Go On For The Pumpkins

direct orders of "you really really need to kill this guy" ignored: 1

definitely yes. it centers around a transmisogynistic caricature who is a "transvestite from the planet transsexual" who rapes half the cast, murders a captive, and essentially transes the survivors

the creator comes off as deeply closeted, talking a lot over the years about their gender but also saying trans women can't be women. the show, to me, definitely seems to reflect a lot of internalized transmisogyny. don't get me wrong, this makes it an interesting and at times somewhat cathartic watch! to an extent it feels like it cheekily plays with and revels in transmisogynistic stereotypes, and the villain's final song before dying gives them a grain of pathos in the 11th hour. a sort of transfeminist read of the play is possible. if you squint

I adore my local theater and its actors, but when some friends invited me to go to the show with them, I stayed home, because I wanted to still be able to watch performers I loved (all tme), and I knew seeing them do this show would make me hate them. I think it's possible to enjoy the show while deconstructing it through a critical transfeminist lens, but I'm under no illusions that it's become a staple of queer culture because TMEs just love to deconstruct its transmisogyny. no, people love to fawn over a ~scary and controversial~ transmisogynistic caricature. many get offended and defensive at transfeminist criticisms of the show, treating it as being above critique because it's a classic. transfeminists are annoying buzzkill prudes for taking issue. the villain from the planet transsexual surely can't be transmisogynistic because they're not explicitly called a trans woman. we're just looking for reasons to get offended

jasper you don’t get to get away with this that easily.