How Y: the Last Man’s trans character Sam breaks the mold of LBGTQ’s story

One of the biggest questions surrounding the FX television adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra Y: the last man it was how I would update a 20-year-old story on gender for a less gender-essentialist era. The first issue of the comic features a cataclysm that abruptly kills every male man and animal on Earth except two: the New York escapist Yorick and his capuchin monkey Ampersand. The story never goes much into how the event affects people outside of the simplest gender binary; for example, the comic mentions transsexuality only in passing and in derogatory and regressive terms.

For showrunner Eliza Clark, addressing the simplistic vision of the comic book genre was an important goal for the television version. “I wanted to make it clear early on and often that Yorick is not the last man on earth, and that what sets him apart is his Y chromosome, not his masculinity,” he tells Polygon.

With that in mind, the show’s first season features other trans men, mostly minor characters that Yorick meets on the road. Where Yorick has to stay masked or hidden in the comic, because the slightest glimpse of him pushes women to anger, lust, or a desire to exploit him, people on the show generally shrug their shoulders and assume he’s trans. .

“I think it’s a fascinating reversal of the kinds of stories that we usually see,” says Clark, “with Yorick being questioned about his identity in ways he’s never done before.”

This conscious subversion of familiar and routine media stories about trans characters manifests itself in other ways as well. Y: the last man centers a trans character as one of its protagonists: Sam, a 20-something-year-old New York City performance artist who begins the story as the roommate and support system of Yorick’s sister, Hero. As the first season unfolded, Sam has grown into one of the most complicated characters on the show, a sensitive and conflicted guy who finds himself between loyalty to Hero and his own survival.

Sam’s story arc this season involves a series of challenges that are frustratingly standard in LGBTQ-centric stories, such as questions of identity, bigotry, and romantic conflicts. But all these elements of the story break the usual mold, because its transity is never the main theme in any of them. Aside from a brief nod to the difficulty of obtaining testosterone and maintaining transitional treatments in the midst of an apocalypse, Y: the last man To a large extent, it gives Sam personal and individualistic problems to navigate, rather than positioning him as a generic representation of trans men, or assuming that being trans is his whole personality, rather than a comparatively small part of the picture.

Identity

Where so many trans stories focus on self-discovery and the coming-out process, Sam’s story is far more concerned with his identity as an artist in a world focused on survival. That element of his character grew out of a collaboration between the show’s development team and actor Elliot Fletcher (Shameless and Faking it veteran), who plays Sam.

“Since Sam is not in the graphic novel, we had a lot of creative freedom to develop him,” says Fletcher. “There were a lot of conversations about Sam as an artist and about his relationship with Hero, how they became friends and what their dynamic really is. Those conversations are always amazing and they remain amazing and very collaborative. “

“Maybe you’re about to discover your voice as an artist, and then this event happens,” says Clark. “Suddenly he is forced to fight just to survive and he wonders: ‘Is there art in this new world? Who am I if I am not making art, if I am not an artist? ‘All of that is really interesting for me as a writer.

Fletcher says that he and the creators of the series worked particularly to define Sam’s performing art process, which sets him apart from other artists, because he doesn’t trust them to help shape his work. At the same time, her creative side strengthens her relationship with Hero. “I think she’s one of the few people who is really comfortable asking for advice, because she’s very direct and doesn’t sugarcoat anything,” says Fletcher. “She also has a different perspective from him.”

Fletcher says that Sam’s sense of alienation as an artist is one of the keys to his character. “His inner monologue is simply,” God, I’m so lonely, “says Fletcher.” He isolates himself so quickly when it comes to art, but since he no longer has room for his art in the world, isolation is now unwanted. ” .

Fanaticism

Many trans stories in film and television focus on stories that come out of the closet and self-discovery, or dealing with intolerance and abuse. But when Sam faces prejudice, it’s not because he’s trans, it’s because he’s a man. Mid-season of season 1, Sam and Hero end up in a large store turned into a fortress by the residents of a local women’s shelter, who look at Sam with suspicion and hostility. In episode 6, when one of her group tries to spend time alone with Sam, the others beat her up.

“He’s already so much to blame, of ‘How do I deserve to be alive right now, when the people I loved before the event aren’t?'” Says Fletcher. “So it just builds up, like ‘I’m alive, but my life is hurting others.’ Being at PriceMax with all those women, it’s just a constant reminder to him, how guilty he feels, how unwanted he is. “

“I think it’s really interesting how the Sam and Yorick stories echo,” says Clark. “Being a visible man in a world where the majority are women is scary and potentially fetishistic. It could be dangerous or it could be cool! It depends on where you are and who you are with. “

Episode 6 director Destiny Ekaragha also put her own experiences into shaping Sam’s scenes in that story. “Being with a group of people who hate you for who you are, as an outcast, I know what that is,” he tells Polygon. “So it was very important to put that in the foreground, that he is a human being who deals with other human beings who are not acting with the greatest grace.”

“For me, it was very important to make sure we didn’t lose sight of their vulnerability,” he says. “As a man, they don’t want him here. So, as Hero starts to reach out to this group of people, you want the audience to think ‘But what about Sam? You can’t stay here. ‘

At the same time, Clark says, Sam’s trans identity doesn’t play at all with group dynamics. He wanted to make it clear that the women in the group do not see him as different from the men who traumatized and abused them.

“He didn’t want to humanize any group of people who didn’t see him as a man,” he says. “I’m just not interested in those people, I’m not interested in helping people understand where they come from, because they are not.”

Romance

Also mid-season, Sam and Hero have a moment where they are lying in bed together in a temporary shelter, and they kiss passionately, but Sam backs away, without a word, and turns around, looking sad and resigned. The characters do not discuss the incident at the time, which raises many questions about what is going through their heads. Fletcher says the scene also has nothing to do with Sam as a trans man; the reason he’s pulling out is because he’s afraid that he and Hero (played by Olivia Thirlby) don’t want the same relationship.

“Olivia and I spent a lot of time figuring out who Sam and Hero were together,” says Fletcher. “Before that scene, Sam and Hero had kissed multiple times – they’re the kind of friends who do something for shit and giggle. They are both very impulsive, and before the event, they are just here to have a good time. […] Due to the post-event world, they have to face feelings that they could previously ignore, when nothing meant anything. Whereas now, whatever you do has a butterfly effect. “

He feels that Sam and Hero love each other too much to risk their relationship if it turns out that they don’t take each other’s desire equally seriously. “It’s kind of out of the body until the moment you walk away,” he says. “He comes back and realizes where they are, what the situation is, and that this isn’t just another one of their random make-out sessions when they’re drunk. This is a very serious moment and it means a lot more than it used to be. For him, there is a lot of weight in that kiss, and he is not sure at that moment that she feels the same. “

The future

Fletcher admits that even if these character elements have new flavors in Y: the last man, the focus on isolation and misery can be exhausting for people who are used to seeing LGBTQ characters only in terms of their pain and trauma. “However, specifically for this show, I think all the world he’s suffering, ”he says.

“As much as I agree that the main queer content we get is focused on suffering or discovery, or just plain unpleasantness, on this show, all the world he is alone, all the world he’s fucking terrified, ”he says. And for everyone involved, there will be moments of light. There are for Sam, definitely, this season. I hope to continue with that later. We can see more of who he is later in the season, and I think that brings him back a little light or happiness, brings him joy or inspiration. “

Clark says similarly that Sam’s story closely resembles what other characters in the series are experiencing. He is in pain and lonely, but everything that is happening is reflected in other characters, in a way that gives the first season its fundamental structure. “I think a lot of people on this show are dealing with being the only ones in a room,” says Clark. “’Am I the last of my kind? Am I the only scientist who can fix this? Am I the only member of my spy organization left? Am I the only person with a Y chromosome? A lot of Sam’s story from season one is about being the only man in the room, and how he feels. ”

New episodes of Y: the last man airs on Mondays on FX on Hulu.