she is the ONLY thing that would put asses in seats for this dreck... might's well pull the plug right now
Posted on 07/13/2018 4:27:10 PM PDT by EdnaMode
Scarlett Johansson, who endured cries of whitewashing when she played the lead in last year’s Ghost in the Shell, this time has given in to public pressure. The actress today exited Rub & Tug, the Rupert Sanders-directed film in which she was to play the trans owner of a massage parlor.
Johansson’s role in the project was met with immediate backlash from the transgender community and others who objected to her casting. Following the initial uproar, the actress responded with a statement to Bustle.com which read, “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”
Well, now it looks like Johannson has had a change of heart. In a statement to Out.com, Johannson said, “In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project.”
As Deadline broke exclusively on July 2, New Regency had won a fevered auction for the package which came with Johansson starring and Sanders directing. The production, which reportedly had a budget north of $30 million, had her set to play Pittsburgh massage parlor owner and crime kingpin Dante “Tex” Gill in the upcoming mob drama Rub & Tug. The real-life Gill was born as Lois Jean Gill but identified as a man — a detail which sparked the opposition.
Read the full statement published on Out.com below.
“In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project. Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive. I have great admiration and love for the trans community and am grateful that the conversation regarding inclusivity in Hollywood continues. According to GLAAD, LGBTQ+ characters dropped 40% in 2017 from the previous year, with no representation of trans characters in any major studio release. While I would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante’s story and transition to life, I understand why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person, and I am thankful that this casting debate, albeit controversial, has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film. I believe that all artists should be considered equally and fairly. My production company, These Pictures, actively pursues projects that both entertain and push boundaries. We look forward to working with every community to bring these most poignant and important stories to audiences worldwide.”
GLAAD, Hollywood Transgender Community React To Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Rub & Tug’ Exit
https://deadline.com/2018/07/scarlett-johansson-glaad-reaction-rub-tug-exit-transgender-community-1202426400/
she is the ONLY thing that would put asses in seats for this dreck... might's well pull the plug right now
Haha, shooting themselves in the foot again I see! She would have drawn in a lot of normals to watch it, putting a real tranny in the starring role will relegate it to a straight to bargain bin release.
Wow, talk about a new low for movies. I haven’t been to one in years and it doesn’t look like they’ll be seeing me in a theater any time soon.
Another gutless Hollywood drone whose career has already peaked. The make-up team would have won the Academy Award if they were able to make her into a creature as hideous as the real butch she was supposed to portray in the movie.
tranny owner of a massage parlor that runs a prostitution ring. Why on earth would she accept the role in the first place, of a pretend woman trafficking real women, an embarrassment to anyone’s career.
I am sure the producers wanted Scarlett Johansson to play the main character because she is a good looking woman. The real life man not so much.
This movie would be a hard sell to middle America with Scarlett Johansson.
Having a “real” man play the part will make it all but impossible.
I predict lots and lots of OSCARS for all involved. /s
But then Hollywood today is making movies for themselves, not for the mass audience.
A black or other minority can play any traditionally white character and that's fine (see Annie and the Honeymooners remake), even encouraged. But if white were to play a traditionally minority character, that's "whitewashing".
A gay or transgendered character can play a straight character and that's fine (see Neil Patrick Harris and Ian McKellan in...well pretty much every role) . But don't you dare put a straight actor in the role of a gay or transgendered character because that's "insensitive".
bookmark
Maybe Rosie O’Donnell is free to audition for the role.
She made a good “Steve Bannon” last year, when SNL was thinking of having Rosie portray Steve.
That is a seriously unflattering picture.
Ya give ‘em an inch, they’ll take a mile...
My theory is she used this as an excuse to get out of the project. That director’s last movie was horrendous.
About the only role she could get after hacking her hair off.
exactly
I read the real life person the character is based on was not trans but dressed as woman to work at the massage parlor.
Imagine being one of the investors putting up money to help finance a SJ movie . . . . and then this bullying crap from the queer lobby - I’d be pissed
They’re going to make a movie about a transsexual/transgender/trans-whatever who ran massage parlors? I thought that movies on the topic had already been made, and are available all over the internet.
Apparently its “genderwashing”.
Time to end all this crap.
The era of no fuc*s given, needs to begin for the rest of us - the most of us - who are not in a special snowflake protected class.
That was my feeling as well. It’s gonna be a bomb anyway...
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