It’s intriguing that the more people clamor for “color-blind casting”, the more people get upset when it doesn’t work in their favor.  People say they want entertainment to be cast diversely, but apparently that only goes for roles which were traditionally played by Caucasians.  Imagine the uproar if Kathleen Turner were cast as Rosa Parks – something, frankly, I’d love to see (I can almost hear her saying, “Lordy, Lordy, I sho’ is tired!”).  But they all want to see our forefathers played by ethnic minorities, or perhaps a mixed-race Romeo and Juliet – because that would be so true to 14th-century Verona!  The latest politically incorrect casting is for the upcoming film Anything, based on the play of the same name by Tim McNeil.  The play was described as “a wryly humorous and profoundly moving story of the unlikely romance that blossoms between a reclusive grief-stricken widower from small-town Mississippi, and his charismatic transvestite neighbor on the brink of her own destruction.”  It’s been announced that Matt Bomer has been cast as a transsexual sex worker.  It’s not like Bomer isn’t talented or breathtakingly handsome.  And he’s paid his dues – my God, he’s slept his way to the middle.  What more do you want?  But, according to some people, the only person who can play a transsexual is a transsexual.

Jen Richards, creator of the Web series Her Story, Tweeted, “When Jared Leto plays Rayon and accepts his Oscar with a full beard, the world see’s that being a trans women is just a man performing.”  No – what the world saw was an actor who played a role.  I’m fairly confident Anthony Hopkins has never killed anyone, but he made an indelible Hannibal Lecter.  Turns out Ms. Richards has an axe to grind, as she revealed in a follow-up Tweet: “I auditioned for this.  I told them they shouldn’t have a cis man play a trans woman.  They didn’t care.”  I guess in their naïveté, they simply wanted the best actor for the role.  The person taking the heat for the casting is Mark Ruffalo, since he’s the executive producer.  “To the Trans community.  I hear you.  It’s wrenching to see you in this pain.  I am glad we are having this conversation.  It’s time.  In all honesty I suggested Matt for the role after the profound experience I had with him while making The Normal Heart.”