Abstract
Sam Feder’s documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2020) braids together an overview of trans cinema through the voices of transgender actors, alongside clips from classic and current cinema, and commentary from trans academics. Featuring commentary from an impressive array of voices, including actress Laverne Cox and historian Susan Stryker, the film offers a variety of perspectives on film and representation. Beginning with an impressive timeline of trans representation from the earliest representations of gender crossing in silent movies and ending upon the debut of Pose, in which trans people represent themselves, this Netflix Original offers a comprehensive visual history of trans representation and visibility for introductory classes on gender and sexuality studies, classes on the history of film, and classes which consider the history of LGBTQIA+ activism in the United States. Disclosure introduces topics such as stereotyping, racism, transphobia, homophobia, and transmisogyny within the context of popular culture. Throughout this review, I will consider multiple scenes from the film which may offer particularly rich avenues for discussion, including gazing and visibility, its discussion of trans lives on film from the dawn of cinema to the current moment, as well as the ways in which Disclosure provides a critique of visibility as the only path to trans liberation.
Recommended Citation
Bunting, Galen D.
(2022)
"Feder, S. (Director). (2020). Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen [Film]. Netflix.,"
Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 2:
Iss.
4, Article 11.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol2/iss4/11
Included in
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Visual Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons