Disclosure: In-depth Look at the History of Trans Life in TV & Film

Movies and TV act as a reflection of society. It can reflect our own experiences while also providing a window into another life we aren't familiar with. For some people looking to find themselves on the screen, they are met with inaccurate and offensive representations. Media can help shape perceptions and opinions and when marginalized groups are portrayed poorly it can cause frustration and confusion n their community as well as reinforce offensive stereotypes of how they are seen by society.

Disclosure discusses the history of trans representation that extends back to more than 100 years of cinema. Sam Feder uses the documentary to retrace ways gender-nonconforming characters have been depicted in media. The behavior, look, and language around those trans characters have evolved over time but a lot of it was offensive and provided a misunderstanding of the trans community to the public. Director Yance Ford along with the actors, writers, directors, and historians interviewed throughout the documentary go through cinema history to tell the story of trans roles in Hollywood. The documentary allows the trans community to tell their own story in contrast to the many works they discuss that leave their voice out of the conversation.

Instead of making audiences feel bad about movies they enjoy featuring trans themes, it educates on the larger issues while diving deep into a legacy of problematic representation of their community. Feder has compiled a diverse range of actors, writers, directors, and more to participate in the conversation of reinterpreting classic films. The film leaves out cisgender people who for years have monopolized the depiction of gender expressions seen by the mainstream.
Laverne Cox explains, " The ways in which trans people have been represented on-screen have suggested that we're not real, have suggested that we're mentally ill, that we don't exist." Cox makes the case about when cis male actors Jared Leto and Eddie Redmayne portray transgenders for "respectable" roles especially when they come on stage to accept their Oscar in a suit or Hilary Swank accepting in a dress for "Boys Don't Cry." This behavior reinforces the perception that the trans identity is a performance as they can switch between the two when called for rather than a lifelong commitment to embrace a true identity.

The experts speak about the complexities of seeing themselves on screen as well as how they were viewed by Hollywood. Disclosure works through the painful, offensive pathway to finally getting meaningful transgender representation in TV and film. They start with 1914 where D.W. Griffith started the ongoing trope of turning gender non-conforming people into a joke. This theme continued throughout trans characters for decades.

The documentary shares a study by GLAAD that points out that 80% of Americans have never met a transgender person and all the information they know about them is based on what they see on TV and film. A majority of trans representation shows trans people as a joke, psychopaths, and their transness as an identity that prompts vomiting. They are also often portrayed as sex workers, murder victims, or used as a big twist that makes them look like the villain and put their feelings on hold for the other character to be more important. These similar, limited experiences of trans characters help shape the perception people have about the trans community. These roles can be traumatizing for trans people as they watch their loved ones laugh at them through the media's portrayal. Many people in the film share how hard it was to accept their own identity because they couldn't relate to the trans characters onscreen at the time. The film shows strong, confident trans celebrities in contrast to the portrayals of them by John Lithgow or Chris Sarandon.

The film also makes the case that trans performers feel that they should be considered for any character as mostly cisgender, white actors take these roles. Jen Richards said that when she plays a trans woman she doesn't have to play the transness as seen with actors like Eddie Redmayne in "The Danish Girl." These movies with trans characters and even talk shows have such an obsession with the anatomy of the characters or people they interview and use that as their identities.
The film discusses the cis-centric fixation in most of the works they discuss and point out the reoccurrence of cross-dressed female actors ripping off their shirts to reveal their breasts or the "twist" of the "betrayed" character running away or throwing up as their immediate reaction. Hollywood is teaching a reaction of throwing up in response to trans people revealing their status. These comedic portrayals have caused damage.
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Disclosure challenges the harmful tropes of trans characters in classic films. There has been unprecedented trans visibility onscreen shown through Pose, Sense8, Orange is the New Black and many more. Cox also points out that people who were offensive can change as shown through Ryan Murphy's shows. The documentary celebrates these achievements but doesn't downplay the harsh realities of the majority of trans people. Their rights are still denied or taken away and they still are attacked for who they are, Until those policies change the Hollywood trans community's presence onscreen can only do so much alone to change people's perceptions and opinions on this whole community of people.