now, you may be thinking, “well, duh. trans people being depicted as evil is bad!” and i can agree on that in some ways, but then… why do so many trans folk adore evil trans characters in the first place?

with buffalo bill, i’ve seen arguments on whether or not he is even trans to begin with. one side of fans agrees that he is just sick in the head, his cross-dressing and desire to wear the skin of women are there to show how deranged he is. other fans claim that he is a caricature, a portrait to make the trans community look demonized. now, i am not an expert on silence of the lambs myself, so i won’t say who’s wrong or who is right here. but i will talk about the other fans who are trans folk. specifically, the kind that see him as an icon. a true fine character of horror.

you see, horror has and always will be political. so, it makes sense that queer/trans people often make appearances in the genre. good or not. what i find really interesting is the trans icons of horror that the community simply adores. despite them being bad. examples include frank-n-furter, angela (sleepaway camp), leatherface, and even the iconic norman bates. love them or hate them, they are iconic in the community.

dare i say, there’s no issue having an evil trans character in media (specifically horror) because at the end of the day they usually are adored by the group others think would be offended by said character and are even idolized.

for example, divine from pink flamingos (1972). oh, she is terrible. truly terrible throughout the film. committing such dirty acts. hell, her whole goal is to be ‘the filthiest person alive,' and yet… the queers love her. they ADORE her. because, even in her evilness, she is so iconic and liberating in the way she takes down anyone in her way. gunning down the man. it’s freeing. and no, this does not mean, “oh, you think trans people should just be evil and kill people!” … well, yeah! (joke) but what i mean is the symbolism of it all is what’s liberating. the freedom to be a freak, the freedom to feel power, the freedom to be fucking evil and not give a damn. it’s iconic, it’s weird, and it’s well… cunt!

so hey, if you identify with the evil trans characters of horror, i see you. if you don’t and think it’s full of shit, i see you as well. of course, it’s not ‘good’ representation since that’s not what they usually have in mind. but, i find it beautiful that the community so often sees itself in characters that were made to be evil and fucked up and are often thrown around as being iconic. hell, i would even say it’s a form of protest. to go against what society views you as and to relate to characters who tear down the system themselves. to be what those are scared of and live up to it. there’s a beauty in finding yourself in horror, finding yourself in something made for the freaks by the freaks.

at the end of the day, i guess we shouldn’t get too strung up about the way these people look, and we shouldn’t judge a book by it's cover… (see what i did there?) (at night they might be one hell of a lover!)