Is Netflix's attack on transgender people slander or media freedom?

Written by Emily Chan

Text Editor: Rita

Website Editor: EQ

Netflix has produced popular sex/gender niche shows, such as the new generation of "Queer Eye" (2018), "Who Falls in Love with Him First" (2018), etc. But Dave Chappelle: The Closer, which cost more than $20 million, has caused a cross-over panic. Although the hot speech was escorted by high-level officials, it also caused employees to strike and protest, and the transgender employees who initiated the strike movement were fired, which made many people very disappointed with Netflix's position.

"The Last Return of Don Duc" publishes transphobic joke

"The Last Return of Dondo", hosted by actor Dave Chappelle, hit the shelves last October. He supported JK Rowling, the author of Harry Potter who was previously accused of being transphobic, and called himself "Team TERF", which stands for "trans-exclusionary feminists". Radical feminist)" This doctrine asserts that being transgender does not really change biological gender, because transgender women cannot truly experience the bodily experience of biological females, and therefore cannot and should not be involved in the movement for women's rights. Chapelle believes that gender should be determined by biological sex (sex), and then jokes about it, saying that the transgender community is too sensitive.

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The Voice employee is suspended, producer refuses to work with Netflix again

Transgender person and senior Netflix software engineer Terra Field posted on Twitter on October 7, expressing dissatisfaction with Chappelle's attack on the transgender community. The tweet received tens of thousands of likes and nearly 20,000 retweets. Gender/gender minority groups demand that Netflix pull the show and apologize directly to the trans community. Even Netflix's showrunners announced they would no longer work with it, arguing that it continued to profit from transphobic remarks. Field was later suspended for allegedly attending an uninvited board-level meeting, but was reinstated a day later. Netflix stressed that Field's suspension had nothing to do with his personal remarks.

High-level debate on "screen violence doesn't hurt people" contradicts media planning a few years ago

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has been very supportive of Chappelle. He said in an internal letter dated October 8 that the show did not cross the line on hate and violence, noting that Chappelle's last special, "Sticks & Stones" (2019), was Netflix's most-watched and most-awarded Dongdu laughter show. Two days later, he issued another statement expressing his support for creative freedom, arguing that the violence on the screen will not be transformed into harm in the real world, so even though the show touches sensitive topics, it will not harm others.

Ironically, in 2018, Netflix collaborated with GLAAD, an American non-governmental media watchdog group, to shoot the short film "First Time I Saw Me" in support of the transgender community, interviewing sexual/sexy celebrities, such as the Netflix series "Super Sense". Actor Jamie Clayton of "Sense8". Each person described the first time they saw a true depiction of transgender people in the media, promoting the power of the media. The plan to promote the influence of the media in those years, compared with the statement of the high-level that the violence on the screen is irrelevant to reality, shows Netflix's unsettled attitude. GLAAD, the partner of the year, condemned the show on Twitter, arguing that Chappelle had become synonymous with mocking the transgender community.

Over 100 protest against transphobia joke

Less than a week after senior transgender engineer Field was suspended, Netflix fired another employee for leaking commercially sensitive information. The employee, former Netflix project manager B. Pagels-Minor, was also the person in charge of organizing a strike against Don Duc Last. B. Pagels-Minor vehemently denies having leaked sensitive company information to the media. After the incident, Field expressed that he wanted to advance and retreat together with him, so he decided to resign. She said employees worked hand in hand to set the company's policies and benefits, and that Netflix, which was a trans-friendly workplace, now betrays the community at the top.

On October 20, dozens of Netflix employees and more than 100 supporters participated in a walkout in Los Angeles, holding signs such as "Transphobia is not a joke" to protest Chappelle's remarks and the attitude of the top management. Organizers said that the purpose of this parade is to show that such jokes will directly harm the gender/gender minority, and even cause fatalities. Netflix said in a statement ahead of the march that it "understands the harm caused" and "respects the decision of any employee who chooses to come forward." The march was not limited to the U.S. headquarters, and even overseas Netflix employees responded by leaving their jobs at the appropriate time to support the march.

Strike leader B. Pagels-Minor was fired.

Media Guidelines to Help Create Gender/Gender Minority-Friendly Environments

In recent years, there have also been incidents in which the sex/gender minority feels offended. In 2020, the "Hong Kong version of Room N" incident broke out in Hong Kong, in which more than 300 victims fell into the trap of online dating, and were lured and coerced to the hotel to shoot sex videos. The three hosts of the commercial program "Starting on a Sunny Day" reenacted the incident in a mocking manner. Listeners and netizens believed that their joking attitude was too much, which was a secondary injury to the victim. At first they defended their freedom of creation, but the controversy became more and more intense, and finally ended with an apology from the business station and the host and the removal of the related recordings. Although the three presenters are experienced, they are still not sensitive to gender/gender niche issues, which led to this controversy. What is the balance between creative freedom and the correct reporting of sexual / niche stories?

Gender/gender minority group Midnight Blue has drawn on GLAAD’s media guidelines and published the “ Gender/Gender Minority Media Reporting Guidelines ” in 2020 to provide resources for local media workers, hoping that the society will deepen the understanding of different sexual characteristics, gender After understanding gender/gender minority issues such as identity and sex work, it is possible to create a more fair and friendly media ecology for gender/gender minority groups.

Further reading: Postscript to Midnight Blue's Workshop on "Gender/Gender Niche Media Reporting Guidelines" - "Before you change society, don't cause more harm"

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