ScarJo joins Massage-Parlor Mob Drama (and faces backlash)

Not gonna lie, that's kind of a badass response, even if I think she's gonna catch even more flak for it. But then again, we're just now in an era where trans performers are allowed to be more mainstream, so it's still a bit tone-deaf to say something like that.

Here's the thing: you'd think that Johansson's people would be making sure that any role she takes isn't going to cause any more strife after the last controversy.

Fantastic response, fuck the standard bs publicist statements.

The backlash is nonsensical to begin with. WTF should she care about the "current Hollywood climate" if that climate is clouded in irrational SJW-addled McCarthyism! A "climate" where a stand-up guy like Matt Damon gets crucified for making literally the most reasonable and what SHOULD HAVE been the least controversial statement ever is a dangerously disingenuous climate that no movie star should bow down to...period. 💯

On one hand, I kinda admire her bluntness (at least a “Fuck you, don’t wanna” is more honest than someone disingenuously making excuses), but... oh. That’s still messed up.

Could they have sought out a lesser known talented trans-performer for the part? Yes, and that would have been nice. Do I mind that they hired Johansson instead? Not really. Will she be as good as Hilary Swank? Doubt it.

What a bunch of BS ! This is absolutely ridiculous ! Aren't actors allowed t oACT anymore? So if she got a role playing a concentration camps survivor, she shouldn't play that role because she is not, in fact, a concentration camps survivor , right ?

OK, so ignoring the moral debate about "should trans actors play trans characters" thing for a second, let me just say that ScarJo is an absolute moron for courting all this controversy all over again with the same director. And her rep's response is utterly idiotic. This movie now has NO CHANCE of becoming her Oscar role (which I think we can all assume is a motivating factor), as the vast majority of critics and bloggers will have their knives out for it. Also, I might feel differently if ScarJo wasn't involved in progressive activism, but she's been all over the zeitgeisty stuff (telling James Franco she wants her pin back, etc), so it makes her look like a complete hypocrite acting all woke only to repeat her Ghost In The Shell controversy. She's probably the most attractive woman in Hollywood and has the potential to be a good actress (she was fantastic in Under The Skin, Lost In Translation, and Her yet has been terrible in many others), but in interviews she always came across as... kind of dumb.

As for the "should trans actors play trans characters from now on" thing, I guess I'm not the best person to ask since I'm a straight white male with no trans friends or family members. But yeah, I guess they should, if anything just to give trans actors more acting opportunities. I absolutely loved Tangerine and I think the fact that it used real trans actors added a sense of authenticity to it. The two leads were superb.

Of all the people in the world to call an “SJW”. That’s reachin’.

can we take a step back and acknowledge the real outrage of this situation: Rupert Sanders is directing.

anyways, i know people are pressed about this now but trust me, this thing is going to be forgotten the minute it drops. Everything about this project spells failure.

Yes, we all know how you feel about this.

You can disagree with it all you want, it's still a completely tone deaf response that's already ensured that this gets bad buzz before it even starts filming. Not a smart move to shoot yourself and your pet project in the foot like that.

It's such a bullshit non-response.

It's a clear "don't give a fuck, lick my balls" middle-finger of a statement that looks gutsy at first sight because they're not bothering to disguise how little they care, but it doesn't address the issue in any way nor does it say anything substantial to counter the criticism. They don't offer an intelligent critique/rebuttal to the backlash they ought to have known they were gonna get, they just point out comparisons of varying relevance and expect the bluntness to do the trick. It's stupid.

It's not only a terrible PR move for a film that's most likely not gonna be anywhere near good enough to overcome it, it's a total fuck you to a completely valid objection. They bring up an actress who played trans 13 years ago, when awareness about trans issues was a far cry from what it is now (and who at least is the same gender as the character she was playing then, for fuck's sake), an actor who won't even get to stick around until the end of his show due to ALLEGED serial sexual harrassment (again, is this the best you can come up with in your defense, guys?), and Jared Leto, whose character's identity I'm not 100% certain about after all these years since the film came out but who's referred to in the script as a male-identifying crossdresser, which doesn't seem to be the case here. Not that any of that matters, because like Cat said, "other people did it so why can't I" is not a defense. Representation is important, and to deny a trans actor this visibility out of stubbornness and ego keeps talented performers (who'd probably do a better, more convincing job at it than Johansson, and this is coming from someone who generally likes her a lot) from getting this exposure. All the prominent trans performers are female; this could've helped change that.

What's worse is that there's a prominent cis female role right there for Johansson to play, the wife. You know, the relationship that's supposedly the film's "emotional core". If she wanted to play a substantial part in a project she's passionate about without rehashing the white-washing controversy from last year and without denying other performers visibility, she could. But she's being badass instead. I'm sure whoever's funding this isn't very happy right now.