Idin Aazami

I absolutely adore Saved by the Bell reboot!! This show is truly spectacular! The humour, dialogue, addressing of many social issues, the incredible, thoughtful representation!! I genuinely can't get enough of this show! The cast truly make the show. The character that truly inspired me, is Lexi. Played by the immensely talented Josie Totah, is an incredible and groundbreaking character! To have a trans girl, be the cool girl, have so much empathy, and yet still have flaws, is amazing. And the fact that never in any way, do they slip transphobia into there for shock, and never make her gender the backend of a joke, speaks volumes! Not to mention, Josie played a big part in making Lexi's arc so special, she is super funny and witty! Both Josie, and of course, Lexi have inspired me as a trans woman. I genuinely love the whole cast! All of them, every character! I highly recommend seeing the new Saved by the Bell as it is. I know it can be hard to let go of the previous iteration, but trust me, this show is worth it. Tackles many many issues including but not limited to: systemic and social racism, misogyny, LGBT rep, friendship, community and plenty more!

TW: descriptions of extremely transphobic scenes. I just wanted to mention, I know Jim Carrey said that he acknowledges the transphobia and homophobia in the film, which is good. And this is not to have a go nor shame anyone for enjoying this movie as a kid, many I see, just appreciate Jim's talent, and he is mega talented. This review is not an attack on anyone who enjoyed the movie, but this is to raise awareness of the the transphobia in Ace Ventura Pet Detective. The scenes involving a trans character in this movie are dangerous, lead to rejection, hate speech, anti trans legislation, and violence towards the trans community. And partakes of many harmful, false tropes. This is one of the most disgusting movies in terms of its transphobia I have ever encountered. In the documentary Disclosure (which I highly recommend) They show clips of the scene where a trans woman is basically publicly assaulted by Ace, just because she is trans, to show that she is tucked, this results in all the police officers vomiting. This part alone, was traumatic to see, and took me days to recover from. The fact that anyone thought this was okay, baffles me, and seeing that still we sell this movie everywhere, without at least addressing the transphobia, shocks me. Now yes, we know the character is apparently a big bad criminal, however, the fact this happened to be a trans woman, is just such exploitative writing, and nothing but a reason for them to again use the trope of "evil trans woman who tricked our hero" when even in the film, this woman is basically dehumanised, and I would count this behaviour as violence against women too. These tropes and stereotypes 1. falsely paint trans people (trans women specifically) as people who "changed" their gender, to escape or gain something (in this case, escape the law) 2. Making it seem "okay" to treat a trans person so horribly, and to even make us out to be "disgusting" enough for people to throw up when seeing us? 3. Making out that a trans person is not the gender they are. Playing to the trope that trans people and that particularly trans women, are just trying to "trick you" Some complained that this movie "could not be made today" and I'm saying now, this movie, unless they changed the story and removed the transphobic plot, never should have been made. Definitely go and Watch Disclosure on Netflix, the documentary explores how Hollywood influenced and shaped how we as a society view trans people (mostly negatively) and breaking down the issues with tropes like the ones found in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

*Disclaimer: This is a brief and quick little review I absolutely adore Designated Survivor!! And Season 3 truly has shown how brilliant David Guggenheim is!! Season 3 only happened because Netflix took the team onboard when the show was cancelled by ABC. I'm eternally grateful these writers get to work under Netflix! This Season proves, now with the creative freedom Netflix allows, how much the creators and incredible team have to offer the world!! This show is suspenseful, heartfelt and advocates for the rights of so many people proudly, those people get to have their voices heard!! It's long overdue!! Please ignore the bigoted reviewers making out these amazing people to have some "agenda" other then to advocate and bring about unity and equality!! To open our eyes to how hatred ruins us all. Please watch Designated Survivor if you are an advocate for social justice, equality and love high quality shows that give one hope for what an American government could look like! Kiefer Sutherland nails the compassionate and amazing president Tom Kirkman! This show isn't light hearted though, it can be hard to watch as it is so true to life, it is profound and beautifully made and written with a stellar cast of actors who portray extraordinary characters!