SNL humor called ‘blatantly anti-transgender’ by gay media watchdog, GLAAD [video]
”The violence, discrimination and harassment that transgender Americans experience each and every day is no laughing matter…. Saturday Night Live is a touchstone of American comedy, but Saturday’s unfunny skit sends a destructive and dehumanizing message.”
Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which is calling out the late-night comedy show, Saturday Night Live. The skit in question was a mock commercial for ”Once Daily Estro-Maxx.”
”I’m the head of a major corporation. I can’t spend all day increasing market share and turning my penis into a function vagina.”
Actor James Franco who joined the male cast members of SNL to play pre-op, male-to-female transgenders. The fictional product being advertised was a once-daily hormone replacement pill that would replace the regular requiment of five ”sex changing” pills per day. (SNL/NBC)
The characters in the skit make little attempt to appear female, but are shown as developing breasts and pear-shaped behinds; and an animation illustrates how “those pesky male genitals” shrink away.
The spot has received criticism for making light of serious issues that face persons in transition.
Have a look, and tell us what you think.
Does this type of humor cross the line from “laughing with us” to “laughing at us?” Is there any value of visibility that could create a broader conversation? Or is this just mean-spirited, and “blantantly anti-transgender” as GLAAD describes it?
And one more side note: James Franco surprised many when he was featured in feminine garb on the Winter 2010-2011 cover of a small publication called Candy: The First Transversal Style Magazine.
CANDY 2 from Luis Venegas on Vimeo.
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