Trans-activists have begun an online petition to boycott the film Zoolander 2 over the “controversy” of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson’s characters make light of Benedict Cumberbatch’s clearly androgynous male/female model character.
Sarah Rose, the petition creator, said of the problematic issues regarding the Zoolander sequel:
“Cumberbatch’s character is clearly portrayed as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals. This is the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority. Like any rational person, I think there’s a place for discourse and humor in society, but the last thing the transgender community needs at this moment is another “harmful, cartoonish portrayal of our lives.
If the producers and screenwriters of Zoolander wanted to provide social commentary on the presence of trans/androgyne individuals in the fashion industry, they could have approached models like Andreja Pejic to be in the film. By hiring a cis actor to play a non-binary individual in a clearly negative way, they film endorses harmful and dangerous perceptions of the queer community at large.”
Is a pretentious, androgynous model and a gender non-conforming or trans person the same thing?
The problem is that the whole movie is over the top cartoonish mockery. ALL the characters are over-the-top and cartoonish. If Ms. Amber Rose was serious her disgust it should be directed at that cartoon character known as Caitlyn “Republican Qusiling” Jenner. She’s as far removed from the community as one can get. And much more dangerous.
Now I want to go see it.