Halle Berry was forced to walk away from a role where she’d play a transgender character after a mob of angry LGBTQ+ activists threatened her.
Halle Berry, 53, now claims that she regrets ever having even considered playing a transgender character and has now pledged to be an “ally” to the transgender community.
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Has cancel culture gone too far? A woman of colour has been forced to step down from and was not even allowed to consider a role as a transgender man. The outrage came from the transgender community and was focused on Halle Berry when it was announced that she’d be playing the role.
The majority of voices condemning the actress for even considering the role as “women who don’t menstruate” and they’ve explicitly stated that only transgender people can play transgender people.
Many have questioned the logic behind this argument and wonder whether it would really be considered acting if an individual is simply playing themselves. Any criticism of outrage was instantly shutdown and called “transphobia” and Halle Berry conceded to the hysteria and issued a formal apology.
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The apology read: “Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man and I’d like to apologise for those remarks.
“As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.
“I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and I will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake.
“I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera.”
Although the LGBT advocacy group GLAAD welcomed the Halle Berry apology, others believe she went too far for even auditioning for the role.
We are pleased that @halleberry listened to the concerns of transgender people and learned from them. Other powerful people should do the same. A good place to start is by watching @Disclosure_Doc to learn about trans representation in media. https://t.co/SAxSvXxbk3
— GLAAD (@glaad) July 7, 2020
“As a transgender woman I think this is going to far, ” a concerned woman wrote in regards to the outrage.
“This can be very damaging to trans actors don’t always want to play trans characters. If we get angry because we see a cis woman playing a trans male, shouldn’t it also be the same if a trans woman plays a cis female?”
Do you think it is transphobic and bigoted to play a role that doesn’t represent your gender identity, or is it the other way around? Let us know what you think in the comments below