'Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen': Viewers slam Ace Ventura's transphobia, claim 'will never watch again'
Classic comedies that were glorified for ages are suddenly being called out (and most often, rightfully so) because of their offensive humor. The repeated occurrences of homophobia in film is no secret, and neither is the fact that Jim Carey's groundbreaking avatar, Ace Ventura is a homophobic and transphobic character. Over the years, viewers – often former fans – of Carrey's age-old classic comedy 'Ace Venture: Pet Detective' have called out the film for its "disgraceful portrayal of a trans-woman getting her identity exposed". That hate and criticism seem to have only been encouraged by Netflix's latest release 'Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen'.
The documentary film by Sam Feder, co-executive produced and featuring some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry's transgender community, gauges and evaluates how far Hollywood has come in terms of its representation of trans-folk. From mockery to caricature and representing them as "twisted psychopaths with malicious intent" – Hollywood's long history of showing the transgender community as "disturbed people with mental illnesses" is brought out amply by members of the trans community opening up about how it felt to see that on the big screen.
Writer and speaker Zeke Smith opened up about the same and reminded us once again the outrageous, insulting reaction Carrey's Ace Ventura had in the film upon learning Sean Young's character Lois Einhorn had a penis. Smith says in the documentary how growing up Ace Ventura was his favorite movie, yet years later, when he was transitioning, he watched the movie again and could keep the disgust contained.
"My favorite movie as a kid ends with a room full of people throwing up at the sight of a trans person," Smith says in the documentary. For those unaware, in the comedy film, when Ace discovers Einhorn had a sex change, he freaks out and vomits. Later, when Einhorn is revealed with the penis, the movie's police force is visibly grossed out and neither do they shy away from expressing that amply.
While Carey himself has admitted at Television and Critics Academy panels that Ace was a raging homophobe and "in this day and age, it probably would not be done the same way. There’s a learning curve for all of us," but it looks like viewers aren't going to let that go so easily. With the Netflix documentary highlighting just how problematic it was, fans are taking it to Twitter to slam the 1994 film, stating: "After you watch #DisclosureNetflix, you will never watch #AceVentura again."
Another user shared: "Watching new @netflix doc #Disclosure reminded me of that awful end scene in #AceVentura, where everyone throws up after Sean Young is revealed as transsexual. Didn't even register with me as a 13 year old, but imagine watching that as a trans child or adult. Appalling." A third fan shared a touching, somewhat heartbreaking anecdote resonating with similar sentiments; writing about 'Disclosure', they tweeted: "I've already recommended the film to a cis friend who posted an appreciation of Ace Ventura. It spared me from having to recount how traumatic it was not to understand the transphobic jokes and have my parents try to explain why they were funny."
Another user, also a member of the trans community, tweeted: "Just watched Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen and It has a lot of points we trans ppl collectively grew up thinking about. We're always just for comedy, or making Ace Ventura throw up w disgust, some "bombshell" plot point, or psychos via Silence of the Lambs."
'Disclosure' comes at a time when 'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling single-handedly squelched about 90 percent of her entire fanbase's admiration for her by tweeting extremely transphobic posts on Twitter. The chilling documentary that expresses hope for a better representation of the community in a slow, but steadily progressing Hollywood, is also right in time for Pride Month 2020 – just days after the American Supreme Court ruled: "An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.”
Given everything, even with Carrey claiming Ace's reaction to Einhorn “was an honest completely homophobic reaction from that character. It was basically making fun of homophobia" viewers show their anger over how something so glorified and so problematic seems justified.
'Disclosure' is available for streaming on Netflix.
