Talk To Me Catches Ban In Kuwait Due To Trans Actor Existing On Screen
Let's get something out of the way: Kuwait, and other countries within the Gulf, ban films all the time for featuring LGBTQIA+ characters and themes. Best Picture winner "Everything Everywhere All At Once" was banned for Joy's queerness (and moments like the butt-plug battle), "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" was banned for Gwen and her father's trans pride flags, "West Side Story" was banned for making the tomboy member of the Jets into a canonical trans character, and Marvel's "Eternals" was banned after refusing to cut its gay elements. At this point, it's not a surprise to read a headline about a film being banned in a region ruled by an oppressive regime, but in the case of the buzzy A24 horror film "Talk to Me," the ban is not about content, but a casting choice.
The film is not being banned because it's legitimately horrifying and features extreme moments, but because one of the film's stars, Zoe Terakes, is transmasculine nonbinary. It's important to note that "Talk to Me" is not about transness nor does the film make a point to acknowledge that Terakes or the character they play, Hayley, is trans. Their identity is not a plot element, although other characters do use they/them pronouns when referencing the character. However, there's no moment where someone delivers an embarrassing cringe explainer like "This is Hayley and they use they/them pronouns" or anything like that. However, The Hollywood Reporter has said the ban "has nothing to do with the contents of the film," so the ban is due to Terakes ... just existing.
HAHAHAHA WELL, THAT SURELY ISN'T A HORRIFIC PRECEDENT! (I'm being sarcastic, just to be clear. This is unequivocally bad.)
Where's the line going to be?
"Talk To Me" has already proven to be a box office success, so the film will be just fine without the Kuwait box office, but that isn't the point. It's a shame, not only because it's just blatant bigotry in action, but also because the people of Kuwait are going to be denied one of the best horror movies of the year. This also all but guarantees that Kuwait will ban the upcoming "Ironheart" TV series, as Terakes' casting makes them the first transgender actor to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But Kuwait banning a film solely because an actor cast in a role happens to be trans opens up an extremely cursed edition of Pandora's Box. The way the transgender community — especially transgender people of color — are treated by systems of power might as well be the canary in the coal mines for the LGBTQIA+ community at large. We're seeing it here in America. Anti-trans legislation has jumped over 800 percent since 2018, and it's expanded into anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation as well.
So if people think Kuwait banning a film because it features a trans actor won't expand to banning films featuring openly queer actors or other countries following suit, they're in for a very rude awakening.