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ok thread time. I watched this live and was so shocked that I've has to take some time to process. first, for fuller versions of my thoughts, read my article on it (linked below). also disclaimer: this panel was recorded way before my article came out. 1/
https://twitter.com/clewisreviews/status/1379572523898183680?s=20 https://twitter.com/jaggedmusical/status/1381654026555682818
https://twitter.com/clewisreviews/status/1379572523898183680?s=20 https://twitter.com/jaggedmusical/status/1381654026555682818
the panel includes producer Eva Price, actor Lauren Patten, and two "impact board members": trans author P. Carl and NYC Commission on Human Rights commissioner Carmelyn Malalis
Price begins: "We are living in an urgent moment right now for equity and representation in American culture. As arts creators, we are taking this time of pause to reflect on the vital elements of our process and how we can do better and move forward together 2/
toward being the most inclusive and authentic storytellers we can be. Part of that exploration is connecting with other artists and helping out the whole community achieve these goals." 3/
The hypocrisy begins here and the panel starts on a bad note. It is blatantly untrue and insulting to the trans and nb community to say that JLP has made efforts to be "inclusive and authentic" when they have done the complete opposite. 4/
They say they are reflecting on what they can do better, but in the entire panel they make no promises to change or even mention any changes they are considering. The same goes with their statement today. 5/
They do not seem to be reflecting or committing to change or do better--this just seems like an attempt at PR and them patting themselves on the back for all supposed good they have done. The item they frequently mention as praise worthy is the formation of an advisory board. 6/
Price says "The idea of establishing an impact board for the development and creation of Jagged Little Pill came from when you are pursuing socially-responsible storytelling it is pretty vital that you admit what you don’t know." 7/
I do not think JLP or any show deserves credit for creating an advisory board. That is the *bare minimum.* Price admits they only created the board after negative feedback at ART. 8/
Cody says "I had to really educate myself on gender issues, which I have to admit I went into this thinking I knew something, and I didn’t know much." Then she had no business writing this show. As @prestonmaxallen wrote 9/ https://twitter.com/prestonmaxallen/status/1382090116806676488?s=20
I do not know the complete list of members of the impact board, but I know that it includes at least one trans person, P. Carl, which is great. That being said, I am deeply unsatisfied with the work that the board has done. 10/
As I write in my article, JLP is perpetuating nonbinary erasure, an act which not only denies needed trans representation but can have dire consequences. Lack of representation has a direct relationship to violence against trans people. 11/ https://twitter.com/jacktomy_duh/status/1380657684458975233?s=20
Cody: Morissette’s music “naturally inspired me to think about, you know, a young person who might have a different gender presentation or a different form of gender expression” and that she developed Jo with Lauren, writing the role for her/around her 12/
at no point did anyone credit the fact that Ezra Menas had a large part in the development of this character. They refuse to give their trans nb cast member credit. 13/
Patten responds "What I always, always loved about Jo and really responded to about what Diablo wrote was that this was a queer teen who really lived in a gray area and wasn’t, as you said, doesn’t have it all figured it out." 14/
The usage of "gray area" here is clearly a PR tactic and an excuse, hiding under am umbrella term--which Patten also does when she frequently mentions Jo and herself being queer. This also incorrectly conflates queerness and gender expression. 15/
Just as the musical does, Patten referring to Jo's gender as being in a "gray area" and "doesn't have it all figured out" is purposefully drawing on the language nonbinaryness without saying it, being vague enough to still be cis while still "questioning" enough to see edgy 16/
Price continues: "Even though Jo was not written as a nonbinary character we as the creators of this musical embrace the fact that the role had a breath of resonance for many. But what we learned through the impact board is that 17/
"language matters, especially when it comes to identity and when it comes to representation." It took an impact board for the team to learn this? Really? Also, Price's comment continues the gaslighting of "Jo was not written as a nonbinary character" 18/
This language is affirmed in the messed up, cowardly statement that the show tweeted today and in the tweets Patten wrote in response to the panel. For my thoughts on that, see linked tweets 19/ https://twitter.com/clewisreviews/status/1382090035713822721?s=20
Cody stated "Even though I know that I can’t be perfect in how I convey a character’s experience, I can at least have the knowledge of knowing that I was as informed as I could be and as sensitive as I could be" nothing about the writing of Jo was *ever* sensitive or informed 20/
Malalis adds "there is no generalized definitive answers when it comes to gender, that’s part of the beauty of gender, right? That there’s many different ways of expressing it, there’s many different ways of talking about it." 21/
This is 100% an excuse. There are right ways and wrong ways to talk about gender and JLP is WRONG. period. 22/
Malais continues "That there’s many different ways of expressing it [gender], there’s many different ways of talking about it. You can talk about it one way that’s great for one group that may not be great for somebody who’s in another group." 23/
This is basically a mantra for fragile cis people who make excuses for the transphobic ways that they talk about and talk over trans people. In fact, the way they have "talked about it" was great for one group, cis people, and "not great" for another group, trans + nb people 24/
P. Carl refers to the issues about Jo as a "good controversy" for some unexplainable reason and refers to the "beauty and pain" of the character? 25/
P. Carl, discussing gender, says "What we learned was one, we got to talk about it, two, we have got to think about the language, and three if we don’t start getting some trans and nonbinary people in stories, I mean, you know it is like a dessert out there for all of us" 26/
I do not know how to reconcile this, especially in light of the producer repeated saying that Jo was never nonbinary. So what is P. Carl referring to in terms of "getting some trans and nonbinary people in stories"? Everyone on this panel is on a different page. 27/
Price mentions "nothing about us without us" (doesnt cite that this phrase is from disability community) and says “This show holds that very dear, which is why we put together this impact board, to make sure that we weren’t creating anything about someone without someone.” 28/
Jagged Little Pill is perpetuating a nonbinary erasure. At their core they are "creating [something] about someone without someone." They are hypocrites. They will not admit anything or work to fix anything. Their apologies are hollow. 29/
lastly, on to Lauren's big moment in the panel, which she echoes in her thread about the panel (linked). this is long so it will be spread over a few tweets.
https://twitter.com/PattenLauren/status/1381729142979313664?s=20 30/
https://twitter.com/PattenLauren/status/1381729142979313664?s=20 30/
"You play a specific thing that is yours alone and nobody really knows, and the audience takes a ton of different things" great ready, she loves this excuse of blaming the audience/fans 31/
"With this very specific issue of representation for trans and nonbinary folks there is a need for real specificity
and because there is such a dessert of representation , as Carl was saying, that is something I think that I learned and came to terms with during this process 32/
and because there is such a dessert of representation , as Carl was saying, that is something I think that I learned and came to terms with during this process 32/
I really loved the gray area of Jo and I think I recognized that gray area, with many many good intentions, sometimes have harmful impact on people"
here's the "gray area" again, and yet she mentions the need for specificity? 33/
here's the "gray area" again, and yet she mentions the need for specificity? 33/
"I talked to a lot of people at stagedoor and talked to people on social media, and I know I wanted to support everyone and how they saw the character and felt really, I really didn’t want to invalidate anybody’s experience of the character" more fan blaming 33/
"Jo’s story created so many moving incredible emotional responses and when somebody is sharing a deeply personal emotional response with you, all you ever want to do as an artist is say 'that’s amazing thank you for seeing that in the character, that’s incredible'" 34/
"one of the things I think about is during that time I started using they-them pronouns characters to refer to the character when I was talking with fans about her and at stage door and on social media and I made the choice because I was trying to refer to the character 35/
in a way that left room for how any audience member experience the character’s identity and I wanted to infer this character could resonate with so many folks in such an expansive way and I didn’t want to use pronouns that would invalidate trans folks’ experience 36/
at the time thought this would be the most gender-neutral option that would leave it expansive. And now I look back and I see yea, that felt to a lot of people like I was confirming that this character had a trans identity that I don’t hold, and that wasn’t developed." (phew) 37/
This is not an apology, the only thing Patten apologies here is for using they/them pronouns, and it seems like her apology is more so based on regret at being caught gaslighting. We have the receipts and she is trying to invalidate them. 38/
