[Man interrupts two women who are engaged in a conversation in a small-town sidewalk]
Perla (surprised): "Don Luis, strange to see you around here.."
Don Luis: "I wanted to know... when they gave you the loan from the bank to open your hair salon, did they ask for ID?"
Perla: "Yes"
Don Luis: "The document says that you are a man..."
Perla (turning less friendly): "Yes."
Don Luis: "They still gave it to you."
(woman nods)
Don Luis: "It's the same bank that gave me the loan for the car..."
Perla: "Hm."
Don Luis: "It made me think.. and it made me come to ask for forgiveness for having treated you badly all this time. For not knowing how to treat you... Take this, keep it" (hands the woman a figurine of a ballerina)
Perla (surprised): "For me?"
Don Luis: "Forgive me."
Perla (smiling warmly): "Thanks so much, Don Luis."
Don Luis: "Good-bye."

Caption: Your life changes when there's a bank that dared to change.

Voice-over: "You have a life, you have your bank."


NOTE: my ability to analyze this media artifact is a direct result of the translation, which was done by members of a livejouranl.com transgender community. My analysis of the artifact is thus based on a translation and the watching the commercial



While I normally tend to specifically explore the mediated representations of queer folks in the states every so often there is something that catches my eye. This is a bank advertisement form Argentina that prominently figures the discussion of trans issues. I am so interested and impressed with this commercial because of the ways in which trans people are portrayed as being part of a community in ways which I have yet to see occur in any mainstream media in the States. Furthermore the commercial grapples with the very real issues of transphobia and the oppression that gender nonconforming individuals often face on a daily basis.

While there is certainly room to problematize the ways in which LGBT people can and have been used by corporations as marketing ploys, and the ways in which the queer community has been marketed to by companies such as Budweiser I don’t think that this commercial can be placed solely in that camp. Certainly there is cause for concern as queer culture becomes increasingly defined by consumerism, and where pride parades look like one large commercial. However, I think that this commercial breaks out of that mold- instead of simply tokenizing queer people it addresses real issues that queer people, and specifically trans people face. The commercial focuses on the difficulties of obtaining something like a loan when your gender presentation doesn’t match the gender marker on your identification, something which trans people grapple with daily. If the commercial is to be believed it seems as though this particular bank is attempting to align itself with marginalized trans folks, and making a stand that oppression is not acceptable.

Furthermore the commercial addresses complex social justice issues related to transphobia. The interaction of the character sends a clear message to viewers that transphobia is not acceptable in any form. This is a huge statement, and one with has the potential to impact the lives of all trans people in that culture. Right or wrong, the media is where many of our lessons come from about how to treat others and what is and isn’t culturally acceptable. This sort of commercial is a huge step in the right direction, and the day that something like this airs in the States will make me very happy (although I’m not holding my breath).