A leading US LGBT group has blasted the makers of a new Hollywood thriller about a hitman forced to undergo gender reassignment surgery against his will.
Tomboy, A Revenger’s Tale stars Fast and Furious 7’s Michelle Rodriguez as a male assassin who falls into the clutches of a rogue surgeon, who transforms him into a woman. The title character later takes revenge on his tormentor, who will be played by Alien’s Sigourney Weaver.
A spokesperson for Glaad, formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said producers had picked an inappropriate storyline for their project.
“We haven’t read the script, but it’s disappointing to see film-makers turning what is a life-saving medical procedure for transgender people into a sensationalistic plot device,” the organisation’s director of programs for transgender media, Nick Adams, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We are at a crucial moment in the public’s understanding of transgender issues, and stories like these have the potential to undermine the progress we’ve worked so hard to achieve.”
Tomboy, A Revenger’s Tale is directed by Walter Hill, best known for The Warriors and 48 Hrs. The film’s announcement comes at a time when Hollywood is coming under increasing pressure to clean up its negative portrayals of LGBT people.
Last month, Glaad accused studios of falling behind trailblazing television shows such as Orange is the New Black, Transparent and Modern Family when it comes to fair and relevant representation. The organisation criticised recent films such as Get Hard, The Wolf of Wall Street and Ted 2, all of which it said used homophobic terms or made jokes at the expense of LGBT characters.
