While I personally agree that in an ideal world she should have been played by a trans woman, I'm fine with giving the casting a pass because I don't think the producers would have allowed it otherwise. Especially considering she's a really well written character and defies a lot of tropes present in most badly written trans characters. - She survives to the end of the season - Her backstory has nothing to with sex or sexual trauma - She is never abused to draw sympathy from the audience (unless you count her friend dying but that happens to pretty much everyone in Squid Game) - And she has an active role to play in the season finale. Edit: Okay so because it seems like none of you know how to read I need to reiterate that I think it's fine that they cast a cis man, yes I already understand why it's dangerous in Korea to cast a trans woman. I don't have any problems with the person they chose to cast, okay? Understand? Great.
@@irismoon8435 Yes! An interview was done and they said they wanted a trans actress for the role, but they could not find one as many are not open about being trans. For obvious reasons.
It's rare to find trans people in Asia except in Thailand ladyboy. Regardless of that there are lots of guys I know that do cross dressing for fun and act girly while they do. Mainly for cosplay or they just like it and most ain't gay or want to do transition, most of us see nothing wrong of these behaviour. But yeah I noticed how some of trans girls in the west still looks so manly and not look like a girl for being trans meanwhile East Asian with more soft features and lack of facial hair are more androgynous and can look like a girl by just cross dressing
I think casting and writing her as a trans immigrant woman would have harmed the story. Obviously the ideal would be a trans Korean woman to play the role, but the fact that the reason she’s in the games is so she can get her surgeries and move away doesn’t really make sense if she’s an immigrant. If trans people are treated poorly in Korea, why would she immigrate to Korea in the first place? Her being Korean is pretty integral to her storyline, so I think the only option they had other than casting a cis man would be to find a trans woman outside of Korea with Korean heritage, and have her play a native Korean, but that’s also SUCH a specific category that casting a cis man was probably the only practical option
hi jamie! in response to your point re: the potential of casting outside of south korea for the role, i believe the fact that hyunju was ethnically korean is essential for the character (though they may have considered casting a different nationality such as a korean-american for example). i am an east asian trans person, though i am not korean. for a little cultural context, all south korean men must undergo a period of mandatory military enlistment by the age of 30. during this time, in hyun-ju's backstory, it is explained that she managed very well in this environment and even became highly ranked among peers pre-transition when seen in their eyes as a powerful, high status man. therefore when she begins to transition, this takes a dramatic shift for the worse. the cultural stigmas towards even cis men leaving or not undertaking military duties at all in very exceptional circumstances, even with those who have a valid medical reason to, are already enormous and can lead to their peers, family and society as a whole shunning and outcasting them. this type of backlash has been very common and public towards well known cis male celebrities who have been validly deemed medically exempt, for example the actor yoo ah-in, who failed 5 medical examinations. now imagine how badly this would affect a newly transitioning trans woman - the backlash of "how could you throw all that acclaim and status you had away just to become a woman?". this is why i believe this aspect of hyun-ju's storyline was done the way it was done, and how impactful it is to show how resilient she is despite facing all these hardships.
I also think another good reason that they were Korean is that it shows that being trans isn't just a western idea. That this is a universal thing that occurs because being trans has much more to do with biology rather than culture and psychology that some who don't understand as much on the topic assume. It isn't that there are less trans and other lgbt+ people in other countries, it's that there are less people who are out about it because doing so will affect their safety.
Just a little observation, I believe she wasn't on the army only because of the duty as she had a high position on special forces and mentioned it as her job, which differs from what most civilians would experience in their duty.
*TW* I remember hearing about a trans woman in South Korea who was in the military but was fired after coming out, and she sadly died by suicide. I think it was important to portray the character the way they did in honor of her, and also to rewrite what a lot of Koreans picture when they think of a trans woman.
haven’t finished the series but honestly she’s one of my favourites, having even just one character to represent the trans community (and said character being super badass) made me really happy!!
I personally think it was the right choice to have Hyun-ju be South Korean, because it's such a big problem in SK that trans people are not accepted. If she was a foreigner it might've been interpreted as "those silly foreigners with their silly gender identities" and it wouldn't make as much of an impact in a society that desperately needs more inclusiveness. Obviously, it would've been better if she was played by a trans actor, but without having researched it myself, I already guessed that it was difficult to find a trans actor in SK. That being said. I loved Hyun-ju so much! I was always rooting for her and got incredibly nervous whenever she was in danger.
Yes, foreigners are typically represented as at best very progressive but also strangely unaware of any appropriateness, at worst they are represented as insincere, dirty, lazy, and with loose morals. So it's better to fight those prejudices one at a time rather than try to get two birds with one stone, because the combination would be, like you say, a sillyfication of both kinds of minorities in Korea.
Ok? Hire a cis woman then? You do realize that a man playing a trans woman just even more shows the stereotype that trans women are men in a dress? Which is literally what he is? This is like defending a white person doing black face playing a black person. Both are fucking disrespectful
I’m happy to see the representation, and it’s understandable why a cis man played this character as it might not be safe for a trans woman actress. Also the character is badass.
@@Lisa-nm8ij (edit: jamie does mention this) they said they were looking for a trans actor however its just not very safe for trans people in korea and if they acted in the show the actor may get very badly attacked for playing the role and being in the light, not to mention korea has basically no publicly trans actors that i could name right away
@@percyyval thanks, makes sense! If the society is still that discriminatory, a globally popular show wouldn't want to force a target 🎯 on a real trans women rather than the character. I like that she is such a lovely character, with her trans specific struggles but also a personality that's not only focused on her trans-ness
A foreign trans character would not really have made sense... For her to be in Korea of all places where, as you say, there are no protections for trans people. Also, one of the big things about Hyun-ju is that she was in the special forces. The riot at the end works because in Korea every man has to do two years of military service that's why random players know how to use guns but obviously Hyun-ju is way above in her expertise. I see a world where they could have had a foreign trans character shoehorned in but she would have lost the military part. I really loved her character and I think it was really well done. Maybe it would have been better to cast a cis woman to play her and give her something to make "not pass" if that was important, but I feel it was over all really well done.
yes!!! people are forgetting that her being korean DOES significantly effect her character and writing. i think it really comes down to people failing to understand that the whoke point of her character was to show that trans people exist everywhere, hyun ju is korean because she is MEANT to be a representative of a korean trans woman. all forms of representation matter in storytelling, and not every country or minority is one size fits all.
It is tough, as touched upon when they explained their casting, there's pretty strong stigma for trans people in South Korea still, making it harder to find a willing trans actress--a cis woman might have taken some of that backlash too regardless of being cis. Sad as it is, a man has the most privilege to protect themselves in playing this role, which might have made it the best out of less than ideal options
Something I think honestly doesn’t get appreciated enough is that Hyun Ju isn’t just well written, but incredibly well acted as well! Her body language is so on point in basically every scene, including game 2 where’s she’s looking for a team, sort of holding herself close out of nervousness and to look smaller, or how she seems a bit stunned when the younger girl say’s she’s beautiful. There’s really a sense of “I want to be a part of this, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by inviting myself” that I really relate to
I completely agree, the acting was so good that I was surprised she wasn't played by a trans woman. I was curious and wanted to see who was the actress, because as mentioned in the video, I was surprised they could find a Korean trans woman that was out and willing to take this level of exposure to a Korean audience. It made me look up the actress, only to find out it was a cis man playing her. I think the actor really made a difference, because he really embodied the character and made her feel extremely real. Had the acting been bad, I would be much more critical of the casting choice, but he really nailed it.
I'll say something about the idea of casting a foreigner for the trans woman character... When many LGBT+ things are seen as ""western"", and believe me, they are, I'd rather have a korean cis actor than a western trans woman. There might have been the possibility of casting someone of korean descent who lived in another country, but like... that'd be looking for such a specific person, it might not even be worth it...
this! a sentiment i’ve unfortunately seen repeated by korean, chinese and japanese netizens is the rejection of minority representation as a trivial western ideal. it’s bitterly ironic considering the history of western influence that imposed such regressive ideas regarding lgbt+ people in particular.
even if they had searched for a korean foreign actress it would have weakened the view, then the sentiment would've been "Oh look they were westernized, brought their western ideal over and aren't a real korean anyway"
The director actually mentioned that they did try to cast a trans actor but given it is south korea and how stigmatized being trans it, they were unable to find an actor who is openly trans and also fits the role.
SK people are smarter than the western adults. They also have had the opportunity to see all the problems this idiotic trend has caused western people and children.
As a student currently writing a dissertation on gender-nonconformity in South Korea, I was really pleasantly surprised by Hyun-ju's depiction in the show. As Jamie said, Korea lacks anti-discrimination laws protecting trans people, meaning that the community is vulnerable to all sorts of harassment. Opinions on the LGBTQ+ community are slowly changing in Korea, especially with younger generations who more regularly access the internet, but older generations, especially religious groups, can be incredibly unpleasant towards trans people. Hyun-ju is an excellent character, and I feel hopeful that future Korean media will take inspiration from this.
To make the character a foreigner could’ve been problematic. A very widely spread mindset in south korea is that queer people and members of the LGBTQ+ community are a “western phenomenon”, many people are actually convinced that there are no queer or trans south koreans. This mindset is actually what causes a lot of the stigma towards queer and trans people there. So to cast a foreigner for this role could’ve potentially only confirmed further this problematic mindset and done more harm than good in south korean society. Also, squid game is a korean series which focuses a lot on shedding light on the various problems of korean society, some aspects may be relatable to other countries but ultimately it still focuses on korean society, tho some things are more specifically korean than others.
Ali, although beign a foreign character, was cast for a specific reason. He was cast to represent the situation of pakistani (mainly) immigrants in south korea and the lives they live. The neighborhood where Ali lives is famous for having many foreigners, especially pakistani people, because there are a lot of factories in which south koreans don’t want to work. So only immigrants and old people end up working there because they’re more desperate and it’s more difficult for them to find a job. We actually see this in the series, when ali goes to his job you can see that all the workers are foreigners while the boss is korean and also when Sang-woo already knows where Ali lives because that’s where most pakistani immigrants live.
Honestly, I think it's important that the actor playing Hyunju is Korean. Since netizens then won't be able to say ''oh well being trans is this western thing that doesn't exist over here''
I recently rewatched this series & found out that the person who did the English dub for Hyun-ju is a queer & transgender individual which is super cool to me. They also did actually have an Indian guy, from Mumbai I believe?, doing the English dub for Ali too
but the character for Ali is Pakistani... not Indian. I mean at least the both the actor and voice actor are South Asian so it's a similar region but isn't the fact that both aren't Pakistani rubbing salt in the wound?
@@baakojernigan7095 Yeah I felt that way at first but my bro was explaining to me like it’s pretty racist in South Korea so now I feel like at least we got something, Pretty sure the dubbing was decided by South Korea anyway, although I don’t know for sure. I’m just guessing it was Korean choice who dubbed in English because the dub is so ass
@@baakojernigan7095 I think it's different when it comes to Voice Acting. You're after a particular sound (accent, pitch etc.) so your actual face and nationality isn't as important as "what do you sound like". Of course, it's always nice when the stars align and you can match everything for that representation. But realistically, as long as you sound right for the character, you're going to be cast. Zeno Robinson is a great example: a black Voice Actor playing a white character (Junpei Iori in P3Reload, and many other characters).
Ik a lot of the controversy around Jo Hyeon-ju is because she was played by Park Sunghoon, a cis man, but finding a transwoman from Korea would've been really difficult and probably really unsafe for the actress because of how conservative Korea can be...I think Park Sunghoon handled the role of Jo Hyeon-ju with a lot of grace, he even said in an interview that he didn't want to play into stereotypes within media about trans women, and that he wanted to show her femininity but also her badassery because of her military background. The writing of her character was also done really well and I commend Hwang Donghyuck for his writing of Hyeon-ju. Would it have been nice to have a trans actress play the character, 100% but would it have been safe for her to do so, I don’t think so. (I am a trans guy btw)
yeah i’m pretty sure the director did plan to find a trans woman actor for the role, but couldn’t find any due to how little people actually want to openly say that they’re trans in korea, so they had to get a cis man to play it
He did a great job and I don't understand the hate. The whole point of an actor is to play somebody /something they are not. With same logic a trans guy can't play a straight character? Or what?
The moment you mentioned there being a contextual reason for casting a cis man for the role, I immediately assumed it was for safety reasons. Unfortunately marginalized groups, especially in gender minorities, have targets on their backs right now - that’s especially so in countries like South Korea where there aren’t many protections for trans people or other marginalized groups. I’m glad that they at least did their due diligence to consult actual people in the trans community to make sure that they could create as authentic a character as they could in that circumstance
I feel like the "Less people died" point has one big counter argument... The game isn't over. I mean, think about it, the last 3 characters in season 1 were part of the main cast. The losses are very similar, to be fair. The first game sees the loss of a character who initially seemed to be important - in s1, the guy that acted kinda like Thanos and in s2 is the girl Thanos (I think) flirts with. Like, it's weird because this was a whole season, but realistically we're like... Halfway through the game 😅
Yeah, and the story is focusing more about the capitalism, workers in Squid game and the rich people's misguided justification for doing these games, which I really enjoyed. I think many are missing the story and just want more games and death for entertainment as if they're the VIP's, and not trying to understand the story. I saw so many comments that didn't realize 001 was the frontman and complain about less deaths when it's logical due to player 456 helping, and the focus shift on the story and wanting you to get more invested in the characters before season 3 that will come in 2025, where most will probably die. I do think they should have named it part 1 tho, many got confused. I think also a good parallell is Hunger games, the later movies focused less on the games and more on the story, trying to dismantle the corrupt goverment that watched people die in games for fun.
Well, that's part of it, but also Jamie doesn't seem to realize he's falling into the trap of turning human deaths into entertainment and becoming more numb to them - exactly like the VIPs. The point of Gi-hun's goal is to prevent people from dying, and the more successful he is, the more of our characters will be staying alive. It's actually not good to be wanting them to die! (This isn't a criticism of Jamie, just saying it's funny to see people not realizing they're becoming like the enemy here because of the clever storytelling being so successful in its social commentary it makes the audience part of it).
The voice artist who dubbed Hyun-Ju’s character in Hindi is a trans singer and actor. They were also a contestant on Queen of the Universe as Rani Ko-he-nur and used the earnings from this job to pay for their friend’s medical education, who is also a trans woman.
The Western Lgbtq community and it's allies are also attacking it from a western chauvinist perspective, that she is played by a cis guy, I feel it adds to authenticity, not all trans people "pass" Although she's beautiful externally and internally ❤ however marginalized trans people can't afford surgery or hormones to "pass" She is also shown to have dysphoria, I loved the scene where she was playing that football thing and everyone listened to her to look away because she was insecure about her body, it was beautiful watching everyone cheer for the group, also satisfying seeing her slap that shamon grifter
Hii!! A thing about this character and the controversy around her is that Park Sunghoon is a big and very popular actor!! I fully understand why they casted him, as gay people are not as common in South Korea as they are in the west and Trans people, especially trans women are even more hard to come across!!!! This was such a good addition to the show regardless of who played her... they actually added a trans character in a south korean show!!
I'm sure you know this, but just in case - be careful not to use 'gay' and 'trans' interchangeably like you did here; they don't mean something similar at all. That would be like if someone asked you "are you a man?" and you replied, "no, I'm straight" that doesn't make any sense 😆
i mean im sure its not that there are "less" queer ppl in south korea than the wesr, its more that there aren't as many that are out/realize they're queer due to it being more stigmatized
They didn't use it interchangeably though, read it again. They said "gay people aren't common in SK, and trans people are even harder to come across" :)@@jijitters
Yes, thank you! I’m so sick of people saying “real men do this” or “you’re not a real man if you do this” it’s so closed minded and weird even when it’s said in the context of “this bad person isn’t a real man” because…yes, all of them are. If he’s a man then he’s a real man!
20:55 Absolutely. If the point is to help trans people be seen and treated more positively at this point in SK culture, then the character needs to be South Korean. Xenophobia will taint the process if the character is an immigrant
I think it's even more important because in South Korea there's this stigma that queer minorities, specially gender minorities, are a western thing. To have a trans woman in a such a popular Korean show be a foreigner would only add to this. I think her being a Korean trans woman was necessary for the story and to have the impact it had to the social climate in South Korea.
In the USA and Europe, some of the first steps towards LGBTQ+ acceptance was the casting of closeted actors first. However, you cannot really demand as an audience that they cast closeted actors for a role. Positive representation by (seemingly) straight cis actors seems like an important step on the journey to equality, as that creates a culture shift making it safer for people to come out.
"It's okay for a white person with black face to play a black person if they can't get a black person... It's actually really important..." Do better. They could have portrayed a trans character without literally making a man play her.
I think there is something to be said about not limiting trans people’s roles to explicitly trans characters. Actors act and don’t necessarily have to completely embody their character. The most important thing is in casting various actors for various roles we don’t take away roles for trans people
Right? "A trans character should/must be played by a trans actor" can easily be turned into "AND a trans actor should/must play a trans character," which there are currently not as many. Let trans actors play trans or cis characters, let cis actors play trans or cis characters, I don't mind either as long as the character is played well and not stereotyped, the butt of jokes, etc.
@@sarajuvey i kinda disagree, i don't really think "trans characters should be played by trans actors" inherently equals "trans actors should ONLY play trans characters". i think you can acknowledge that its best trans characters should be player by trans actors while also allowing trans actors to play characters that have nothing to do with being trans
@@AstronomicalJelly Not really. If you say "it's best for trans actors to play trans characters" then by that same token "it's best for cis actors to play cis characters" = very limited roles for trans actors.
@@sarajuvey Nah that would be like claiming reverse racism exists. A marginalized person should always be able to play a non-marginalized role, but the opposite isn't true. Type-casting/tokenization is definitely an issue, but there's an established understanding of this problem & how it should be approached.
@@sarajuvey"let a white person in a blackface play a black person!" You're disgusting. The problem is that cis people usually aren't portrayed as men in dress, and aren't killed for being trans. Absolutely disgusting point. "Ohhh, it's okay for a man in dress to play a minority that is extremely commonly mocked as being men in a dress"
people saying that the series has "gone woke" is actually so stupid, like the term woke means politically and socially aware, like did they just not watch season one? and how its all about the class divide and the things people have to go through to survive (obviously those things they do to survive arent as extreme), like yeah man, the show is woke, but that isnt new
Woke is a derogatory term. Sad you don't seem to understand that. You are not politically and socially aware, you have zero idea what you are talking about and what you demonstrate for. Do you know anything about your state representatives? Do you know how the congress work? Or anything else about politics? Anything about world politics? History, geography, current events outside of what you hear from tiktok videos and read in your choice of an echo chamber? And socially aware? You gotta be kidding me. All you know are talking points from tiktok. You have no idea what you are talking about. You people call for communism, you don't even know what that is. You seem to to think it means getting everything you want without working for it. You are anti capitalism, you don't know what that means either. You think white Christians are the epitome of evil, that before they started colonizing other nations everybody just got along and there were all kinds of genders living in peaceful harmony, lmao. Do you anything about other cultures? Have you ever heard about how the Islam came to be, why there are so many Muslims? Do you know anything about indigenous cultures? Do you know how strick the gender roles are in these cultures? You literally know nothing about anything. Politically and socially aware, lol. Don't make me laugh.
When I first heard about there being a trans character in season two I was so excited. My mind was blown. I never expected that in a South Korean show I would get to see trans representation. No kidding I woke up in the middle of the night thinking „Squid Game is gonna have a trans character“. And then the new season came and I loved the characters. Even more than in season one (srry Ali, Ji-yeong). But Hyun-ju was a standout for me. She was so great and in the end where she steps up to teach these men how to shoot I was fangirling so much. She is a badass and the best thing is that none of these rebels question her leadership. There is no „But she is a woman“ or „But she’s trans“. They just follow her. My queen of season two. Sadly not my favorite character. That’s still Sae-byeok. My season one queen.
As a Korean trans person, I loved how Hyun-ju was portrayed. Their character isn’t solely based off of her being trans, and imo she became one of the most badass characters in the show due to her military background. I loved seeing how she led the charge against the organizers of the games because of her experience with and knowledge of firearms.
This character made my heart happy. I'm not trans myself, but all my closest friends are, and the worry about them is constant. We live in a country that is relatively good for trans people, but there is always hate and it has been horrifying to follow how things have changed to worse around the world. Positive representation is so important and I was so impressed how she was written and portrayed. It takes some serious empathy and depth to be able to look at people who are different and more vulnerable, and be able to act that out in a nuanced way that shows that group in a relatable, realistic way. This is true for lgbtq people and for example disabled people. Of course it would always be best to get an actor who has lived experience, but sometimes it isn't the first thing we should focus on. Especially considered how things are in Korea for any vulnerable minority, it's amazing that their stories are shown. And to include a minority that is being actively attacked right now takes dignity and I respect it. She was the favourite character of both me and my boyfriend, just because the character, the person, is amazing. She's smart, strong, kind, has a good heart and talent, but she isn't perfect; she's showing some normal human selfishness at times, makes mistakes and gets upset. She's a good person with flaws, and that's how any normal human being is. And trans people are regular, wonderful people.
Others have already said it, but I agree that it was important for Hyunju to be Korean - to put her in the Korean cultural context that the Korean audience would be able to see themselves in. A foreigner transwoman from a less conservative country would've, in a way, reinforced the very concept of gender identity as something foreign to Korean society, something from "western culture" that they don't understand and don't feel the need to understand, and people like Hyunju in their own society would remain invisible or a "shameful" secret. A foreign character simply could not have represented what Hyunju did.
I agree that this feels like good representation, it felt like it was coming from a positive place and she is a real character, with motivations and a back story. I also appreciate the fact that they kept the character South Korean, and they didn't look outside for a trans woman actor, just because I feel like it will make a more impactful step forward for lgbtq+ rights in South Korea. It can't be looked at as "oh that's because outsiders/foreigners think differently but it's not our culture" This representation sort of reminds me of the trans woman fbi agent in Twin Peaks, she was played by a cis man, but it was the first representation in older media that I personally had come across, of a trans woman that was taken seriously and portrayed positively. Otherwise my experience was like the trans representation in Ace Ventura. Or it was not a representation of a trans woman, but a man pretending to be a woman and then a joke made out of it.
Ace pisses me the absolute FxxK off!!! Carry is a treasure and it's so funny but that ending scene literally ruins the entire film for me! I refuse to watch it. I just- I can't do it. It's abhorrent representation! and does so much damage! It's not the only example of the "liar revealed" and "all the men in the room throw up because it's gross" trope but it's a pretty solid one especially for millennials. I hate it so much i'm seething just typing about it! 🤬😤
I really liked that she was totally in control of her own story and information. She was never deadnamed or assaulted by someone pulling down her pants or anything like that. She introduced herself by her correct name and she chose when, with who, and how much to share about her transition and her life story.
I loved how that old lady changed her attitude, it reminded me of my grandma, she's not transphobic but she is homophobic (oof, big L for me, a bi cis guy)
I kind of like how there’s more players alive this time around because it’s directly connected to gihun being back in the games again. Like he helped with the first game so already there’s so many people still alive who probably shouldn’t have been, but at the same time the other players don’t see it that way which is so incredibly interesting to me
Agreed. My bf and I started season 1 again after watching season 2 because we felt like there were some smaller details that we had forgotten about and oh my god I had completely forgotten how bad the massacre during red light green light was. Im kind of glad that season 2 wasn’t as gruesome because idk how I got through season 1 😅
I completely forgot you could vote to leave at any time. Then I remembered that was the whole point of the murder in the finale of last season, to block a 2-1 vote at the last game. 😬 The reason no one was voting to leave later on is because they willingly went back to the game on their own.
I am a trans woman and i genuinely believe that squid game did everything right including the casting of a cis man, if they casted a trans woman it would’ve assassinated their career due to the social political climate over there
She's my favorite character out of season two, I was so happy when she survived throughout the games, and to see the evolution of that old lady 😭 this is representative of real life man, I've seen them switch up when they actually meet of us rainbow gangsters
@Spacewith2224 it's not realistic, then she would've not needed surgery even , a lot trans women aren't fully passing bc of costs of hormones, social pressure, minority stress, cost of surgery, she's beautiful regardless
as a korean trans guy, im really happy that ur doing this analysis and it is something i definitely agree with. I am a korean-american born and raised in america with fully south korean parents that dont accept me. im surprised about the south korea statistics considering our younger generations are more accepting no matter the race compared to being divided by country-specific statistics, and at the same time im not surprised since i dont see very many korean trans people in general
Maybe you’ll be a role model for future questioning trans Koreans! Just by existing, you are helping make another huge step towards normalizing trans culture in Korean communities. It’s one step at a time for people to see the beauty behind every individual regardless of their identity - trans or cis, black or white, gay or straight, male or female. Keep being you, sir. I applaud you for what you’ve had to overcome to be in the position you’re in now. Hopefully your family see the beautiful individual you are one day because they’re missing out.
I find it so unbelievably funny that my generally kinda transphobic mother whom I watch Squid Games with respects Hyun-Ju’s pronouns and identity… but not mine?💀 Ayo? You’re more supportive of a fictional character than your own kid???
Now now, he had no reason to believe the 001 designation was the infiltrator designation, nor a reason to think that was something they did all the time. Season 1 was the rich old guy who was already dying going for a last hurrah. There's no reason to think that's an every time thing.
Tbh I also think he is a little suspicious what with “how did you know my name” like I assume he thought something was up but he just had no idea what that could be
@@gummidon1618 He had the excuse though, of the friend having said it. "Your friend called you that." I watched it dubbed while subbed, was the line different just subbed?
I mean, he did assume all the games would be the same, so he probably should have assumed there could have been another man on the inside, and with the name thing, and how he was deciding vote after the first game, surely it should have cause some suspicion given how he was treating the games.
20:59 the major reason I believe that they couldn’t cast someone non-south Korean is because in east Asia they see LGBT+ as a western thing. So they are accepting of foreigners but not people in their own community
I've seen a lot of people who aren't educated on trans people, who don't talk about us much posting pictures of her calling her a "queen" and a "diva" with the comments not featuring that much transphobia, so as representation I'd say it passes the mark. Also the casting of Anupam Tripathi wasn't from outside of Korea, he lives in South Korea and all of his career work has been in Korean productions.
I actually really loved how they handled the games in season 2. There was more focus on the voting part of it and the psychology of why people would want to stay in the games. As someone in the US it felt incredibly relevant to our recent election and our political climate here (which is surprising given it’s Korean). It’s a new take that’s similar to season 1 but it’s also an important foil to gi-hun’s goal of ending the games no matter what. We already saw the games and the psychological impact they can have and I think it would’ve been boring if they’d just done “v2”. Honestly I wasn’t expecting to but I’ve really come away preferring this season to the first and love what it has done for a show that I really didn’t think had any business having a second season at all.
Excellent point. A cultural columnist from NY Times touched on this subject, as well as a popular movie critic from Korea. FYI, the political climate in Korea is very similar to that of US; namely being very distrustful of other party and being in 'echo chamber.' I have not watched the drama yet as i want to finish them when season 3 comes out but based on opinions of many others, some do actually prefer season 2 , as you have mentioned.
I love Hyun-ju as a character - she was so cute but also so cool and strong. When Young-mi called her unnie I got teary because imagine how gender affirming that must've been for her
11:17 It was really good also because it wasn't just Hyun-ju going to the bathroom and guards having problem with it, that there were other women too! Also yeah, her being played by a western actor/being western would have made her too easy to dismiss as "silly western" thing or othered, her being korean feels important. :>
Hyun-Ju character is based on a real story of a trans woman who was a soldier and came out as trans. She wanted to stay in the army, but south korea didn't allowed it. She eventually committed suicide... 😢💔
park sung-hoon is so goated for absolutely devouring this role while also being respectful, along with the director, hwang donghyuk. it is sad that trans rep wasn't available bc it wasn't safe, but what impresses me is that the director is always _trying his best_ to create characters that are real. the people in squid game aren't some low lives who deserve to be tortured like jigsaw characters. they're diverse and they struggle and they have good AND bad morals, and despite being in squid game, you root for them bc they're not charicatures. we eventually see ourselves in them and their experiences. what i love about cho hyunju is that she does happen to be trans and it is a very big part of her character, but she isn't flanderized by it. she's a fucking former soldier, a leader when necessary, and a kind friend when she trusts people. i'm nonbinary, so i can't speak on behalf of transexual people, but the notion of having a transgender person in media represented so respectfully is just... nice! korea is conserative, so is my home country, so being able to represent lgbtqia+ is a win and it's step by step but this is how media changes. shows in 2000s/2010s only could *suggest* queer relationships. NOW WE HAVE FULL ON SESBIAN LEX AND SAY GEX IN MEDIA. *change is possible*
I watched the show with the English dub, so I feel like I missed some things like Hyun-ju being referred to as an "older sister". But I will say that it was good of them to cast a nonbinary trans femme person, Nicky Endres, as the English dub voice actress for her
I've been seeing some comments where they said some other country's dubs were also voiced by trans actors, and I feel like they did this as a sort of way to make up for the fact they didn't get a trans actor to actually play the part, so this sort of feels like a compromise.
Imma nerd out a bit here but the gun she teaches them how to use is not an assault rifle, it is an SMG (sub machine gun) which is a gun that, while looks like a rifle, fires smaller rounds typical for a pistol.
@@jijitters This has to be a parody. No way someone can be this stereotypical leftist. I'm tired of this idea that you can't have any military related interests and also be ally.
If this was in the US, I’d be upset. For Korean LGBTQA+ visibility it’s a HUGE step forward and I’m happy they’re showing a trans character, even if played by a cus man. Plus, he did a great job and was respectful and brave, taking a step in the right direction for visibility of trans characters in such a huge way.
Despite me being gay, I generally hate how many gay characters are portrayed, and the same thing goes with other people in the LGBT community, with trans people often getting the worst of it. When I saw the show had a trans character, I honestly nearly rolled my eyes expecting horrible representation with a one-dimensional character. But Hyun-Ju really grew on me, and I liked how the creators didn't just add her to pat themselves in the back. Her character genuinely makes sense and has a purpose in the series. Being trans isn't her whole thing, but it plays an important role in her story. I genuinely appreciated that they added a trans character with substance to such a popular show when they could've easily added a shallow character. This makes me more hopeful because I realize I might see more representation that doesn't feel forced.
honestly, it has been so refreshing to see the reactions to hyun-ju online. A lot of people who don't necessarily have the most nuanced understanding of the trans community still love her as a character. For example, yesterday I saw some dudebro edit of her being badass in a fight, and all the comments (which were mostly cis men) just were like "brooo most goated character" or "120 would win the games easy". It was kind of cute tbh. Obviously there were some guys misgendering her, but lots of replies (again, many by cis men), were like "nah the actor's a dude but in the show he is a she". Clumsy language, but the attempt was there. It just goes to show the power of narrative, and how much impact a sympathetic portrayal of a trans character can have. When they are this well-written and humazised, any aspects that construct them automatically become so as well. In a tv show as popular as squid game, having a character like hyun-ju is therefore gigantic and it makes me so happy to see how people (especially young cis men) are engaging with her.
All things considered, I think it is good trans rep. But one thing that I kept wondering about is that the issue of HRT is never addressed. If she is on HRT, we don't see her taking it. And as a trans woman who has accidentally left her hormones at home and gone to the States(I'm Canadian) for multiple days, I can tell you that suddenly being off of them does not feel good.
@@8onnie8oyzAdult humans need sex hormones to live a normal life and be healthy. If a trans woman who doesn't produce testosterone anymore stops taking estrogen, she will feel the effects of a lack of hormones in her body. In my case, I'm under the intersex umbrella and my body doesn't produce sex hormones, so I've been on HRT since I was 16, and it was already later than I should have, because my bone density was already low and it took me years to get it to normal. Last year I spent about a week without taking hormones and I started to feel really tired all the time, and I experienced brain fog. It's not an addiction, because hormones are just something our bodies need that would usually be produced by the body itself.
I’m not sure if it’s said in the show, but it was said (by the actor who played her, I think) before the season premiered that the reason she signed up for the games was to get money to start medically transitioning.
I feel the cultural context plays a huge part into why they casted a cis man for the role. Like it's said in the video the LGBTQ+ community is still widely marginalized. I can't name a single trans actor in Korea. However there is a openly gay K-pop idol, Holland, and he's been assaulted on the streets by a stranger for being gay and had to go to the hospital. I don't think it's worth it to possibly endanger someone in our community just to see the most ideal representation. Like in an ideal world yes Hyunju would be played by a Korean trans woman but as the culture is now that would be dangerous. I think the other thing that makes Hyunju's character so realistic and believable is the fact that her character was inspired by a real person. Her name was Byun Heesoo and she was in the Korean Army. She had been forcefully discharged against her wishes after coming out and starting her transition. It's believed that she committed suicide due to the rejection and depression. I think because they used her story as a reference point as well as worked with trans people they were able to make her character a 3 dimensional representation rather than a caricature. It is also a huge deal that they even included a trans character in the first place. Being a non-binary Korean American who has watched a lot of K-dramas this is one of the first K-dramas I've seen that includes a trans character (I may have seen one in a Korean BL but I can't remember). For this to be a show that has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ communities to have a trans character is groundbreaking. I literally cried when Youngmi called Hyunju pretty and Hyunju was trying not to cry. Also points for them not going along with the bury your gays trope. Like they could've easily killed off Hyunju's character but from what we've seen she's still alive. Like this season my two favorite characters were Hyunju and Thanos.
There is a gay k-pop idol, Holland, when he first came out, he received many death threats (not sure if he is still get hate), so I wouldn't blame any trans woman that refused to be put in the spot in such a big tv show. The actor also talks about his character very lovely, always addressing her as She, so, I mean, it's not the ideal situation, but they tried their best
i really love her! i haven't finished s2 but so far i really think she's portrayed very well, and the character development of those who were ignorant at first is also very compelling
THIS is why representation matters! I'll be honest this one is a bit uncanny for me because how it crosses over with my own life. I recently just got out of the US military after nine years. I had a feeling Trump would win president and I was left with a decision to get out on my own terms or wait until he kicked me out. Now I'm looking for work / going to school, broke and needing money for my transition 😅 Cho Hyun-ju sis, we got this!
It's lovely to hear your opinion on this I think this was a very nuanced take! It's worth mentioning RE: casting a non-Korean trans woman for Hyun-Ju, Korean society by and large (not so much the younger generation but much the older ones) posses this engrained belief that queerness is something that 'foreigners' do; foreigners are gay, foreigners are trans, and that's just fine, but it's not something *Koreans* are or do. I think in light of that having her be a foreign actress would have completely undermined her character. Also if she were a foreigner in Korea, not a migrant worker like Ali and living in the very expensive area of Seoul, she would have had a fair amount of financial resources to be able to get there in the first place and presumably therefore the resources to leave. She wouldn't have been trapped by circumstance, but rather willingly have moved to a conservative country and stayed there by choice. I don't think that would have justified Hyun-Ju's desperation or done her story much justice.
Bad trans rep by a trans actor is Emilia Perez, definitely look into that for the future. Absolutely not her fault as this was entirely on the director/writer
Apparently, there’s only around 6000 trans people in all of South Korea, out of a population of over 51 million (0.0001% of the population) , and it is extremely taboo there so casting a real trans woman would have been very difficult in that culture. The likelihood of one of those 6000 being a good actress is next to zero.
I think you’re looking at it wrong. The problem here isn’t that the likelihood of a good trans actress in SK is low - it’s that a good trans actress would not have legal protection against harassment and discrimination if they were to come out as trans publicly. I’d wager that the actual number of trans people in SK is actually much higher, but many are closeted, do not have access to LGBTQ+ resources, or are wary of surveys collecting information on them.
I think a part of the problem with a non-korean trans woman would've been the fact, thar she was in the korean military, calling attention to this problem, whilst a ger motivation was moving to Thailand, and I doubt someone would move to Korea and join the military, because they wanted to move to Thailand
My little lesbian heart was beating so hard for that woman, also i need to point out that she was flawed as any person would, when she votes for the game to continue two times because she was so determined on winning until she sees the real consequences and loses someone. I loved that about her character, truly written in a sensitive and human way, she didn't need to be a victim or be perfect to be lovable or to spark empathy, she's just allowed to be. I'll be screaming at the screen next season for sure.
i love squid game so much and i love her sm omg… when the she was saying she wished she was beautiful and the girl was like “you ARE beautiful” i damn near cried… and when she called her unnie omg each time i was weepy
My thought on making the character Korean specifically was important, because it forces Korean audiences to look at the character and acknowledge that gender rights _is_ a Korean issue. If she had had a different nationality, it would be so easy for people to look at her story and say "that stuff is only relevant to foreigners, we don't do that here" which is a sentiment I Have seen before around Korean queer issues
3:32 Thanos is my favorite!! But you absolutely have to watch him in the non-dubbed version (i.e., Korean with subtitles), otherwise you’ll completely miss the true essence of his character & his humor-trust me!!! Or, at minimum, search videos titles “Thanos speaking English”
I just want to add it'd be a major concern for the mental health of a Korean trans actress. Korean media and some people there can be very cruel even with cishet people, anyone who watches drama or listen to music from there can name a bunch of famous people being "cancelled" and shunned for stuff that in a western country wouldn't be an issue. So this actress would face a huge wave of hate coming from there, being a good character or not, and considering their own real life is already difficult, imagine the size of the burden, and remember mental health sources is very hard to be accessed there.
I think the *character* is well written and well-acted and I credit everyone involved in that, but one thing I've heard raised that I thought was an excellent point, was to ask why they didn't cast a cis-woman instead of a cis man. Having a woman play a woman does seem like it might have brought with it less controversy. Loved the video all the same, but would also love to hear your thoughts on that point!
The problem is, unless they found a very masculine looking Korean cis woman, I don’t think it would have had the same impact. Seeing a trans woman who is visibly not a cis woman trying to earn the money so she can medically transition and live somewhere where she feels she fits in is a huge motivation for this character. I think having a cis woman play her would completely downplay her struggle. As a trans man, being trans does at times means being at odds with the conditions of your sex assigned at birth.
Her character was needing money to continue transitioning, so I assume they wanted a male body for a more accurate portrayal of being in the middle of mtf process.
In Alice in borderline a Japanese series there is a cis woman playing a trans woman, I‘m not sure if it got a lot of backlash, but it’s obviously not as popular. I do quite like kuina though she is my fave character in the show!
@GreenWormJello those of us who have had surgery didn't all get surgery so that we look more like our true gender to other people. If my only option to pay for my bottom surgery was squid game, I'd have done it but not so I could meet other people's standards of what they think I should look like. Casting a cis woman could have challenged the idea that we all transition to 'fit in'.
@@mirinestelle Its different because she is fully transition In Squid Game she is PRE transition not in the middle of it, which is why she needs money. Also keep in mind this is set in SKorea, where being trans can be seen as a death sentence. Now if a woman actress play that role its could impact her career in a very bad way like its already happened in the past. Japan is more open to trans and gnc characters in fiction, this is not the case for SKorea. Most Lgbtq media are 90% homemade
I'm fairly sure Hwang Dong Hyuk said he would have personally preferred that Hyun-ju be played by a Korean trans woman, but couldn't afford to cast an out trans actor because very few celebrities in South Korea would feel safe being openly trans. Still, it would have been better to cast a cis Korean actress (and I think the idea of her being a foreign trans woman in Korea doesn't make much sense, expats are generally wealthier and while it'd important to show a multiethnic Korea, he specifically wants to highlight the issues faced by Korean trans people).
Dude She was my favorite character in the show. :D and watching my mom Correct herself when we were talking about her was super sick 😎. The Trans Rep was very Goated (if we ignore who was casted and whatever)
One conversation to have is if Squid Game should have followed the same route as Alice in Borderland. It's a Japanese show that is similar to Squid Game and which also had a trans woman as one of the characters. The character was played by a cis woman, but she was also a character that was very well done and very liked by the viewers. I personally like the idea of having the actor/actress match the gender of the character they're playing. But I guess for her story, it makes more sense for Hyun-ju to be played by a cis man?
That reminds me of when Disney wanted to remake "That's so Raven," retconning Raven to a lesbian since Raven Symone, her actress, was a lesbian. However, Simone didn't like this because, even though she was a lesbian, Raven Baxter was a straight character. I'm pretty sure the remake got canceled, but Symone's decision was pretty positively received.
Whoever you are, or identify as, talent is above in my eyes as long as the actors.actresses do their research, homework and consulting right I’m all for it.
as a trans woman who watched the whole show not knowing she was played by a cis guy I had no idea. I wholeheartedly believe he and the team did everything they could to consult with actual trans people because her character felt authentic to me. So much of her body language and how she goes between outgoing and self conscious in different contexts feels so relatable to me. I hope our trans siblings in Korea see their opportunities grow in the coming years, but I'm at least glad that the character we got today is a good one.
The divisive views that Park Sung Hoon playing a Trans woman reminds me of the devidive views of Eddie Readmain playing a Trans woman in the film The Dutch Girl. (Matt) P.s I think the director of squid game did what he could within very difficult restraints,he wanted to keep the trans character in the show,when he could have given into pressure and removed the character,and Park as an acter plays Hyun -Ju in a very sensitive and very human way,I hope people see this trans character as the progress it actually is
I think the fact that the trans character had to be Korean is because those characters in season 1 and 2 are made to represent a certain issue that can happen to people in real life, they can be an immigrant, an ex-ceo, a North Korean who escaped, a failed criptobro, a desperate pregnant girl or a trans person, and of course people in real life can have 2 or more of these difficult situations (like a trans girl who is also an immigrant) but the point in the series is to make a character who represents one of them, give it a story in order to make people understand how life can be with those situations and that it happens to Korean people as much as in other countries
She was by far my favorite of all the new characters introduced in season 2 and I really hope she survives in season 3, although knowing this show they already took Ali from me so I must be prepared in case she dies as well.
She didn't seem like a forced character and there wasn't any extra focus put on her for being trans. Her being trans was just mentioned and... everyone pretty much accepted the fact and moved on. That's the battle. Accept it and get on with life, don't make someone's whole personality them being trans. I've only started watching Jammi's stuff (fairly) recently and I wouldn't have stuck him down as trans if he didn't mention it in his intro. Also, I don't care. He makes good content.
I loved how they portrayed her. She’s a baddas, she’s compassionate and very likable. They made her so well that even people who I know are not very sensitive towards trans people are in love with her character. That’s how you make inclusion in my opinion. She’s so much more than a trans woman, being trans is not her whole personality and I think that’s what has made her liked even by bigoted shtheads 😂
Everyone else said what I wanted to regarding Hyun-ju, so I'm just going to add that S2 feels off because we only got half of it. S3 is really the second half of S2, but the lenght and scope of it supposedly increased beyond what was expected and was initially planned, so they decided to release the first half earlier, with the second half coming this summer.
of course it would have been ideal if she was played by a trans woman, i think the actor still did a fantastic job with the character i imagine the main reason they didnt cast a trans woman would have been restrictions/social opinions on korea, where to my knowledge(and from what was said in the show) trans people are not commonplace or accepted, so it would have been immensely difficult to find a native korean trans woman who can act at a level good enough for such a high quality show. but again, i think the actor did an amazing job and made the character feel real, and the he was clearly very respectful and non offensive towards trans people given his very positive portrayal of the character. overall i think it was a very nice piece of inclusion and she was a very compelling character, even with the one flaw of not being portrayed by a trans woman.
Ok I did NOT know that the creator tried looking for a trans actor. This is absolutely amazing to hear😭❤️❤️ Edit: JAMMIE! SIR!! PLEASE MENTION THAT SHE IS DUBBED BY A TRANS ACTRESS IN ENGLISH!!! I made the comment mid watching and saw that you didn’t mention it lol
East asia interestingly enough used to make more progress with trans representation than gay characters from what I've noticed. At least when it comes to bigger projects or genres that don't have to do with lgbt. I remember watching quite a few south korean movies with a trans character. I really loved one about space with a trans woman robot. And japan has some trans video game characters. But in recent years there have also appeared more dramas and anime surrounding same sex couples. Glad to see how far we have come :D
normally i would be mad about a trans character being played by a cis man, but in this case, it is the only way the character could be included. it wouldn't be safe for an openly trans person to play this role with how unaccepted trans people are in korea. i feel like this is still progress because they added a trans character and it was good character representation. obviously i wish a trans woman could've played the role, but since that wasn't possible, i accept this.
It adds to the authenticity, not every trans person has the privilege to afford gender affirmation procedures, although she's beautiful already, as pointed out by that young girl, I hope that crypto guy get what he deserves, he's such a coward like that old businessman
I was a little bit disappointed to hear you pronounce their names incorrectly, since culturally it is such an important signifier of respect, but I am still happy to see you made a video about this!
I really like the character herself, as a transfem who doesn’t really have the avenues to transition as much as I’d like, and looks very masc. I love her personality, and how she is so multifaceted. But I wish they picked a more masc looking cis women if they couldn’t find any trans women to play her. That’s my only note. I love her actor, but I can’t get past the fact that he’s a cis man.
I am NOT a transfem nor do I think I’m a woman or trans (atleast right now you never know 😭) so my opinion obviously doesn’t count as much when it comes to something like this but I feel like the character just being a masc cis woman would be more redundant than it being a cis man
But wasn't the character living as a male soldier and is pretty freshly out and needs the money for medical costs to transition. Makes sense to have an actor who went through male puberty. Idk how many trans women, who sadly had to go through male puberty, are there in Korea
@Speedoodlemanig, but I don’t see it as redundant because it could reinforce the fact she’s a woman, if she had more masc facial features or music. I dunno, I just don’t like being seen as just a man in a wig, even if the text says one thing, the subtext of her being played by a cis man might not make the message clearer. Again, just my opinion. Idk
@@Lisa-nm8ijthat’s true. I just think they could’ve still had a cis woman who had more masc facial features or a deeper voice or something. Idk I like the actor, so I’m not suuuper upset, it’s just one of the things that kinda makes me feel… off?
@sunny.rainbows is there widely available hormon blocker/substitution in Korea? In Europe a person her age is likely to not look a lot like their assigned birth-gender. The older folks here had to go through the wrong hormones for decades and decades. A lot of them had to live the wrong gender nearly their whole life because of the society, that shows in their body. Doesn't mean these trans women are just "a man in a wig". I see fucking strong women, who dare to be themselves, even when they're not "passing" as cis women. Just my opinion
While I personally agree that in an ideal world she should have been played by a trans woman, I'm fine with giving the casting a pass because I don't think the producers would have allowed it otherwise. Especially considering she's a really well written character and defies a lot of tropes present in most badly written trans characters.
- She survives to the end of the season
- Her backstory has nothing to with sex or sexual trauma
- She is never abused to draw sympathy from the audience (unless you count her friend dying but that happens to pretty much everyone in Squid Game)
- And she has an active role to play in the season finale.
Edit: Okay so because it seems like none of you know how to read I need to reiterate that I think it's fine that they cast a cis man, yes I already understand why it's dangerous in Korea to cast a trans woman. I don't have any problems with the person they chose to cast, okay? Understand? Great.
They actually tried really hard to find a trans actress, from what I've read, but there was understandably no one willing to risk their safety.
@@irismoon8435 Yes! An interview was done and they said they wanted a trans actress for the role, but they could not find one as many are not open about being trans. For obvious reasons.
The point of acting is playing things you aren't. As a trans woman myself I am fine with it.
Yeah. She feels like. Even if she wasn't trans, she'd still be an actual character in the show.
It's rare to find trans people in Asia except in Thailand ladyboy. Regardless of that there are lots of guys I know that do cross dressing for fun and act girly while they do. Mainly for cosplay or they just like it and most ain't gay or want to do transition, most of us see nothing wrong of these behaviour. But yeah I noticed how some of trans girls in the west still looks so manly and not look like a girl for being trans meanwhile East Asian with more soft features and lack of facial hair are more androgynous and can look like a girl by just cross dressing
I think casting and writing her as a trans immigrant woman would have harmed the story. Obviously the ideal would be a trans Korean woman to play the role, but the fact that the reason she’s in the games is so she can get her surgeries and move away doesn’t really make sense if she’s an immigrant. If trans people are treated poorly in Korea, why would she immigrate to Korea in the first place? Her being Korean is pretty integral to her storyline, so I think the only option they had other than casting a cis man would be to find a trans woman outside of Korea with Korean heritage, and have her play a native Korean, but that’s also SUCH a specific category that casting a cis man was probably the only practical option
👏🏿👏🏿
Also, there's usually this idea (stereotype?) that being trans is a western thing, so it's good she's Korean.
There was another option, really easy an quite less problematic: to cast a cis woman for the role.
@@carlos.briosoits not problematic to cast a cis man for the role lmao
@@carlos.briosoThe point was that they needed money for the surgery. If they were played by a woman then the character would pass a cis woman.
hi jamie! in response to your point re: the potential of casting outside of south korea for the role, i believe the fact that hyunju was ethnically korean is essential for the character (though they may have considered casting a different nationality such as a korean-american for example). i am an east asian trans person, though i am not korean.
for a little cultural context, all south korean men must undergo a period of mandatory military enlistment by the age of 30. during this time, in hyun-ju's backstory, it is explained that she managed very well in this environment and even became highly ranked among peers pre-transition when seen in their eyes as a powerful, high status man. therefore when she begins to transition, this takes a dramatic shift for the worse. the cultural stigmas towards even cis men leaving or not undertaking military duties at all in very exceptional circumstances, even with those who have a valid medical reason to, are already enormous and can lead to their peers, family and society as a whole shunning and outcasting them. this type of backlash has been very common and public towards well known cis male celebrities who have been validly deemed medically exempt, for example the actor yoo ah-in, who failed 5 medical examinations. now imagine how badly this would affect a newly transitioning trans woman - the backlash of "how could you throw all that acclaim and status you had away just to become a woman?". this is why i believe this aspect of hyun-ju's storyline was done the way it was done, and how impactful it is to show how resilient she is despite facing all these hardships.
Such a good point!
I also think another good reason that they were Korean is that it shows that being trans isn't just a western idea. That this is a universal thing that occurs because being trans has much more to do with biology rather than culture and psychology that some who don't understand as much on the topic assume. It isn't that there are less trans and other lgbt+ people in other countries, it's that there are less people who are out about it because doing so will affect their safety.
Just a little observation, I believe she wasn't on the army only because of the duty as she had a high position on special forces and mentioned it as her job, which differs from what most civilians would experience in their duty.
@@retromakothat doesnt exist in north sentinel island so its not that universal
@@Soredli just because you dont see or hear about it doesnt mean it doesnt exist
*TW*
I remember hearing about a trans woman in South Korea who was in the military but was fired after coming out, and she sadly died by suicide. I think it was important to portray the character the way they did in honor of her, and also to rewrite what a lot of Koreans picture when they think of a trans woman.
hwang donghyuk is such a kind soul for making the final product as tasteful as it is. this is tragic
Are you talking about Byun Hee-su?
Sorry apparently it’s romanized differently. Byun Hui-su.
We need to Inform everyone of this tragedy! This needs to be top comment!!!!
Tw for what..
haven’t finished the series but honestly she’s one of my favourites, having even just one character to represent the trans community (and said character being super badass) made me really happy!!
Same here!
Yep. Same here! :D
You're in for a massive treat the last couple of episodes, het badass level at an all-time high!!!
Oh she’s one of the highlights of the last couple of episodes, if you love her you’ll definitely love the rest of the series!
Same!
I personally think it was the right choice to have Hyun-ju be South Korean, because it's such a big problem in SK that trans people are not accepted. If she was a foreigner it might've been interpreted as "those silly foreigners with their silly gender identities" and it wouldn't make as much of an impact in a society that desperately needs more inclusiveness. Obviously, it would've been better if she was played by a trans actor, but without having researched it myself, I already guessed that it was difficult to find a trans actor in SK.
That being said. I loved Hyun-ju so much! I was always rooting for her and got incredibly nervous whenever she was in danger.
Yes, foreigners are typically represented as at best very progressive but also strangely unaware of any appropriateness, at worst they are represented as insincere, dirty, lazy, and with loose morals.
So it's better to fight those prejudices one at a time rather than try to get two birds with one stone, because the combination would be, like you say, a sillyfication of both kinds of minorities in Korea.
Teya My parents Said iff i gott 500 subss before thee endd off thee yearr,I wouldd get a new gaming PC.
Many countries don't accept people tellibg lies. Thats a position you'll have to get used to more and more.
Ok? Hire a cis woman then? You do realize that a man playing a trans woman just even more shows the stereotype that trans women are men in a dress? Which is literally what he is? This is like defending a white person doing black face playing a black person. Both are fucking disrespectful
I’m happy to see the representation, and it’s understandable why a cis man played this character as it might not be safe for a trans woman actress. Also the character is badass.
The safety concern is only an excuse if they ask trans women to play the character and they all refuse.
@@taylorp.-zm7huit seems like that may have happened
Have they cast for trans characters? Is the casting process public?
@@Lisa-nm8ij (edit: jamie does mention this) they said they were looking for a trans actor however its just not very safe for trans people in korea and if they acted in the show the actor may get very badly attacked for playing the role and being in the light, not to mention korea has basically no publicly trans actors that i could name right away
@@percyyval thanks, makes sense! If the society is still that discriminatory, a globally popular show wouldn't want to force a target 🎯 on a real trans women rather than the character. I like that she is such a lovely character, with her trans specific struggles but also a personality that's not only focused on her trans-ness
A foreign trans character would not really have made sense... For her to be in Korea of all places where, as you say, there are no protections for trans people. Also, one of the big things about Hyun-ju is that she was in the special forces. The riot at the end works because in Korea every man has to do two years of military service that's why random players know how to use guns but obviously Hyun-ju is way above in her expertise. I see a world where they could have had a foreign trans character shoehorned in but she would have lost the military part. I really loved her character and I think it was really well done. Maybe it would have been better to cast a cis woman to play her and give her something to make "not pass" if that was important, but I feel it was over all really well done.
Please refer to the country as South Korea, not just Korea. Korea is a peninsula.
yes!!! people are forgetting that her being korean DOES significantly effect her character and writing. i think it really comes down to people failing to understand that the whoke point of her character was to show that trans people exist everywhere, hyun ju is korean because she is MEANT to be a representative of a korean trans woman. all forms of representation matter in storytelling, and not every country or minority is one size fits all.
It is tough, as touched upon when they explained their casting, there's pretty strong stigma for trans people in South Korea still, making it harder to find a willing trans actress--a cis woman might have taken some of that backlash too regardless of being cis. Sad as it is, a man has the most privilege to protect themselves in playing this role, which might have made it the best out of less than ideal options
@@ErideahAbsolutely agree with this. You make an amazing point. I think they did the best they could and it was portrayed beautifully.
Teya My parents Said iff i gott 500 subss before thee endd off thee yearr,I wouldd get a new gaming PC.
Something I think honestly doesn’t get appreciated enough is that Hyun Ju isn’t just well written, but incredibly well acted as well! Her body language is so on point in basically every scene, including game 2 where’s she’s looking for a team, sort of holding herself close out of nervousness and to look smaller, or how she seems a bit stunned when the younger girl say’s she’s beautiful. There’s really a sense of “I want to be a part of this, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by inviting myself” that I really relate to
I'm rooting for her to live, and that long haired marine cuz he hot and funny (YES I'M SIMPING)
I completely agree, the acting was so good that I was surprised she wasn't played by a trans woman. I was curious and wanted to see who was the actress, because as mentioned in the video, I was surprised they could find a Korean trans woman that was out and willing to take this level of exposure to a Korean audience. It made me look up the actress, only to find out it was a cis man playing her. I think the actor really made a difference, because he really embodied the character and made her feel extremely real. Had the acting been bad, I would be much more critical of the casting choice, but he really nailed it.
Same I also thought the actor was a trans woman, he did a phenomenal job portraying the character.
When the younger girl said that line to her, I had tears in my eyes. Amazing damn scene
I'll say something about the idea of casting a foreigner for the trans woman character... When many LGBT+ things are seen as ""western"", and believe me, they are, I'd rather have a korean cis actor than a western trans woman. There might have been the possibility of casting someone of korean descent who lived in another country, but like... that'd be looking for such a specific person, it might not even be worth it...
I was about to write a similar comment. I think it was the right choice given the circumstances.
My thoughts exactly
this! a sentiment i’ve unfortunately seen repeated by korean, chinese and japanese netizens is the rejection of minority representation as a trivial western ideal. it’s bitterly ironic considering the history of western influence that imposed such regressive ideas regarding lgbt+ people in particular.
even if they had searched for a korean foreign actress it would have weakened the view, then the sentiment would've been "Oh look they were westernized, brought their western ideal over and aren't a real korean anyway"
Yes I think the character being trans AND Korean is very important.
The director actually mentioned that they did try to cast a trans actor but given it is south korea and how stigmatized being trans it, they were unable to find an actor who is openly trans and also fits the role.
Teya My parents Said iff i gott 500 subss before thee endd off thee yearr,I wouldd get a new gaming PC.
SK people are smarter than the western adults. They also have had the opportunity to see all the problems this idiotic trend has caused western people and children.
ville wrong channel lol
@galaxychill9578 Absolutely
Hire a cis woman then? Lol
As a student currently writing a dissertation on gender-nonconformity in South Korea, I was really pleasantly surprised by Hyun-ju's depiction in the show. As Jamie said, Korea lacks anti-discrimination laws protecting trans people, meaning that the community is vulnerable to all sorts of harassment. Opinions on the LGBTQ+ community are slowly changing in Korea, especially with younger generations who more regularly access the internet, but older generations, especially religious groups, can be incredibly unpleasant towards trans people. Hyun-ju is an excellent character, and I feel hopeful that future Korean media will take inspiration from this.
❤❤❤❤
The younger korean people have been duped just like western kids. That will change for both of them.
ty po
i LOVE Hyun-ju, she’s badass as fuck but also so genuinely lovely!! Young-mi calling her “unnie” (“older sister” in Korean) made me tear up a lil ngl
Same here!
Yeah that was sooo cute
there’s a similar moment in ‘itaewon class’ where male coworkers finally call their trans friend ‘noona’ and it wrecked me just the same 😭🥺 adore
To make the character a foreigner could’ve been problematic. A very widely spread mindset in south korea is that queer people and members of the LGBTQ+ community are a “western phenomenon”, many people are actually convinced that there are no queer or trans south koreans. This mindset is actually what causes a lot of the stigma towards queer and trans people there. So to cast a foreigner for this role could’ve potentially only confirmed further this problematic mindset and done more harm than good in south korean society. Also, squid game is a korean series which focuses a lot on shedding light on the various problems of korean society, some aspects may be relatable to other countries but ultimately it still focuses on korean society, tho some things are more specifically korean than others.
Ali, although beign a foreign character, was cast for a specific reason. He was cast to represent the situation of pakistani (mainly) immigrants in south korea and the lives they live. The neighborhood where Ali lives is famous for having many foreigners, especially pakistani people, because there are a lot of factories in which south koreans don’t want to work. So only immigrants and old people end up working there because they’re more desperate and it’s more difficult for them to find a job. We actually see this in the series, when ali goes to his job you can see that all the workers are foreigners while the boss is korean and also when Sang-woo already knows where Ali lives because that’s where most pakistani immigrants live.
Honestly, I think it's important that the actor playing Hyunju is Korean. Since netizens then won't be able to say ''oh well being trans is this western thing that doesn't exist over here''
Teya My parents Said iff i gott 500 subss before thee endd off thee yearr,I wouldd get a new gaming PC.
I recently rewatched this series & found out that the person who did the English dub for Hyun-ju is a queer & transgender individual which is super cool to me. They also did actually have an Indian guy, from Mumbai I believe?, doing the English dub for Ali too
but the character for Ali is Pakistani... not Indian. I mean at least the both the actor and voice actor are South Asian so it's a similar region but isn't the fact that both aren't Pakistani rubbing salt in the wound?
the spanish (spain) dub for hyunju is a trans woman too!
@@baakojernigan7095 Yeah I felt that way at first but my bro was explaining to me like it’s pretty racist in South Korea so now I feel like at least we got something, Pretty sure the dubbing was decided by South Korea anyway, although I don’t know for sure. I’m just guessing it was Korean choice who dubbed in English because the dub is so ass
@@baakojernigan7095 I think it's different when it comes to Voice Acting.
You're after a particular sound (accent, pitch etc.) so your actual face and nationality isn't as important as "what do you sound like". Of course, it's always nice when the stars align and you can match everything for that representation.
But realistically, as long as you sound right for the character, you're going to be cast.
Zeno Robinson is a great example: a black Voice Actor playing a white character (Junpei Iori in P3Reload, and many other characters).
@@jeddybear5909 Junpei isn't white, though.
Ik a lot of the controversy around Jo Hyeon-ju is because she was played by Park Sunghoon, a cis man, but finding a transwoman from Korea would've been really difficult and probably really unsafe for the actress because of how conservative Korea can be...I think Park Sunghoon handled the role of Jo Hyeon-ju with a lot of grace, he even said in an interview that he didn't want to play into stereotypes within media about trans women, and that he wanted to show her femininity but also her badassery because of her military background. The writing of her character was also done really well and I commend Hwang Donghyuck for his writing of Hyeon-ju. Would it have been nice to have a trans actress play the character, 100% but would it have been safe for her to do so, I don’t think so.
(I am a trans guy btw)
❤❤❤❤
yeah i’m pretty sure the director did plan to find a trans woman actor for the role, but couldn’t find any due to how little people actually want to openly say that they’re trans in korea, so they had to get a cis man to play it
He did an amazing job at portraying her
He did a great job and I don't understand the hate. The whole point of an actor is to play somebody /something they are not. With same logic a trans guy can't play a straight character? Or what?
Teya My parents Said iff i gott 500 subss before thee endd off thee yearr,I wouldd get a new gaming PC.
The moment you mentioned there being a contextual reason for casting a cis man for the role, I immediately assumed it was for safety reasons. Unfortunately marginalized groups, especially in gender minorities, have targets on their backs right now - that’s especially so in countries like South Korea where there aren’t many protections for trans people or other marginalized groups. I’m glad that they at least did their due diligence to consult actual people in the trans community to make sure that they could create as authentic a character as they could in that circumstance
Damn, it's almost like they could have hired a cis woman.
The fact that y'all didn't even think of that really shows how you see us.
I feel like the "Less people died" point has one big counter argument... The game isn't over. I mean, think about it, the last 3 characters in season 1 were part of the main cast. The losses are very similar, to be fair. The first game sees the loss of a character who initially seemed to be important - in s1, the guy that acted kinda like Thanos and in s2 is the girl Thanos (I think) flirts with. Like, it's weird because this was a whole season, but realistically we're like... Halfway through the game 😅
Yeah, and the story is focusing more about the capitalism, workers in Squid game and the rich people's misguided justification for doing these games, which I really enjoyed. I think many are missing the story and just want more games and death for entertainment as if they're the VIP's, and not trying to understand the story. I saw so many comments that didn't realize 001 was the frontman and complain about less deaths when it's logical due to player 456 helping, and the focus shift on the story and wanting you to get more invested in the characters before season 3 that will come in 2025, where most will probably die.
I do think they should have named it part 1 tho, many got confused. I think also a good parallell is Hunger games, the later movies focused less on the games and more on the story, trying to dismantle the corrupt goverment that watched people die in games for fun.
Also in red light green light gihun activly tried to help people that's why there was less deaths
Well, that's part of it, but also Jamie doesn't seem to realize he's falling into the trap of turning human deaths into entertainment and becoming more numb to them - exactly like the VIPs. The point of Gi-hun's goal is to prevent people from dying, and the more successful he is, the more of our characters will be staying alive. It's actually not good to be wanting them to die! (This isn't a criticism of Jamie, just saying it's funny to see people not realizing they're becoming like the enemy here because of the clever storytelling being so successful in its social commentary it makes the audience part of it).
@@jijitters huh. Great point, actually. I hadn't thought about that
The voice artist who dubbed Hyun-Ju’s character in Hindi is a trans singer and actor. They were also a contestant on Queen of the Universe as Rani Ko-he-nur and used the earnings from this job to pay for their friend’s medical education, who is also a trans woman.
Whaaat that's awesome!!!
In the german dub, its also a trans-person who voiced her
The fact the transphobes are mad means they're doing something right.
The Western Lgbtq community and it's allies are also attacking it from a western chauvinist perspective, that she is played by a cis guy, I feel it adds to authenticity, not all trans people "pass" Although she's beautiful externally and internally ❤ however marginalized trans people can't afford surgery or hormones to "pass" She is also shown to have dysphoria, I loved the scene where she was playing that football thing and everyone listened to her to look away because she was insecure about her body, it was beautiful watching everyone cheer for the group, also satisfying seeing her slap that shamon grifter
Hii!! A thing about this character and the controversy around her is that Park Sunghoon is a big and very popular actor!! I fully understand why they casted him, as gay people are not as common in South Korea as they are in the west and Trans people, especially trans women are even more hard to come across!!!! This was such a good addition to the show regardless of who played her... they actually added a trans character in a south korean show!!
I love seeing a Seungberry in the wild!!!!!
I'm sure you know this, but just in case - be careful not to use 'gay' and 'trans' interchangeably like you did here; they don't mean something similar at all. That would be like if someone asked you "are you a man?" and you replied, "no, I'm straight" that doesn't make any sense 😆
i mean im sure its not that there are "less" queer ppl in south korea than the wesr, its more that there aren't as many that are out/realize they're queer due to it being more stigmatized
They didn't use it interchangeably though, read it again. They said "gay people aren't common in SK, and trans people are even harder to come across" :)@@jijitters
With trans rep this good and authentic, they could be played by a large squirrel in a human suit and I wouldn’t care.
As a cis man, the phrases "real men" and "real women" really tick me off
As a cis woman, same
Yes, thank you! I’m so sick of people saying “real men do this” or “you’re not a real man if you do this” it’s so closed minded and weird even when it’s said in the context of “this bad person isn’t a real man” because…yes, all of them are. If he’s a man then he’s a real man!
Comparing people to fictional characters should be the only time "real" is used to describe them.
@@ThePkmnYPerson i'm talking about the transphobes who call cis people "real men and women" and think trans people aren't real men and/or women
Me too. The same transphobic language is used to insult cis men and women who might not be perfectly matching their gender stereotype.
20:55 Absolutely. If the point is to help trans people be seen and treated more positively at this point in SK culture, then the character needs to be South Korean. Xenophobia will taint the process if the character is an immigrant
I think it's even more important because in South Korea there's this stigma that queer minorities, specially gender minorities, are a western thing. To have a trans woman in a such a popular Korean show be a foreigner would only add to this. I think her being a Korean trans woman was necessary for the story and to have the impact it had to the social climate in South Korea.
In the USA and Europe, some of the first steps towards LGBTQ+ acceptance was the casting of closeted actors first. However, you cannot really demand as an audience that they cast closeted actors for a role.
Positive representation by (seemingly) straight cis actors seems like an important step on the journey to equality, as that creates a culture shift making it safer for people to come out.
"It's okay for a white person with black face to play a black person if they can't get a black person... It's actually really important..."
Do better. They could have portrayed a trans character without literally making a man play her.
I think there is something to be said about not limiting trans people’s roles to explicitly trans characters. Actors act and don’t necessarily have to completely embody their character. The most important thing is in casting various actors for various roles we don’t take away roles for trans people
Right? "A trans character should/must be played by a trans actor" can easily be turned into "AND a trans actor should/must play a trans character," which there are currently not as many. Let trans actors play trans or cis characters, let cis actors play trans or cis characters, I don't mind either as long as the character is played well and not stereotyped, the butt of jokes, etc.
@@sarajuvey i kinda disagree, i don't really think "trans characters should be played by trans actors" inherently equals "trans actors should ONLY play trans characters". i think you can acknowledge that its best trans characters should be player by trans actors while also allowing trans actors to play characters that have nothing to do with being trans
@@AstronomicalJelly Not really. If you say "it's best for trans actors to play trans characters" then by that same token "it's best for cis actors to play cis characters" = very limited roles for trans actors.
@@sarajuvey Nah that would be like claiming reverse racism exists. A marginalized person should always be able to play a non-marginalized role, but the opposite isn't true. Type-casting/tokenization is definitely an issue, but there's an established understanding of this problem & how it should be approached.
@@sarajuvey"let a white person in a blackface play a black person!"
You're disgusting. The problem is that cis people usually aren't portrayed as men in dress, and aren't killed for being trans. Absolutely disgusting point. "Ohhh, it's okay for a man in dress to play a minority that is extremely commonly mocked as being men in a dress"
people saying that the series has "gone woke" is actually so stupid, like the term woke means politically and socially aware, like did they just not watch season one? and how its all about the class divide and the things people have to go through to survive (obviously those things they do to survive arent as extreme), like yeah man, the show is woke, but that isnt new
To be fair at least three reality shows out of it. People are really that stupid and miss such an obvious point.
@ yeah, like you are literally playing into what the series is about
Woke is a derogatory term. Sad you don't seem to understand that. You are not politically and socially aware, you have zero idea what you are talking about and what you demonstrate for. Do you know anything about your state representatives? Do you know how the congress work? Or anything else about politics? Anything about world politics? History, geography, current events outside of what you hear from tiktok videos and read in your choice of an echo chamber? And socially aware? You gotta be kidding me. All you know are talking points from tiktok. You have no idea what you are talking about. You people call for communism, you don't even know what that is. You seem to to think it means getting everything you want without working for it. You are anti capitalism, you don't know what that means either. You think white Christians are the epitome of evil, that before they started colonizing other nations everybody just got along and there were all kinds of genders living in peaceful harmony, lmao. Do you anything about other cultures? Have you ever heard about how the Islam came to be, why there are so many Muslims? Do you know anything about indigenous cultures? Do you know how strick the gender roles are in these cultures? You literally know nothing about anything. Politically and socially aware, lol. Don't make me laugh.
@@saoirse2963your screeds only continue to entertain, subhuman Karen. 😂😂😂
Even minus the trans lady, it's still woke as hell, the most unlikable guy is the old selfish businessman, at least that ketamine guy was funny
7:23
"And discussed their anger over the trans character being allowed to use the woman's restroom."
SMH, she's not allowed to go pee?
Not in this conservative house
yeah women dont pee obviously. they are too feminine and petite./j
When I first heard about there being a trans character in season two I was so excited. My mind was blown. I never expected that in a South Korean show I would get to see trans representation. No kidding I woke up in the middle of the night thinking „Squid Game is gonna have a trans character“. And then the new season came and I loved the characters. Even more than in season one (srry Ali, Ji-yeong). But Hyun-ju was a standout for me. She was so great and in the end where she steps up to teach these men how to shoot I was fangirling so much. She is a badass and the best thing is that none of these rebels question her leadership. There is no „But she is a woman“ or „But she’s trans“. They just follow her. My queen of season two. Sadly not my favorite character. That’s still Sae-byeok. My season one queen.
Was Sae-byeok the North Korean defector?
@@spooniejusticewarrioryes, she was the NK defector
@flovonnejohnson707 oh okay, yeah i loved her!
My season queen is player 149 (Jang Geum-ja). I find her character adorable, and the actress does such an amazing job portraying her emotions.
Hyun stole my heart, I'm simping for her and that young marine guy..... Only cuz he hot and funny tbh LMAOOO,
As a Korean trans person, I loved how Hyun-ju was portrayed. Their character isn’t solely based off of her being trans, and imo she became one of the most badass characters in the show due to her military background. I loved seeing how she led the charge against the organizers of the games because of her experience with and knowledge of firearms.
This character made my heart happy. I'm not trans myself, but all my closest friends are, and the worry about them is constant. We live in a country that is relatively good for trans people, but there is always hate and it has been horrifying to follow how things have changed to worse around the world.
Positive representation is so important and I was so impressed how she was written and portrayed. It takes some serious empathy and depth to be able to look at people who are different and more vulnerable, and be able to act that out in a nuanced way that shows that group in a relatable, realistic way. This is true for lgbtq people and for example disabled people. Of course it would always be best to get an actor who has lived experience, but sometimes it isn't the first thing we should focus on.
Especially considered how things are in Korea for any vulnerable minority, it's amazing that their stories are shown. And to include a minority that is being actively attacked right now takes dignity and I respect it.
She was the favourite character of both me and my boyfriend, just because the character, the person, is amazing. She's smart, strong, kind, has a good heart and talent, but she isn't perfect; she's showing some normal human selfishness at times, makes mistakes and gets upset. She's a good person with flaws, and that's how any normal human being is. And trans people are regular, wonderful people.
Others have already said it, but I agree that it was important for Hyunju to be Korean - to put her in the Korean cultural context that the Korean audience would be able to see themselves in. A foreigner transwoman from a less conservative country would've, in a way, reinforced the very concept of gender identity as something foreign to Korean society, something from "western culture" that they don't understand and don't feel the need to understand, and people like Hyunju in their own society would remain invisible or a "shameful" secret. A foreign character simply could not have represented what Hyunju did.
I agree that this feels like good representation, it felt like it was coming from a positive place and she is a real character, with motivations and a back story. I also appreciate the fact that they kept the character South Korean, and they didn't look outside for a trans woman actor, just because I feel like it will make a more impactful step forward for lgbtq+ rights in South Korea. It can't be looked at as "oh that's because outsiders/foreigners think differently but it's not our culture"
This representation sort of reminds me of the trans woman fbi agent in Twin Peaks, she was played by a cis man, but it was the first representation in older media that I personally had come across, of a trans woman that was taken seriously and portrayed positively. Otherwise my experience was like the trans representation in Ace Ventura. Or it was not a representation of a trans woman, but a man pretending to be a woman and then a joke made out of it.
Ace pisses me the absolute FxxK off!!! Carry is a treasure and it's so funny but that ending scene literally ruins the entire film for me! I refuse to watch it. I just- I can't do it. It's abhorrent representation! and does so much damage! It's not the only example of the "liar revealed" and "all the men in the room throw up because it's gross" trope but it's a pretty solid one especially for millennials. I hate it so much i'm seething just typing about it! 🤬😤
I really liked that she was totally in control of her own story and information. She was never deadnamed or assaulted by someone pulling down her pants or anything like that. She introduced herself by her correct name and she chose when, with who, and how much to share about her transition and her life story.
I loved how that old lady changed her attitude, it reminded me of my grandma, she's not transphobic but she is homophobic (oof, big L for me, a bi cis guy)
I’ve taken to yelling YUNG-MI whenever I see a door get closed on someone
Femc
I kind of like how there’s more players alive this time around because it’s directly connected to gihun being back in the games again. Like he helped with the first game so already there’s so many people still alive who probably shouldn’t have been, but at the same time the other players don’t see it that way which is so incredibly interesting to me
Agreed. My bf and I started season 1 again after watching season 2 because we felt like there were some smaller details that we had forgotten about and oh my god I had completely forgotten how bad the massacre during red light green light was. Im kind of glad that season 2 wasn’t as gruesome because idk how I got through season 1 😅
I completely forgot you could vote to leave at any time. Then I remembered that was the whole point of the murder in the finale of last season, to block a 2-1 vote at the last game. 😬
The reason no one was voting to leave later on is because they willingly went back to the game on their own.
In the English dub her voice actor is a transfeminine NB actor so thats great
I had no idea, that is nice :^)
I am a trans woman and i genuinely believe that squid game did everything right including the casting of a cis man, if they casted a trans woman it would’ve assassinated their career due to the social political climate over there
She's my favorite character out of season two, I was so happy when she survived throughout the games, and to see the evolution of that old lady 😭 this is representative of real life man, I've seen them switch up when they actually meet of us rainbow gangsters
They could have cast a cis woman though, we aren’t men
@Spacewith2224 it's not realistic, then she would've not needed surgery even , a lot trans women aren't fully passing bc of costs of hormones, social pressure, minority stress, cost of surgery, she's beautiful regardless
They could have casted a cis woman??? Shitton of internalized transphobia if you did not even consider that. Absolutely crazy.
as a korean trans guy, im really happy that ur doing this analysis and it is something i definitely agree with. I am a korean-american born and raised in america with fully south korean parents that dont accept me. im surprised about the south korea statistics considering our younger generations are more accepting no matter the race compared to being divided by country-specific statistics, and at the same time im not surprised since i dont see very many korean trans people in general
Maybe you’ll be a role model for future questioning trans Koreans! Just by existing, you are helping make another huge step towards normalizing trans culture in Korean communities. It’s one step at a time for people to see the beauty behind every individual regardless of their identity - trans or cis, black or white, gay or straight, male or female.
Keep being you, sir. I applaud you for what you’ve had to overcome to be in the position you’re in now. Hopefully your family see the beautiful individual you are one day because they’re missing out.
I find it so unbelievably funny that my generally kinda transphobic mother whom I watch Squid Games with respects Hyun-Ju’s pronouns and identity… but not mine?💀 Ayo? You’re more supportive of a fictional character than your own kid???
You should probably talk to her about that.
Unfortunately people can be okay with it as long as it's not a part of THEIR reality... it's dumb.
Hugs.
Also, maybe it's a step on the way?
Now now, he had no reason to believe the 001 designation was the infiltrator designation, nor a reason to think that was something they did all the time. Season 1 was the rich old guy who was already dying going for a last hurrah. There's no reason to think that's an every time thing.
Tbh I also think he is a little suspicious what with “how did you know my name” like I assume he thought something was up but he just had no idea what that could be
@@gummidon1618 He had the excuse though, of the friend having said it. "Your friend called you that." I watched it dubbed while subbed, was the line different just subbed?
@@tyrongkojy no you’re right he did say that, but who’s to say gihun fully believed him, he could’ve not suspected anything too tho
@@gummidon1618 exactly, he didn't suspect
I mean, he did assume all the games would be the same, so he probably should have assumed there could have been another man on the inside, and with the name thing, and how he was deciding vote after the first game, surely it should have cause some suspicion given how he was treating the games.
20:59 the major reason I believe that they couldn’t cast someone non-south Korean is because in east Asia they see LGBT+ as a western thing. So they are accepting of foreigners but not people in their own community
I like how the nighttime bathroom rule in Squid Games is just shout and shout at a guard until they get annoyed with you and let you go.
I've seen a lot of people who aren't educated on trans people, who don't talk about us much posting pictures of her calling her a "queen" and a "diva" with the comments not featuring that much transphobia, so as representation I'd say it passes the mark.
Also the casting of Anupam Tripathi wasn't from outside of Korea, he lives in South Korea and all of his career work has been in Korean productions.
I actually really loved how they handled the games in season 2. There was more focus on the voting part of it and the psychology of why people would want to stay in the games. As someone in the US it felt incredibly relevant to our recent election and our political climate here (which is surprising given it’s Korean). It’s a new take that’s similar to season 1 but it’s also an important foil to gi-hun’s goal of ending the games no matter what. We already saw the games and the psychological impact they can have and I think it would’ve been boring if they’d just done “v2”. Honestly I wasn’t expecting to but I’ve really come away preferring this season to the first and love what it has done for a show that I really didn’t think had any business having a second season at all.
맞습니다...투표를 통해 현재 민주주의에 대한 사람들의 생각이 얼마나 쉽게 분열될수 있는지를 보여줘서 공감이 갔습니다...댓글 잘 읽었습니다^^
Excellent point. A cultural columnist from NY Times touched on this subject, as well as a popular movie critic from Korea. FYI, the political climate in Korea is very similar to that of US; namely being very distrustful of other party and being in 'echo chamber.' I have not watched the drama yet as i want to finish them when season 3 comes out but based on opinions of many others, some do actually prefer season 2 , as you have mentioned.
I love Hyun-ju as a character - she was so cute but also so cool and strong. When Young-mi called her unnie I got teary because imagine how gender affirming that must've been for her
11:17 It was really good also because it wasn't just Hyun-ju going to the bathroom and guards having problem with it, that there were other women too! Also yeah, her being played by a western actor/being western would have made her too easy to dismiss as "silly western" thing or othered, her being korean feels important. :>
Hyun-Ju character is based on a real story of a trans woman who was a soldier and came out as trans. She wanted to stay in the army, but south korea didn't allowed it. She eventually committed suicide... 😢💔
park sung-hoon is so goated for absolutely devouring this role while also being respectful, along with the director, hwang donghyuk. it is sad that trans rep wasn't available bc it wasn't safe, but what impresses me is that the director is always _trying his best_ to create characters that are real. the people in squid game aren't some low lives who deserve to be tortured like jigsaw characters. they're diverse and they struggle and they have good AND bad morals, and despite being in squid game, you root for them bc they're not charicatures. we eventually see ourselves in them and their experiences.
what i love about cho hyunju is that she does happen to be trans and it is a very big part of her character, but she isn't flanderized by it. she's a fucking former soldier, a leader when necessary, and a kind friend when she trusts people. i'm nonbinary, so i can't speak on behalf of transexual people, but the notion of having a transgender person in media represented so respectfully is just... nice! korea is conserative, so is my home country, so being able to represent lgbtqia+ is a win and it's step by step but this is how media changes. shows in 2000s/2010s only could *suggest* queer relationships. NOW WE HAVE FULL ON SESBIAN LEX AND SAY GEX IN MEDIA.
*change is possible*
I watched the show with the English dub, so I feel like I missed some things like Hyun-ju being referred to as an "older sister". But I will say that it was good of them to cast a nonbinary trans femme person, Nicky Endres, as the English dub voice actress for her
"I'VE PLAYED THESE GAMES BEFORE" 🗣️🔥
I've been seeing some comments where they said some other country's dubs were also voiced by trans actors, and I feel like they did this as a sort of way to make up for the fact they didn't get a trans actor to actually play the part, so this sort of feels like a compromise.
I mean even in india the hindi dub is by a trans voice actress so thats something atleast@@aznmochibunny
@@aznmochibunny YESS! i love that, it shows they understand why its important but since they legit could not do that they did the next best thing
Imma nerd out a bit here but the gun she teaches them how to use is not an assault rifle, it is an SMG (sub machine gun) which is a gun that, while looks like a rifle, fires smaller rounds typical for a pistol.
...which she literally spells out loud!
lol
It's such a red flag to know about guns.
@@jijitters This has to be a parody. No way someone can be this stereotypical leftist. I'm tired of this idea that you can't have any military related interests and also be ally.
@rebmerf5622 I’m literally non binary lol
If this was in the US, I’d be upset. For Korean LGBTQA+ visibility it’s a HUGE step forward and I’m happy they’re showing a trans character, even if played by a cus man. Plus, he did a great job and was respectful and brave, taking a step in the right direction for visibility of trans characters in such a huge way.
Despite me being gay, I generally hate how many gay characters are portrayed, and the same thing goes with other people in the LGBT community, with trans people often getting the worst of it. When I saw the show had a trans character, I honestly nearly rolled my eyes expecting horrible representation with a one-dimensional character. But Hyun-Ju really grew on me, and I liked how the creators didn't just add her to pat themselves in the back. Her character genuinely makes sense and has a purpose in the series. Being trans isn't her whole thing, but it plays an important role in her story. I genuinely appreciated that they added a trans character with substance to such a popular show when they could've easily added a shallow character. This makes me more hopeful because I realize I might see more representation that doesn't feel forced.
honestly, it has been so refreshing to see the reactions to hyun-ju online. A lot of people who don't necessarily have the most nuanced understanding of the trans community still love her as a character. For example, yesterday I saw some dudebro edit of her being badass in a fight, and all the comments (which were mostly cis men) just were like "brooo most goated character" or "120 would win the games easy". It was kind of cute tbh. Obviously there were some guys misgendering her, but lots of replies (again, many by cis men), were like "nah the actor's a dude but in the show he is a she". Clumsy language, but the attempt was there. It just goes to show the power of narrative, and how much impact a sympathetic portrayal of a trans character can have. When they are this well-written and humazised, any aspects that construct them automatically become so as well. In a tv show as popular as squid game, having a character like hyun-ju is therefore gigantic and it makes me so happy to see how people (especially young cis men) are engaging with her.
All things considered, I think it is good trans rep. But one thing that I kept wondering about is that the issue of HRT is never addressed. If she is on HRT, we don't see her taking it. And as a trans woman who has accidentally left her hormones at home and gone to the States(I'm Canadian) for multiple days, I can tell you that suddenly being off of them does not feel good.
Headcanon: the workers would give her HRT just before going back into the common area lol
I hope you're okay. That sounds like an addiction, or at least an over reliance on HRT.
@@8onnie8oyzAdult humans need sex hormones to live a normal life and be healthy. If a trans woman who doesn't produce testosterone anymore stops taking estrogen, she will feel the effects of a lack of hormones in her body. In my case, I'm under the intersex umbrella and my body doesn't produce sex hormones, so I've been on HRT since I was 16, and it was already later than I should have, because my bone density was already low and it took me years to get it to normal. Last year I spent about a week without taking hormones and I started to feel really tired all the time, and I experienced brain fog. It's not an addiction, because hormones are just something our bodies need that would usually be produced by the body itself.
I’m not sure if it’s said in the show, but it was said (by the actor who played her, I think) before the season premiered that the reason she signed up for the games was to get money to start medically transitioning.
ULTRA PRIMAL!!! Girl, I didn't expect you here but I'm happy about it!!❤🏳️⚧️
For the dubbing of season 2 of squid game , Hyun-ju is dubbed in many language by real trans voice actors
I feel the cultural context plays a huge part into why they casted a cis man for the role. Like it's said in the video the LGBTQ+ community is still widely marginalized. I can't name a single trans actor in Korea. However there is a openly gay K-pop idol, Holland, and he's been assaulted on the streets by a stranger for being gay and had to go to the hospital. I don't think it's worth it to possibly endanger someone in our community just to see the most ideal representation. Like in an ideal world yes Hyunju would be played by a Korean trans woman but as the culture is now that would be dangerous. I think the other thing that makes Hyunju's character so realistic and believable is the fact that her character was inspired by a real person. Her name was Byun Heesoo and she was in the Korean Army. She had been forcefully discharged against her wishes after coming out and starting her transition. It's believed that she committed suicide due to the rejection and depression. I think because they used her story as a reference point as well as worked with trans people they were able to make her character a 3 dimensional representation rather than a caricature. It is also a huge deal that they even included a trans character in the first place. Being a non-binary Korean American who has watched a lot of K-dramas this is one of the first K-dramas I've seen that includes a trans character (I may have seen one in a Korean BL but I can't remember). For this to be a show that has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ communities to have a trans character is groundbreaking. I literally cried when Youngmi called Hyunju pretty and Hyunju was trying not to cry. Also points for them not going along with the bury your gays trope. Like they could've easily killed off Hyunju's character but from what we've seen she's still alive. Like this season my two favorite characters were Hyunju and Thanos.
There is a gay k-pop idol, Holland, when he first came out, he received many death threats (not sure if he is still get hate), so I wouldn't blame any trans woman that refused to be put in the spot in such a big tv show. The actor also talks about his character very lovely, always addressing her as She, so, I mean, it's not the ideal situation, but they tried their best
i really love her! i haven't finished s2 but so far i really think she's portrayed very well, and the character development of those who were ignorant at first is also very compelling
In the dubbed version, the person who does her English voice is a trans woman. So there’s that.
Transfem nonbinary.
THIS is why representation matters!
I'll be honest this one is a bit uncanny for me because how it crosses over with my own life.
I recently just got out of the US military after nine years.
I had a feeling Trump would win president and I was left with a decision to get out on my own terms or wait until he kicked me out.
Now I'm looking for work / going to school, broke and needing money for my transition 😅
Cho Hyun-ju sis, we got this!
It's lovely to hear your opinion on this I think this was a very nuanced take! It's worth mentioning RE: casting a non-Korean trans woman for Hyun-Ju, Korean society by and large (not so much the younger generation but much the older ones) posses this engrained belief that queerness is something that 'foreigners' do; foreigners are gay, foreigners are trans, and that's just fine, but it's not something *Koreans* are or do. I think in light of that having her be a foreign actress would have completely undermined her character. Also if she were a foreigner in Korea, not a migrant worker like Ali and living in the very expensive area of Seoul, she would have had a fair amount of financial resources to be able to get there in the first place and presumably therefore the resources to leave. She wouldn't have been trapped by circumstance, but rather willingly have moved to a conservative country and stayed there by choice. I don't think that would have justified Hyun-Ju's desperation or done her story much justice.
Bad trans rep by a trans actor is Emilia Perez, definitely look into that for the future. Absolutely not her fault as this was entirely on the director/writer
The fact people are immature enough to jump to call a series woke the MOMENT a character thats different is announced 💀. Its actually embarrassing
Apparently, there’s only around 6000 trans people in all of South Korea, out of a population of over 51 million (0.0001% of the population) , and it is extremely taboo there so casting a real trans woman would have been very difficult in that culture. The likelihood of one of those 6000 being a good actress is next to zero.
There's some eggs to be cracked cuz 6000 is too low for a population of 51 million and the amount of androgynous men and women
I think you’re looking at it wrong. The problem here isn’t that the likelihood of a good trans actress in SK is low - it’s that a good trans actress would not have legal protection against harassment and discrimination if they were to come out as trans publicly. I’d wager that the actual number of trans people in SK is actually much higher, but many are closeted, do not have access to LGBTQ+ resources, or are wary of surveys collecting information on them.
That saying..
*Dont let perfect be the enemy of good* comes to mind.
This was a good role, character and acting
And the fact that the actor was South Korean and not from outside is PERFECT.
@boss-fh6oz Absolutely!💯👍🌞
Stellar there
All in all?
It all went great, far better than one may have feared👌😀
I think a part of the problem with a non-korean trans woman would've been the fact, thar she was in the korean military, calling attention to this problem, whilst a ger motivation was moving to Thailand, and I doubt someone would move to Korea and join the military, because they wanted to move to Thailand
You left out the fact that Hyun-ju absolutely is a badass. She spends the finale kicking righteous ass and taking names
0:13 hello
Hello, squid. :3
hello
@@FRPWR it is I squid the mascot of squid games
@@lizzy_simps why greetings my friend
Ello mate.
My little lesbian heart was beating so hard for that woman, also i need to point out that she was flawed as any person would, when she votes for the game to continue two times because she was so determined on winning until she sees the real consequences and loses someone. I loved that about her character, truly written in a sensitive and human way, she didn't need to be a victim or be perfect to be lovable or to spark empathy, she's just allowed to be. I'll be screaming at the screen next season for sure.
i love squid game so much and i love her sm omg… when the she was saying she wished she was beautiful and the girl was like “you ARE beautiful” i damn near cried… and when she called her unnie omg each time i was weepy
My thought on making the character Korean specifically was important, because it forces Korean audiences to look at the character and acknowledge that gender rights _is_ a Korean issue. If she had had a different nationality, it would be so easy for people to look at her story and say "that stuff is only relevant to foreigners, we don't do that here" which is a sentiment I Have seen before around Korean queer issues
3:32 Thanos is my favorite!! But you absolutely have to watch him in the non-dubbed version (i.e., Korean with subtitles), otherwise you’ll completely miss the true essence of his character & his humor-trust me!!! Or, at minimum, search videos titles “Thanos speaking English”
The Korean version is better imo, more emotional
You just proved why I love you so much. You covered all the kinds of talks and that amazing bro
YOU’RE TRANS???
Transition goals😭
She's ill
i see you're new here
@Xylawn you see wrong
Yes he is!
He is lucky tho, he was quite tall and androgenous before his transition too and it was nice to see the process in his videos about it
@MonkeyDLuffy-rr3wl you missed off the S it's she not he
I just want to add it'd be a major concern for the mental health of a Korean trans actress. Korean media and some people there can be very cruel even with cishet people, anyone who watches drama or listen to music from there can name a bunch of famous people being "cancelled" and shunned for stuff that in a western country wouldn't be an issue. So this actress would face a huge wave of hate coming from there, being a good character or not, and considering their own real life is already difficult, imagine the size of the burden, and remember mental health sources is very hard to be accessed there.
I think the *character* is well written and well-acted and I credit everyone involved in that, but one thing I've heard raised that I thought was an excellent point, was to ask why they didn't cast a cis-woman instead of a cis man. Having a woman play a woman does seem like it might have brought with it less controversy. Loved the video all the same, but would also love to hear your thoughts on that point!
The problem is, unless they found a very masculine looking Korean cis woman, I don’t think it would have had the same impact.
Seeing a trans woman who is visibly not a cis woman trying to earn the money so she can medically transition and live somewhere where she feels she fits in is a huge motivation for this character. I think having a cis woman play her would completely downplay her struggle. As a trans man, being trans does at times means being at odds with the conditions of your sex assigned at birth.
Her character was needing money to continue transitioning, so I assume they wanted a male body for a more accurate portrayal of being in the middle of mtf process.
In Alice in borderline a Japanese series there is a cis woman playing a trans woman, I‘m not sure if it got a lot of backlash, but it’s obviously not as popular. I do quite like kuina though she is my fave character in the show!
@GreenWormJello those of us who have had surgery didn't all get surgery so that we look more like our true gender to other people. If my only option to pay for my bottom surgery was squid game, I'd have done it but not so I could meet other people's standards of what they think I should look like. Casting a cis woman could have challenged the idea that we all transition to 'fit in'.
@@mirinestelle Its different because she is fully transition
In Squid Game she is PRE transition not in the middle of it, which is why she needs money. Also keep in mind this is set in SKorea, where being trans can be seen as a death sentence. Now if a woman actress play that role its could impact her career in a very bad way like its already happened in the past.
Japan is more open to trans and gnc characters in fiction, this is not the case for SKorea. Most Lgbtq media are 90% homemade
I'm not into squidgame, but this is a video I've been waiting for
I'm fairly sure Hwang Dong Hyuk said he would have personally preferred that Hyun-ju be played by a Korean trans woman, but couldn't afford to cast an out trans actor because very few celebrities in South Korea would feel safe being openly trans. Still, it would have been better to cast a cis Korean actress (and I think the idea of her being a foreign trans woman in Korea doesn't make much sense, expats are generally wealthier and while it'd important to show a multiethnic Korea, he specifically wants to highlight the issues faced by Korean trans people).
Honestly, I thought this was some of the best trans representation I've ever seen anywhere. I was so pleasantly surprised.
Dude She was my favorite character in the show. :D and watching my mom Correct herself when we were talking about her was super sick 😎. The Trans Rep was very Goated (if we ignore who was casted and whatever)
One conversation to have is if Squid Game should have followed the same route as Alice in Borderland. It's a Japanese show that is similar to Squid Game and which also had a trans woman as one of the characters. The character was played by a cis woman, but she was also a character that was very well done and very liked by the viewers. I personally like the idea of having the actor/actress match the gender of the character they're playing. But I guess for her story, it makes more sense for Hyun-ju to be played by a cis man?
I don't care if a gay guy plays straight guy and straight guy play a gay guy, same as trans and cis.
That reminds me of when Disney wanted to remake "That's so Raven," retconning Raven to a lesbian since Raven Symone, her actress, was a lesbian. However, Simone didn't like this because, even though she was a lesbian, Raven Baxter was a straight character. I'm pretty sure the remake got canceled, but Symone's decision was pretty positively received.
Yup ! It's called acting for a reason
Whoever you are, or identify as, talent is above in my eyes as long as the actors.actresses do their research, homework and consulting right I’m all for it.
You can't possibly believe those are comparable.
as a trans woman who watched the whole show not knowing she was played by a cis guy I had no idea. I wholeheartedly believe he and the team did everything they could to consult with actual trans people because her character felt authentic to me. So much of her body language and how she goes between outgoing and self conscious in different contexts feels so relatable to me. I hope our trans siblings in Korea see their opportunities grow in the coming years, but I'm at least glad that the character we got today is a good one.
The divisive views that Park Sung Hoon playing a Trans woman reminds me of the devidive views of Eddie Readmain playing a Trans woman in the film The Dutch Girl. (Matt) P.s I think the director of squid game did what he could within very difficult restraints,he wanted to keep the trans character in the show,when he could have given into pressure and removed the character,and Park as an acter plays Hyun -Ju in a very sensitive and very human way,I hope people see this trans character as the progress it actually is
I can't with the fact someone said they "made" Squid game woke in s2 like the ENTIRE show isn't about societal issues😭
I think the fact that the trans character had to be Korean is because those characters in season 1 and 2 are made to represent a certain issue that can happen to people in real life, they can be an immigrant, an ex-ceo, a North Korean who escaped, a failed criptobro, a desperate pregnant girl or a trans person, and of course people in real life can have 2 or more of these difficult situations (like a trans girl who is also an immigrant) but the point in the series is to make a character who represents one of them, give it a story in order to make people understand how life can be with those situations and that it happens to Korean people as much as in other countries
She was by far my favorite of all the new characters introduced in season 2 and I really hope she survives in season 3, although knowing this show they already took Ali from me so I must be prepared in case she dies as well.
She didn't seem like a forced character and there wasn't any extra focus put on her for being trans. Her being trans was just mentioned and... everyone pretty much accepted the fact and moved on.
That's the battle. Accept it and get on with life, don't make someone's whole personality them being trans.
I've only started watching Jammi's stuff (fairly) recently and I wouldn't have stuck him down as trans if he didn't mention it in his intro. Also, I don't care. He makes good content.
I loved how they portrayed her. She’s a baddas, she’s compassionate and very likable. They made her so well that even people who I know are not very sensitive towards trans people are in love with her character. That’s how you make inclusion in my opinion. She’s so much more than a trans woman, being trans is not her whole personality and I think that’s what has made her liked even by bigoted shtheads 😂
Everyone else said what I wanted to regarding Hyun-ju, so I'm just going to add that S2 feels off because we only got half of it. S3 is really the second half of S2, but the lenght and scope of it supposedly increased beyond what was expected and was initially planned, so they decided to release the first half earlier, with the second half coming this summer.
of course it would have been ideal if she was played by a trans woman, i think the actor still did a fantastic job with the character
i imagine the main reason they didnt cast a trans woman would have been restrictions/social opinions on korea, where to my knowledge(and from what was said in the show) trans people are not commonplace or accepted, so it would have been immensely difficult to find a native korean trans woman who can act at a level good enough for such a high quality show.
but again, i think the actor did an amazing job and made the character feel real, and the he was clearly very respectful and non offensive towards trans people given his very positive portrayal of the character.
overall i think it was a very nice piece of inclusion and she was a very compelling character, even with the one flaw of not being portrayed by a trans woman.
i also heard they did originally try to find a trans actress, but no one was willing to risk it, since again korea is not very fond of trans people.
I misread the title as “Squid Game’s Trans Character is… Trans” and thought like “yeah no shit”
Ok I did NOT know that the creator tried looking for a trans actor. This is absolutely amazing to hear😭❤️❤️
Edit:
JAMMIE! SIR!! PLEASE MENTION THAT SHE IS DUBBED BY A TRANS ACTRESS IN ENGLISH!!! I made the comment mid watching and saw that you didn’t mention it lol
East asia interestingly enough used to make more progress with trans representation than gay characters from what I've noticed. At least when it comes to bigger projects or genres that don't have to do with lgbt. I remember watching quite a few south korean movies with a trans character. I really loved one about space with a trans woman robot. And japan has some trans video game characters. But in recent years there have also appeared more dramas and anime surrounding same sex couples. Glad to see how far we have come :D
normally i would be mad about a trans character being played by a cis man, but in this case, it is the only way the character could be included. it wouldn't be safe for an openly trans person to play this role with how unaccepted trans people are in korea. i feel like this is still progress because they added a trans character and it was good character representation. obviously i wish a trans woman could've played the role, but since that wasn't possible, i accept this.
It adds to the authenticity, not every trans person has the privilege to afford gender affirmation procedures, although she's beautiful already, as pointed out by that young girl, I hope that crypto guy get what he deserves, he's such a coward like that old businessman
I was a little bit disappointed to hear you pronounce their names incorrectly, since culturally it is such an important signifier of respect, but I am still happy to see you made a video about this!
I read the title as:
squid game's trans character is trans
guy reacts
I mean, that's not wrong technically
I really like the character herself, as a transfem who doesn’t really have the avenues to transition as much as I’d like, and looks very masc. I love her personality, and how she is so multifaceted. But I wish they picked a more masc looking cis women if they couldn’t find any trans women to play her. That’s my only note. I love her actor, but I can’t get past the fact that he’s a cis man.
I am NOT a transfem nor do I think I’m a woman or trans (atleast right now you never know 😭) so my opinion obviously doesn’t count as much when it comes to something like this but I feel like the character just being a masc cis woman would be more redundant than it being a cis man
But wasn't the character living as a male soldier and is pretty freshly out and needs the money for medical costs to transition. Makes sense to have an actor who went through male puberty. Idk how many trans women, who sadly had to go through male puberty, are there in Korea
@Speedoodlemanig, but I don’t see it as redundant because it could reinforce the fact she’s a woman, if she had more masc facial features or music. I dunno, I just don’t like being seen as just a man in a wig, even if the text says one thing, the subtext of her being played by a cis man might not make the message clearer. Again, just my opinion. Idk
@@Lisa-nm8ijthat’s true. I just think they could’ve still had a cis woman who had more masc facial features or a deeper voice or something. Idk I like the actor, so I’m not suuuper upset, it’s just one of the things that kinda makes me feel… off?
@sunny.rainbows is there widely available hormon blocker/substitution in Korea? In Europe a person her age is likely to not look a lot like their assigned birth-gender. The older folks here had to go through the wrong hormones for decades and decades. A lot of them had to live the wrong gender nearly their whole life because of the society, that shows in their body. Doesn't mean these trans women are just "a man in a wig". I see fucking strong women, who dare to be themselves, even when they're not "passing" as cis women.
Just my opinion
of course a former american military dictatorship would have bigot problems, its nice to see the country itself have a hope for change.