywood sustains damaging narratives of transness and hopes to shed light on the multifaceted nature of the current issues in representing trans bodies on-screen in contemporary mainstream cinema.

Course: Film Studies and Creative Writing - BA (Hons) - C1787

Date Deposited: 2024-08-08

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14424.html