I spotted a fairly obvious poster on Gwen Stacy’s bedroom wall in the latest trailer for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. It featur💎es the trans pride colours and the words ‘Protect Trans Kids’ written across them. It is a direct political statement and a brave line in the sand dra🐻wn by the folks over at Sony Pictures Animation. For some reason, a few bigots are surprised.
Because I am a raging fruit who fights for all things LGBTQ+ on the daily, my excitement was notable enough to share a f🅰ew screenshots on Twitter, complete with a hashtag and obvious truth that Across The Spider-Verse supports trans rights and the queer kids now being used as political bargaining chips around the world. It’s a small detail to include, but significant in its placement within the Spider-Man universe. Of course young zoomers raised in the age of social media, a Trump presidency, and Black Lives Matter are going to lean progressive.
Unfortunately, my innocent little tweet has attracted both a mixture of passionate queer fans and those who believe this woke message worming its way into the Spider-Verse world can only do more harm than good. O𒉰r, more realistically, the hardworking animators, writers, artists, and direc𝐆tors working on this film recognise where the world is right now, and know that a tiny little background detail like this will let young trans people know they are not only seen, but loved and understood. No matter how bleak things get.
After cover🥂ing the world of animation and delving into the industry more and more this past year or so, I can say with confidence that the medium is incredibly diverse. In terms of race, gender, sexuality, discipline, and pretty much everything. As younger folks move into the world of work, their more progressive politics and drive to make the world a better place bleeds into the wider zeitgeist. I’ve spoken to older folks at studios who were accepting of a status quo and resigned to a lack of change, only for graduates to march in and push for fair pay and unionisation, making it clear how unfair the playing ground has been for far too long.
A change in culture and a more positive outlook on what animation could and deserves to be on a fundamental level will inevitably bleed into the inclusive messaging spread throughout the films and shows we love. You frequently see critics decrying the inclusion of periods or trans people as deliberately woke ideas only thrown in to satiate the masses, when the truth is that the world around us is changing, and the art we c𒁏onsume will do so alongside it. LGBT people are more accepted than ever, but we are still fighting for rights and representation in society and across the media that doesn’t improperly label who we are or beat us down.
Across The Spider-Verse shouldn’t be labelled as brave for daring to indirectly make clear that trans kids deserve protection, but receives such praise because right now healthcare is being stripped away from the most vulnerable, and children will be pushed to potential harm or worse because an out of touch government made up of elderly politicians believe they know better than the kids who are struggling through crippling dysphoria and know something out there can be done to help them. Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales are superheroes who fight for 🅺the little guy, and it turns out 🉐that trans people are in need of help, whether we welcome it or not.
Besides, Into The Spider-Verse was already demonstrably political in its identity. The movie centres around characters who are clearly aware of how being a person of colour will have them perceived in the wider world, and how growing up in a mixed-race family comes with challenges that Miles must deal with🔥 long before gaining superpowers. Once he finally has the m𒅌eans to make a difference he wastes no time, yet also stumbles across countless other responsibilities and the idea of not being enough because of who he is and where he came from. This racial journey of validity is a tale as old as time we can all see ourselves in, while it can also be applied to the struggles of trans people we need to keep fighting on behalf of.
🃏I doubt the film is going to throw a prominent trans character at us or deliver a long-lasting message about the value of societal acceptance, but I do know it will still bear a mantra we can all learn from, and a little poster in a teenager’s bedroom is only one part of that. Films like this should stand for something, even subtly, and to know Spider-Man of all people will stand up for LGBTQ+ people means the world. Protect Trans Kids, somebody has to.
