Have you ever noticed how many of the films that have won Best Picture Oscars, especially in recent years, are decent, even good, but nonetheless forgettable? Most of the most memorable films in the public imagination never won the distinction of Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain (2005), Do The Right Thing (1989), and Citizen Kane (1941), to name a few. Best Picture winners tend to be safe bets, because they fit the sanitized mold of a "good film." One of 2013's Best Picture nominees is one of those movies.
Dallas Buyer's Club is based on the true story of Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey), an electrician from Texas who contracts HIV in 1985 at the height of the AIDS panic. The homophobic, hard-partying cowboy is given only thirty days to live, but Woodruff challenges his prognosis and in the process sets up a drug dispensary to distribute non-FDA-approved medicine. This brings him into contact with Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman who becomes his partner, and Eve (Jennifer Garner), who later becomes his friend.
There was little doubt that Jared Leto would win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. His transformation is perhaps even greater than McConaughey's: the men lost 77 pounds between the two of them. But Leto completely embodies his role, becoming Rayon, while McConaughey's eccentricities as an actor present a flawless performance that is never more than that - a performance.
Rayon is a character invented specifically for the film, and it is a wonderful move. Woodruff himself is straight (although the real-life Woodruff may have possibly been bisexual), but the number one victims of the AIDS virus at the time were LGBTQ individuals. As such, the film gives us Rayon to keep the audience reminded of the heart of the struggle against AIDS in the 1980s. I would applaud this decision for increased transgender visibility in the media, were it not for the fact that director Jean-Marc Vallé never considered a trans person for the role. There was a wonderful opportunity to actually cast a trans person to play a role from a pivotal moment of queer American history. This trend in Hollywood of casting straight white men to portray members of marginalized groups is damaging to society's understanding of those people. It gives us the ability to distance ourselves from the issues, and most importantly, the actual people suffering every day for things beyond their control, and to pat ourselves on the back for our ability to do impressions of them for awards consideration. If the representation of marginalized people does nothing for the actual human beings in those marginalized groups, representation is a double-edged sword.
What is even worse is the fact that in his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards on Sunday, Leto did not take the opportunity to discuss the plight of transgender people, not even within the context of the AIDS epidemic. He seemed more concerned with the crisis in Ukraine and singing the praises of his mother than addressing the fact that the only reason he won an Oscar was because of LGBTQ suffering during the 1980s. In my opinion, when you take a role that has underlying social connotations, you have a responsibility. To play a trans character but never discuss trans issues contributes to the erasure of the real life human beings who are trans themselves.
Then there is the fact that the Ron Woodruff of the film is portrayed as openly homophobic, only changing his views after partnering up with Rayon. However, the real life Woodruff was, according to friends, not homophobic in least, and possibly even bisexual himself. So there are two issues related to LGBTQ issues here: the film features a transgender person but never delves into the character's identity as a trans person in any significant way, and also features bisexual erasure.
The film plays out exactly the way Oscar bait typically does. There were no surprises, nothing unique about the film to recommend it other than the fact that it was nominated for Best Picture. Don't believe the hype.
RATING: ***/*****
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