trans themes in Ryan Gosling movies: let's get into it. I've been doing half-baked analysis for weeks and I have a lot of thoughts about this, but to caveat, I wouldn't presume any kind of authority on what even qualifies as a trans theme, as opposed to themes of otherness or queerness generally. movies are confusing. Anyways, with that out of the way...
The main thing I picked up on looking at his roles in cross-section is that a lot of the time he's playing someone who, in some way, 'Looks like a Real Man but Isn't'... Just to go to the most obvious examples, the mc of Blade Runner 2049 is a replicant who desperately wants to learn that he could be Real. Or, the Driver in Drive is basically a nameless Fantasy Creature who again yearns for connection (people read him as a vampire, Gosling & Refn said they were making a werewolf movie, a lot of people just think he's notably autistic lol). Like I've said, film is great at creating multivalent metaphors; there's a lot of overlap, imo, between gender dysphoria and the experience of neurodivergent isolation. And just to say, those two roles in particular are ones that a lot of men have latched onto as depicting something really profound about masculinity or the male experience, I think they probably speak to men who feel isolated, inadequate, or confused about what society expects of them. I don't think this lessens other readings; just that there's a kaleidescopic quality to film analysis that makes it impossible to pin down a definitive meaning. If it's a metaphor for transness, it's a pretty dysphoric one...
In any case: what I found super interesting was the additional dimension in both Blade Runner and Lars and the Real Girl where his character has a 'female' 'partner' who is arguably just an extension of himself. Like... Lars treats the doll Bianca like his girlfriend but also in a certain practical sense Lars IS Bianca. She externalizes parts of himself that he doesn't otherwise know how to express. He gives her elements of his traumatic childhood and sometimes speaks for her as a way of talking about himself "She doesn't feel sorry for herself, she just wants to be normal." (Patricia Clarkson observes "You have a lot in common.") And the other characters also learn to communicate with him in this way: when Karin and Gus are trying to get him to join them on a walk near the end of the movie, they only get a response when Karin speaks to Bianca, "Bianca, don't you want to see this beautiful day?" It's fascinating to watch the movie this way, and also kind of sad because the story is about him having to say goodbye to that part of himself. Actually that reminds me of something else he said in an interview lol, that before they started filming he imagined he would have to "play both parts" in his head (but that didn't so much end up being the case). This lens also puts an interesting light on the way he begins to finally differentiate himself - by acting like a possessive boyfriend. When Lars asks Gus "How did you know that you were a man?" they're talking about growing up generally, and Gus's advice is actually somewhat gender neutral; but Lars notably latches on to the part about "not cheating on your woman." Idk, my thoughts aren't fully formed on this but it's interesting.
Officer K in Blade Runner 2049 actually has not one but THREE foil characters who are women: Joi, Ana, and Luv. The relationship with Joi in particular is a lot like how I see Lars and Bianca. In this case, she's an AI that is built to accommodate whatever kind of fantasy he wants to project. And what does he do? He gives her agency (or thinks he does); gives to her what no one will give to him. He tries to make her real because HE wants to be real. Every shot in this movie is visually striking but I love the ones where her hologram phases through him. And at the end when he sees the giant Joi who speaks to him like a stranger it's crushing because it confirms the revelation he's just had about himself: that they're both just pieces of programming. The way he thinks about her mirrors the way he thinks about himself. Ana is a different kind of foil because she's actually the 'chosen one' he mistook for himself. So literally in the movie, his only real memory is the memory of a young girl - and it's a memory he wishes more than anything was his own. And then Luv is the version of himself that he rejects: the perfect obedient replicant (who is also seeking validation but in a different way).
Another interesting entry in this canon is the movie Stay (2007), which I've only seen once, but (spoilers), also involves a constructed reality where aspects of his character Henry are reflected or projected on other characters - one of whom is Ewan McGregor's girlfriend in the movie, named Lila, an artist whose pieces are pulled directly from Henry's memory (in one crucial moment, she looks at the back of one of her canvases and Henry's name is signed on it). The diegesis is so convoluted it almost breaks under its own weight but the movie has amazing visual transitions and I want to give it a rewatch.
You also see less drastic versions of this 'imposter' narrative in his more conventional characters. In The Fall Guy, he's a stunt man so his job is literally to be a body standing in for another guy who is The Guy (one of the most insanely meta movies I've ever seen). Grace in PHM spends 80% of the movie thinking he's a hero who signed up willingly for the mission, and when he remembers he DIDN'T, it upends our and his sense of his character's identity, but also reveals the true core underneath and makes it clear what he needs to do in order to complete his arc. Even in Crazy Stupid Love (which I haven't seen in years to be fair) his character is projecting a version of masculinity that he doesn't really deep down identify with.
LOL I just realized I forgot about Ken. Well, that's fitting I guess. I can just gesture vaguely in his direction we don't have time to get into all of that.
What Does This Have To Do With Ryan Gosling's Gender? Idk. It could be nothing and/or coincidence. It could be (and personally I think it's likely) that the way it feels to be a celebrity actor is at times remarkably similar to dysphoria. That could explain everything he's ever said that resonates with queer or neurodivergent people. I think celebrity careers are fascinating and I have a lot of thoughts about illusory personas and stan culture that overlap with what I've been talking about here, but that's for another day (and maybe a video essay if I ever get around to it). Anyways, let's all remember to form non-mediated relationships with real people in our lives. Peace & love have a great day
Ohhh Iāve dreamt of days when people would send me essays about Ryan Goslingās movies and gender<3 Iām not great at verbalizing my thoughts on media so this is a boon thank you
āLooks like a Real Man but Isnātā is such a fascinating link between his movies, youāre so right. I noticed the themes in the separate movies, but didnāt realize the connection between most of them.
And yes, I find Lars in particular so interesting! I like how you could feasibly read Lars as a canonical repressed trans woman, with supporting evidence. Iād say that him externalizing through Bianca is also very connected to autism/neurodivergence, in how a lot of autistic people, whether trans or not, have nuanced relationships with gender and how theyāre viewed in the world as almost ānot fully a man/womanā. And how Larsās bottom layer, the one touching his skin, is almost always womenās clothes (either Biancaās(Karinās), or presumably his motherās ). I watched Lars and Drive relatively close to each other, so the way Ryan Gosling played them in similar ways stuck out to me, especially the muted femininity in Driver.
Blade runner 2049 is a trans movie. To Me. (jokes but also. Well you said it.)
I also need to rewatch Stay, I didnāt really know what to think of it the first time I watched, itād be very interesting to rewatch with gender in mind.
Have you seen Lost River? Itās a movie written and directed by Ryan Gosling, and itās. Quite strange, but I do think thereās a lot to be gleaned from it about Goslingās views on gender, objectification, and poverty. I honestly donāt even know if I liked the movie, but the cinematography was gorgeous. Iām a big proponent of āpeople can write whatever they want, and it doesnāt necessarily mean anything about themā, but I do think thereās value in analyzing peopleās works in this sense, especially if you consider how early Ryan Gosling got famous ā I do think part of this movie is him dealing with that, although Iād need to formulate my thoughts better. If you havenāt seen it, I do have to say it has some pretty gruesome scenes (tw pet rat death/gore).
Thank you so much for your insights!! Itās making me want to dust off my media analysis skills ā thereās so much to say about practically all of his movies (I wish more people talked about Only God Forgives and The Slaughter Rule), but I think you said it well.
If you do ever make a video essay let me know, Iād be very interested in the topic :)
