Scarlett Johansson quit her role because of the LBGT community’s reaction
Attractive Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson announced on July 13 that she was leaving her role in the movie “Rub & Tug” because of backlash from the LBGT community (the 3rd gender community).
Scarlett Johansson beat many candidates to be cast as transgender crime boss Dante “Tex” Gill. This is a real character, born and raised as a female, named Jean Gill. Jean Gill transformed into a man and used his massage parlor as a “nursery” for prostitution from 1970 to 1980.
As soon as the news that Scarlett Johansson was chosen for this role spread, the LBGT community spoke out against it. They believe that Scarlett Johansson is a normal gender person, and it is difficult to play the emotions and psychology required of a transgender character. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of famous transgender people in the acting world and why not cast them in this role?
Faced with everyone’s criticism, Scarlett Johansson voiced controversy. She affirmed that there have been many other actors who have played transgender roles without facing any reactions. She cited a series of names like Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto and Felicity Huffman.
But in the end, Scarlett Johansson gave in to the public. She accepted to give up the role. “After controversy over cultural and ethical issues related to the role of Dante “Tex” Gill, I withdrew from this project. I have learned a lot from the LGBT community since making my first statement about role and I realized that those words were very insensitive” – Scarlett Johansson confided in “Out” magazine.
She added that she understood why people wanted this character to be truly transgender. She thanked this great debate for creating a comprehensive view of diversity and representation in cinema.
On social networks, many people from the LBGT community believe that actors taking on transgender roles have lost opportunities for real transgender actors. It’s time for the entertainment industry to change and accept diversity and representation.
The Gay & Lesbian Anti-Defamation League (abbreviated as GLAAD) further informed that in 109 Hollywood movies produced by 7 major studios in 2017, there was at least 1 transgender character. GLAAD welcomed the decision of the Hollywood beauty and said that her voice and her sharing about her role in this film will be the future of the image of transgender people in Hollywood.
The studio has not started work on “Rub & Tug” and has not responded to Scarlett Johansson’s decision.
Previously, Scarlett Johansson also caused controversy when playing a character adapted from a Japanese comic book in the movie “Ghost in the Shell”. In the original, this character was Japanese and black and this is what she was criticized for. “Ghost in the Shell” is considered part of the racist “whitewashing” movement. Many criticisms and other objective reasons caused the film to lose revenue.
