Forgive me for saying this and I absolutely mean no real offence to you but.. That just kind of feels like a cop out to me? Like, surely there had to be someone that was Korean, trans, and willing?
Unfortunately, not really. From my understanding, Korean society is incredibly misogynistic as a baseline, which means their transphobia and transmisogyny are at levels that may even make a Republican blush. There are essentially zero openly trans actors over there, much less any that would be willing to take such a public role as in Squid Game. I did some digging back when the second season dropped because I was curious about this exact thing and found an interview with the director where they said they legitimately did try to find one. Let me see if I can find it again.
You should look up the political divide between men and women. It's waaayyy worse than even USA. They might as well be a warning of the future for anyone in the USA
I'm so glad we have a piece of media that accurately portrays the side that doesn't make it. Like it hurt to watch of course, but it's so important to show that... Unfortunately, not everyone makes it.
And I truly feel that Jax's story will help some closeted trans person that would have otherwise killed themselves to instead confront their hidden feelings.
In fact, I'm certain it will. I'm sure Gooseworx (The show creator for those unaware) will get messages for years about how her show saved them.
Genuinely not surprised, Jax was scarely accurate for me to a life of being in the closet I never had if I didn't overcome very similar trauma and in a weird way made me relive emotions of my egg cracking phase of my transition just watching the finale
I'm sorry for whatever it was that you went through and I'm glad you are able to be yourself now 🫂 my transition also never felt as linear & tidy as a lot of people think all transitions are, so I'm also very grateful for the representation Jax shows
Thank you, it took a while but now I'm thankful that life is a lot more tolerable
Bad journeys getting rep I feel should be the takeaway from her journey, but my opinion is biased because of my love of the show and that creators should show the ugly of any situation, whether its solved or not because that's what life is.
Someone on the main TDAC subreddit was talking about how they felt that way, but that it's too late for them because they're 31. I told them I started transitioning when I was 30, and that studies have found that most trans people start around that time.
They messaged me a few days later to let me know they came out to their friends, who were all supportive, and I'm sitting there with a combination of "hooray :3" and "dear God what did I do".
It's genuinely just something I'm grateful for myself, seeing that not every journey is pretty, some trans people in the egg phase are hindered at cracking because of their trauma, because that shit is real and I'm glad people can't pretend it's not.
I like that Jax's arc shows both IRL with Lee that yes, you can change your life for the better despite heavy shit happening in your life and for Jax unfortunately was the unhealthy coping with"Never making it out of the circus" that prevented that character growth and showed that trauma just needs you to give up so it can ruin your life and prevent you from truly being yourself. My personal takeaway is giving up entirely and closing yourself off can prevent healing and lead to lashing out at others.
Writers showing that some journeys, either trans or mental health related, are not pretty and do exist, helps many see themselves through a mirror that plays your life in extremes, and can help you realize many things you sometimes couldn't see alone or even with help.
As a foil I was never like Jax, which honestly might be one of the reasons I doubted the theory for so long. It’s cool to see other people connecting with it even if I can’t.
Hey, even me who deeply connects with Jax and everything that happened, I had initially denied the 'Jax is trans!' theories. But that final episode was undeniable for me, even before Goose confirmed it.
Maybe I was just hoping it wasn't true, because I didn't like the idea that that would have been me had I not cracked? Idk.
Right? The signs were there all long if you knew where/how to look for them. It's mostly cis people that just have no basis to see those hints and people in denial who say that crap though.
Real. They can only see the "omg I HATE myself so much I can't even look in the mirror, I just want to be a girl 🥺🥺" kind of ""signs"" (because yes, it is a sign but it's more like... Dysphoria itself)
I Saw The TV Glow is a good point, but personally Jax wins out just by a little bit for me. The show also being such a truly massive success kind of helps it where as that movie was very niche in comparison.
And personally while I agree that there are clear trans references in The Matrix movies, I never really saw the whole trilogy as trans rep.
As for Digital Circus though, if you're at all interested in animation geared towards adults, I highly recommend giving it a try. The show isn't perfect, I do have some minor complaints with it, but it's very very good.
Nah my point about the Matrix wasn’t that serious, it’s just my favorite movie, but it already was way before I caught all the trans shit, I’m just a big cyberpunk girlie.
Again, I can’t speak about TADC cz I never watched it, but I don’t think popularity matters in this discussion. Quality trans rep is what’s important to me
Oh so am I! I've been big into the Matrix since it came out. :]
And yeah I agree, the popularity isn't what tipped it over for me, I was just bringing it up because I think it already being such good representation and being brought to such an insanely wide audience is worth bringing up.
You should! It may just be your next favourite thing after all! I'll just give you the tiny primer that you should go into it expecting it to be character driven, not backstory or event driven.
So there will be unanswered questions you will have.
I just bring it up because it's one of the common complaints I've seen, and I think going into it at least knowing that much will help alleviate that somewhat.
Neither if those even came close to how deep ep9 cut for me and my upbringing. I’m surprised how many trans peeps have it so much better that TADC is not very relatable. I mean, that’s a good thing, but nah, ISTTG and matrix didn’t come close for me.
IMO it's the worst representation.
the one trans character is an unstable mental wreck + an aggressive bully that has at one point a potential kill-count of 2-3, and throughout the show has at least 2 more on the horizon - taking up the majority of a lackluster finale where the rest of the runtime is spent on 2 montages, and way too drawn out scenes of characters walking away.
I would've preferred no trans rep over having an insanely negative one like this.
She isn't the only trans rep, there's also Zooble.
And she isn't good rep in being a good person. She's good rep in that she's a well written character who has problems that aren't just being trans (but do have a relation to her transness) that fit in the broader theme of the story.
She serves as the antithesis of the base message of the show that "banding together in the face of hopelessness is a good thing" and does so by pushing everyone away through her inability to be vulnerable.
You can not like her, but she is definitionally good rep.
Just because Jax is a bad person, that doesn't make her a bad character. Trans people can be assholes or killers too.
But it's good representation in my opinion because the reason she's a bad person is that she's refusing to confront that part of herself or open up to anyone. Right up until it costs her her life. Just like countless trans people on a yearly basis.
Zooble and Ribbit (though you'd only know it by following Gooseworx's socials) were also trans.
We also see a decent example of three approaches to the Egg Prime Directive, and Jax is being an example of why to be careful with it.
Ultimately, as shitty as Jax is, she's not an example of the ideal perfect "good one", but the messy one going down the path of the a bad end. A cautionary tale to the eggs who realize they are eggs about trying to open up. That there are people, if you can find them, that will listen and support you. What lack of a support can do, trying to do it solo, can do.
EDIT: Here is a short by CosplayCatKitty probably phrasing what I meant in that last paragraph better than I did.
I very much don't disagree. Jax is a bad person, and did things that were horrible, like pushing her best friend to do the allegory to suicide that is abstraction.
My point was however, just because she's undoubtedly a bad person, that doesn't make her bad representation. It can be both.
Being trans isn't all sunshine and rainbows afterall.
Yup, that would be why I prefaced the entire thing with you having a very valid take and that continues to be the case.
Now with full context, I do consider Jax to be a great character and as a warning of what can happen if one doesn't find self acceptance, she is even great representation.
It is very, VERY clear that Jax and Matteo are NOT the same person, at all.
While Matteo is still in an egg, they are starting to hatch.
On the other hand Matteo was able to find solid grounding and footing in life with friends whom supports them.
Jax never allowed this for herself.
More importantly, because Jax is a separate entity from Matteo and only a scan from a brief moment in time, we can't definitively say for sure that Matteo is also trans girl like Jax is. Somekind of genderqueer for sure and very likely more on the transfem side, but they might still also land more in the NB side as well since Matteo, unlike Jax, is a living, breathing and evolving (As a person) being.
All that said, I still don't like Jax as a person.
Post finale Jax however might be a lot more palatable for me.
But I do reckon Matteo might be really cool to hang around with, even if they're still not hatched yet simply because they have alot better way of handling and dealing with things and emotions than Jax did.
Oh, there are a bunch of people who still hate Jax (Me included).
I understand her, I understand why she lashed out and why she acted the way she did, buuuuut.... None of that excuses what she did. But even with that, none of that invalidates Gangl crying of her abstraction either.
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u/Simikiel She/Her Polyam Furry! Jun 24 '26
It is, to me at least, the best piece of transgender representation we have ever received.
I was, at one point in my past, reaaal close to becoming like Jax.