who were hired as extras for this film. WE WERE NOT GIVEN A SCRIPT AT ANY TIME. WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WE WERE FILMING FOR. The directors lied to us and told us we were filming something titled "Camp Trans." We were told our scenes were about a woodland camp that welcomed trans
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women who were kicked out of a music festival (based on a historical event). We were NOT EVEN TOLD THE TITLE OF THE FILM WE WERE IN. Please don't send hurtful shit to all the trans actors in this movie who needed money and needed to fucking survive in New York City. We accepted
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those paychecks out of what was undoubtedly mutual desperation. Think about how trans actors and trans people in general are marginalized and hold your tongue if you feel like judging us for participating in our own exploitation when we knew literally nothing.
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Feelings are just a little raw right now as I'm seeing other queer people saying that every person who participated in this film should be ashamed. We are. Stop further marginalizing trans people. Especially since we were all lied to. Misgendered constantly on set by the crew.
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Costume people constantly misgendered us, literally did not respect our pronouns or even ask, not once, cause they didn't give a shit even though the majority of the ensemble was made up of trans people and they knew that. Dressed us up like dolls according to whether they wanted
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us to look "butch" or "girly" I fucking kid you not. Most of the trans men there were being identified and cast as "butch lesbians"
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I shit you not, I did not know the actual title of the movie I was cast in until I got my second pay check several months after filming. They kept it from us on purpose.
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I think my all-time favorite memory on set (/sarcasm) was when the caterer got up in front of everyone and said she loves and supports the trans community because her cat had undescended testicles surgically removed and now everyone calls him a girl. I can't make this shit up.
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Ask literally anyone who was in the crowd of cast gathered around that tree stump listening to some disgusting cishet fetishizer talk about how somehow her cat is trans too and she understands our struggle. Just like let that sink in.
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Anyway the moral of this story is be angry with the writers, directors, producers, production company, Hollywood, original author, and literally everyone EXCEPT the trans actors in "Adam." Don't support the movie or go see it. We all got paid already, we're good. Burn it.
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No one asked but this is the original email I got from casting in 2017. As you can see, title of the film is completely falsified. Also, a representative from the Screen Actors Guild visited our shooting site essentially to reprimand production company for hours & lack of breakspic.twitter.com/4s7Vr0umUP
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The casting call was specifically for trans, gnc, and nonbinary folks yet we found out that all of our characters were intended to be cis lesbians. They asked for NON-UNION ACTORS specifically because we would have no union protections from SAG.
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I was involved in 2 scenes, one being "Camp Trans" and the other a club scene. They never told us any of the filming was for "Adam." Slimy, dishonest, and exploitative all the way. I hope this provides more insight into how this whole experience actually played out for us.
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Please don't attack Rhys or send him hate. He is a trans person trying to make a living as well. And again I do not know his motivations or experience. I think he just made a poor career decision. His intentions were to rework the source material into something palatable, though
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in order for that to work, sometimes the source material has to go in the garbage when it's clearly rotten. But something about that garbage was attractive and that's the downfall of the whole thing. Bad decision, NOT a bad person. I read the medium article with his explanation
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but that does not change what happened. Intention only goes so far. Intention < Impact.
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To the people saying the same thing about how movie titles are often coded/omitted: thank you, we get it now! Silly us, wishing we'd received more information ahead of time on a plot that could jeopardize our safety, careers, & families. Did you read the other 90% of the thread?
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Please know I appreciate the info & perspectives of film industry folks but having a coded title / not seeing a script isn't the point. This is not like being a cishet person and being cast in some generic action or rom com flick. This has real consequence to marginalized people.
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When you are making a film ABOUT us and you want us to be IN it you are giving us a certain amount of responsibility and accountability for our involvement in a context that we did not consent to. Informed consent is still a thing.
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The director has responded to us through the media. This is how he views this community. "Trans people and literally everyone else may not like it but at least I dared to be edgy" is essentially what was said.https://www.advocate.com/film/2019/7/22/adam-director-rhys-ernst-addresses-critics-and-war-nuance …
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Real tangible harm to the trans community, lesbian community, and LGBT people everywhere is a "war on nuance." Oh, so that's what we're calling it now.
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I take back asking you all to go easy on this person. He continues to pat himself on the head for being so deep and so out of the community's emotional and intellectual range that apparently we all just don't /get him/. Fuck off, now I mad.
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Would it honestly kill you to put your ego aside for 3 seconds and listen to what trans people are telling you? Wow. You've shown your true colors, Rhys. You're nothing but an apologist for transphobic material and you don't care who is harmed. You think you're so enlightened.pic.twitter.com/jJZ872SOSs
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@gaystarnews you asked me for receipts, here are the receipts.Show this thread -
Posting this here for visibility, the original author of the tumblr post about the horrors of the source material is @genderpunksap who would prefer to have their original tweet circulated rather than the tumblr screencaps - thanks all ♡https://twitter.com/genderpunksap/status/1150765718054559748?s=19 …
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I am really grateful for the outpouring of support, and more than anything it has revealed the fact that our eyes are open and we are looking out for each other. Thank you to all taking me seriously, for listening and respecting. I need a mental break from this whole thing
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in order to preserve my own mental health, but the solidarity here is astounding. Feel free to comment any *trans-centered* narrative/book/story/film project that needs visibility. I am sorry that I cannot physically answer every DM and comment. Transphobes/deniers please leave.
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Update: This morning I wrote a short note to GLAAD asking them to please confirm whether they have made any public statements in support of the film. I have communicated in a calm, open manner that the source material is extremely harmful to the community and asked them why they
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would voice support for such material. This was not meant to antagonize this incredibly important organization, but rather to receive confirmation and open a dialogue. If you would also like to write to GLAAD, they can receive messages here:https://www.glaad.org/connect
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End of conversation
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