When stupid mixes with stupid
On page two of my morning newspaper I saw a story titled, “[The famous musical] ‘Oklahoma!’ to debut after trans student reinstated.”1
The story is about a high school in Texas that was thrust into the national spotlight because of a peculiar situation created by the intersection of two stupid ideas.
The first stupid idea was the school’s enactment of a new policy that stipulated that school stage productions can only have male actors playing male roles, and only female actors playing female roles.
The second stupid idea was sparked because one of the student actors in the cast of Oklahoma! happened to be a transgender male.
Why was this issue thrust into the national spotlight? Because if only males can play males in school plays, and trans-males aren’t really males, then trans-males should not be allowed to play male roles in school plays.
Stupid ideas don’t always enhance the stupidity of other stupid ideas, but in this case they do.
The first stupid idea: only males can play males and only females can play females. An ‘actor’ is someone who plays a part. 400 years ago all roles in Shakespeare’s plays, including female characters, were performed by males. Back then it may have been done primarily because it was unseemly for women to be actors, regardless, Shakespeare set the precedent. Today we acknowledge that women can be just as unseemly as men.
Obviously actors can be convincing, even when playing the opposite sex (e.g., “Some Like It Hot”, “Tootsie”, “Mrs. Doubtfire, “The Year of Living Dangerously”). And just as obviously they’re capable of playing many other types of characters (e.g., “My Left Foot”, “Forrest Gump”, “Rear Window”, “Silence of the Lambs”).
Sadly, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to adopt “representation and inclusion standards”2 when awarding Oscars for Best Picture. The idea is that a Best Picture is a better Best Picture if the picture tells a good story and reflects the diverse global population. So if you want to win Best Picture, add a token minority, even if the audience must then further suspend disbelief to overlook the forced casting. It’s not clear if a movie made with an all-black cast or an all-female cast or an all Pacific Islander cast is eligible for the award.
Returning to the Texas High School play, it seems obvious that a trans actor is capable of playing either a male role or a female role because one’s gender is not a limitation when it comes to acting. That was the start of the dumbness.
The second stupid idea is the argument that a trans-male isn’t really a male. Why is it stupid?
It’s stupid because it’s obviously true. Trans-males are not males. Males produce small gametes (sperm). Females produce large gametes (ova). That’s how we distinguish sex (male or female) in the animal kingdom.3
But if the second stupid idea is obviously true, then why is it stupid? When is true ever stupid?
In this case it’s stupid because, even though true, the truth of the argument is being applied to a situation (acting) where it doesn’t actually matter.
If it doesn’t actually matter, then what’s the brouhaha? Why does anyone even care?
People care because sometimes the distinction between males and females does matter. For example, when competing in sports. When undressing in a girl’s locker room. When deciding who can and who can’t enter a rape crisis center. And most importantly, when prescribing drugs or otherwise receiving medical care.
So yes, sometimes the accurate identification of a person’s sex matters. But acting is not one of those times.
If the school hadn’t implemented the policy stipulating who can and can’t act a part in a play, then we’d never have heard about this. If the people concerned about sex had recognized that this is one of those cases where it doesn’t actually matter, then, again, we’d never have heard about it.
But put the two together, and what do you get?
You get stupid in a spotlight.