Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Zoolander 2 trailer: Benedict Cumberbatch's 'cartoonish' transgender character leads to calls for boycott

The petition reads: "This is the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority" 

Jack Shepherd
Sunday 22 November 2015 10:56 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s role in the upcoming Zoolander 2 has come under fire for making a “cartoonish mockery” of “androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals”.

The trailer for the film was released earlier this week, revealing a surprise appearance by the 39-year-old as the androgynous model All, introduced as the “biggest supermodel in the whole world”

“Are you like a male model or a female model?” asks Ben Stiller’s character Derek, to which Cumberbatch’s character answers “All is All”.

“I think he's asking is do you have a hot dog or a bun?” explains Owen Willson’s Hansel, followed by a light giggle and the word “Oops” from All.

Zoolander 2 - Trailer

Since the trailer’s release, a petition to boycott the film has garnered over 7,500 signatures. It claims: “Cumberbatch’s character is clearly portrayed as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals.

“This is the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority.”

Sarah Rose, who authored the petition, continued: “If the producers and screenwriters of Zoolander wanted to provide social commentary on the presence of trans/androgyne individuals in the fashion industry, they could have approached models like Andreja Pejic to be in the film."

Until 2014, Pejic was billed as an androgynous male model. Since undergoing sex reassignment surgery, she now identifies as a transgender woman, becoming the first openly transgender model to be profiled by Vogue earlier this year.

The petition adds: “By hiring a cis actor to play a non-binary individual in a clearly negative way, they film endorses harmful and dangerous perceptions of the queer community at large.

“Tell Paramount Pictures, Ben Stiller, and Benedict Cumberbatch that mocking transgender/androgyne/gender fluid individuals is not okay.”

Apple TV+ logo

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Try for free
Apple TV+ logo

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Try for free

Twitter users have also labelled the film ‘transphobic’ with one person writing: “Warning: Transphobia in The Zoolander 2 trailer. Basically, Benedict Cumberbatch's character is a transphobic joke”.

Paramount Pictures, Ben Stiller and Benedict Cumberbatch have yet to comment on the petition or accusations of transphobia. You can view the petition here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in