If you know me, you know I really enjoyed the Millennium Trilogy, the insanely popular series of books about bisexual hacker, Lisbeth Salander, who becomes involved with a series of crimes in the course of her job as a researcher at a private security firm. The taut thrillers penned by Stieg Larsson have become a literary phenomenon and turned into very successful Swedish films starring Noomi Rapace as the androgynous lead. Prior to her work in The Trilogy she won the 2008 Bodil Award (the Danish version of Academy Awards) for her role in Daisy Diamond. The role of Salander has netted her multiple nominations and wins in 2010. Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Trailer
Fast Forward: for the last many months the US fans has been in an absolute tizzy about the rumors of who will play Lisbeth in the US remakes. Many media outposts were reporting that Kristen Stewart was the leading contender. Rumors of Carey Mulligan made me feel a little better. Ellen Page was my pick. While most of you may remember her from Juno, it’s her turn in the psycho thriller Hard Candy that I was pinning these hopes to. 
Director David Fincher eventually let on that he was hoping for a talented new comer before settling on Rooney Mara. Does Ms. Mara have the chops to play this hard-bitten anti-heroine? I can’t really say. I’ve only seen her in The Social Network and her role was hardly substantial. It seems an odd choice to me, but I love a good surprise as much as the next person.
Now that we’ve dispensed with the mainstream issue of casting, we can get down to the latest kerfluffle: Some lesbians are OUTraged that Fincher did not cast a dyke in the role. The title of the post “Americans Ruin Everything” is something I’d almost always agree with, but not this time.
Um. Where to even start?
- Noomi Rapace, who brought the character to screen in the first place is married, though currently separated from her husband. I’m not sure how it’s the Americans ruining this when the Swedes did the same thing.
- The character is not a lesbian. Just because the media in the books and films keep saying that she is a lesbian, doesn’t make it so. She’s bi. If they had cast an openly bisexual actor I’m betting there would still be a sense of OUTrage.
- It’s called acting. While I loathe the habit of the US film and television industry of “white-washing” other people or substituting one POC for a completely different national identity, this is vastly different. While “acting Latino” and “acting gay” might seem, on the surface, intricately tied because both are rife with the possibility of stereotypes, the reality is that *anyone* can be gay. But you’re either Latino, Black, Indian, Chinese, etc. or you’re not and nothing will ever change that. Sexuality, whether you think it’s a matter of nature vs. nurture is still fluid and we all come to it at different times and different ways. Sexuality is not something that gets stamped on a birth certificate, a visa, or rooted in a family tree. The only way to “act” Latino when you’re not is through tired stereotypes of mannerisms, speech or clothing queues. In order to “act” gay all you need to do is show up, say the lines and maybe kiss someone of the same gender. Hopefully there will be no stereotypes.
- Scarcity. How many openly lesbian actresses who fit the general physical characteristics are there? Yes, one could say that this would be a great chance to find an undiscovered talent. If that actor was any good, they would be working today and she’d probably not be out because while many an actor has come out publicly in their later career, it’s still a huge challenge and no matter how progressive we’d like to think Hollywood is, it’s still a business and that business is getting butts in seats. And openly queer leading actors just don’t fill seats.
I would really love for the Hollywood system to be different. Today. But it’s not. Some day.
As for me – after spending the better part of a decade working for one of the largest web hosting providers (in two separate tours of duty!) in the world and an upstart domain name registrar I find myself in major need of a battery recharge. I’ll happily continue to entertain consulting engagements and I’m open to talking about good old-fashioned employment, but I’m going to live the dream! A couple of trips, a little self-improvement by way of a sommelier certification and lots of soul-searching before I come back to the real world of domain names and the like and decide if it’s a game I’m still interested in playing.
