This is not Johansson’s first time with casting controversy | Photo: Flickr/Inside the Magic
Scarlett Johansson’s new movie role is based a real-life cross-dressing lesbian from the 1970s.
The project, Rub & Tug, reunites her with Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders. New Regency won the rights to the movie in a high-bidding auction.
Rub & Tug tells the story of Jean Marie Gill, a lesbian in 1970s Pittsburgh who was able to thrive in a male-dominated society by assuming the identity of a man.
She clashed with the mob and became a crime kingpin in her own right through illicit massage parlors, prostitution, and steroids for Pittsburgh’s NFL team the Steelers.
When assuming the identity of Dante ‘Tex’ Gill, Jean Marie was able to start an empire.
The movie will also explore her relationship with her girlfriend Cynthia, which Deadline describes as a ‘fiery romance’.
Gary Spinelli is writing the film.
A debate about trans identity
Many people are expressing outrage at Johansson taking on the role of a trans man. However, there is no evidence Gill identified as trans.
There has long been debate about straight actors playing LGBTI characters, such as Johannson playing a lesbian, but it is still something that happen often.
Cis actors playing trans characters and people is much less forgiving transgression. The unclear personal identity of Gill is what has people debating the nature of this casting.
Further, people are skeptical of Sanders after both whitewashing and straightwashing Ghost in the Shell.
H/t: Deadline
