Post by MagdaFR on Nov 25, 2020 13:38:09 GMT
How the New TV Series Veneno Is Reviving the Legacy of a Spanish Trans Icon
... Cristina Ortiz. Also known as “La Veneno,” or “poison” in Spanish, Ortiz was a transgender woman who shot to fame in 1996 after a journalist interviewed her in Parque del Oeste in Madrid, where she was based as a sex worker. She later became an actress, singer and model, and the most visible trans person in Spanish pop culture at a time when life was incredibly difficult for the country’s LGBTQ community.
“There were no women who looked like her at that time. I was so starstruck when I saw her,” says Jedet, who is one of three transgender actresses who play Ortiz at different stages of her life in Veneno, a television series based on her life, out on HBO Max on Nov. 19. The show, which has already aired in Spain to great acclaim, has revived public interest in the late media personality’s life. The series has also drawn attention to the lived experiences of trans people at a moment that is, in many ways, different from the one in which Ortiz rose to fame.
...
For the show’s creators, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, Veneno is an homage to Ortiz, to ‘90s pop culture and to the stories they wish they had seen growing up as young gay men. “At the end of the day, it’s a universal story. It is a story about love, and lack of love,” says Calvo. “These types of stories are not only for LGBTQ people, they transcend to other people, because other people want to hear our stories too.”
... Cristina Ortiz. Also known as “La Veneno,” or “poison” in Spanish, Ortiz was a transgender woman who shot to fame in 1996 after a journalist interviewed her in Parque del Oeste in Madrid, where she was based as a sex worker. She later became an actress, singer and model, and the most visible trans person in Spanish pop culture at a time when life was incredibly difficult for the country’s LGBTQ community.
“There were no women who looked like her at that time. I was so starstruck when I saw her,” says Jedet, who is one of three transgender actresses who play Ortiz at different stages of her life in Veneno, a television series based on her life, out on HBO Max on Nov. 19. The show, which has already aired in Spain to great acclaim, has revived public interest in the late media personality’s life. The series has also drawn attention to the lived experiences of trans people at a moment that is, in many ways, different from the one in which Ortiz rose to fame.
...
For the show’s creators, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, Veneno is an homage to Ortiz, to ‘90s pop culture and to the stories they wish they had seen growing up as young gay men. “At the end of the day, it’s a universal story. It is a story about love, and lack of love,” says Calvo. “These types of stories are not only for LGBTQ people, they transcend to other people, because other people want to hear our stories too.”
time.com/5913112/veneno-hbo-max/
I watched the first episode and highly recommend it.
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It feels real and authentic and I now understand when people ask to hire trans people to play trans characters. Some of the actors are playing themselves.
More in the article.
Her story is incredible.
