There are quite a few high-profile LGBT-themed films starring well-known actors coming out before the end of the year, including Freeheld (starring Ellen Page and Julianne Moore) and Stonewall (with Jeremy Irvine). There’s also About Ray, starring Elle Fanning, Naomi Watts and Susan Sarandon, which we haven’t heard as much about, until now with the arrival of a trailer.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘About Ray tells the stirring and touching story of three generations of a family living under one roof in New York as they must deal with the life-changing transformation by one that ultimately affects them all. Ray (Elle Fanning) is a teenager who has come to the realization that she isn’t meant to be a girl and has decided to transition from female to male. His single mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts), must track down Ray’s biological father (Tate Donovan) to get his legal consent to allow Ray’s transition. Dolly (Susan Sarandon), Ray’s lesbian grandmother is having a hard time accepting that she now has a grandson. They must each confront their own identities and learn to embrace change and their strength as a family in order to ultimately find acceptance and understanding.’
As with the arguments raging over whether Stonewall will erase the contribution of trans* and people of color in the 1969 Stonewall riots, there are bound to be questions about a cisgender person playing a trans* character in About Ray, especially at a time of increasing awareness in the mainstream of transgender people. We will have to see what people have to see whe it arrives in US cinemas in September.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_86baBTbNtU
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