Today on TV: The trans scandal at the National Theater led to a strange hand-wringing: “It felt like shirking responsibility” – 2024-03-15 14:42:47

Artist Mira Eskelinen was one of the signatories of the letter published on social media. Yle

In September 2020, the National Theater found itself in the middle of an uproar, when All about my mother – the discussion about the casting of the play led to radical measures even before the premiere.

It all started when a cis man was cast in the role of a trans woman named Agrado. The casting was harshly criticized on social media and the National Theater took action.

A lot happened in a few days. First, it was announced that the premiere of the play would be moved just four days before the original date. Attached to the role of Agrado Janne Reinikainen got fired.

Two days later, it was announced that Reinikainen would continue in production after all. Showman Mika Myllyaho said himself hastily. In the original All about my mother – in the movie Agrado is indeed transgender, but in the British stage version he is a transvestite. Myllyaho said that also in the Finnish play Agrado is a transvestite and the rights holders have accepted Reinikainen for the role.

The Gender Diversity Competence Center defines a transvestite as a man or woman who has the opportunity to internalize both genders and the need to express the feminine and masculine side in a different way. Trans, on the other hand, means a gender identity that does not conform to the gender defined at birth and the expectations associated with it.

The controversy is discussed today in what can be seen on Teema & Femi Nordic cultural scandals – in an episode of the documentary series.

A group of transgender actors wrote an open letter to the National Theater demanding the cancellation of the performance or a change of role. One of the signatories of the letter was Mira Eskelinen. He is tired of having to keep having this conversation.

– Popular culture has seen so many times a funny or threatening character in which a man is dressed in a woman’s clothes. That idea is directly connected to transphobic and transmisogynistic violence and the violence transwomen face, Eskelinen says in the documentary.

Eskelinen was not convinced that the character advertised as a transwoman was suddenly a transvestite.

– It felt like avoiding responsibility. It completely contradicted what had been said about the character before.

Also an actor Miiko Toiviainen took a stand on the situation on Facebook. He saw it as his duty both as a representative of the trans community and as a theater professional. Later, he was brought in as a consultant to the play’s working group.

Toiviainen explains why it is problematic that a male actor is chosen for the role of a trans woman.

– Then the misconception that every trans woman is really a man who just puts on a wig and puts on lipstick is reinforced.

The director Myllyaho also gets to speak in the documentary.

– Of course, it would be better if you had already understood the matter before that (discussion). For me personally, it was really important that we stayed there to listen and learn.

Nordic cultural scandals today on Teema & Femi at 21:00 & Areena. See all TV programs and broadcast times in Telku’s TV guide.