Transgender Hollywood actor Elliot Page has appeared in a new ABC News special "Elliot Page In His Own Words" to discuss life since coming out as a trans man in 2020.
The "Juno" and "X-Men: The Last Stand" star appeared in a promotional clip posted on Twitter for the interview, claiming to have found happiness since transitioning: “I feel so much better. I feel joy.” Yet Page’s body language and appearance would say otherwise.
I am no body-language expert, but someone claiming to feel "joy" and stating that they feel what it's like to “truly being alive for the first time” would have the body language and facial expressions to match what they are saying. But the entire video is void of any emotion, smiles, or even inclinations of happiness, with the actor appearing exhausted, with dark, under-eye circles under, a feeling of uncertainty in her voice, and a deep loneliness in their eyes. The words simply do not match up to Page’s visibly unhappy expression, and it becomes clear to the viewer that she is suffering and hurting inside.
Throughout the interview, Page continues to try and convince viewers that she is happier than ever, saying: “I’m feeling connected and present for the first time. I’m feeling that joy every day.” But social media users were quick to express concern with detransitioner Prisha Mosley tweeting that “[s]he looks like she’s in so much pain.”
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Another Twitter user stated: “The fact that she as an actress is unable to convincingly express that she is well implies that she must be in terrible emotional pain."
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Another highlighted Page’s appearance in the video: “Wow this person used to be a good actor, and they can’t even look joyful when talking about how joyful they are.”
This is not the first time the actor has sparked concern. In her recent autobiography "Pageboy: A Memoir" she revealed that voices inside her head told her to become trans after a psychotic episode of self-harm, where the actor repeatedly punched herself in the face until bruises formed.
According to Page, the voice told her “[y]ou don’t have to feel this way.” In the memoir, Page goes on to explain how she started to have back and forth conversations with the voice inside her head until the voice told her she was "trans."
Weeks after this psychotic episode, Page scheduled a Zoom consultation with a doctor to discuss top surgery to remove her breasts, and after just one call and no psychological evaluation, the procedure was booked and scheduled.
The writing is clearly on the wall. Page is suffering from severe mental health struggles, and she is clearly struggling to adapt after having her breasts removed and being placed on high doses of testosterone.
Any reputable doctor would have realized Page was not a suitable candidate for gender-affirming surgery due to her psychotic mental health breakdown, yet they went ahead and removed her breasts anyway after just one online consultation. If her doctor would have actually examined Page's mental health history, they would have soon realized that wanting to cut off her breasts is likely a response to severe childhood trauma after the star previously revealed they were groomed and sexually abused as a teen by powerful men in Hollywood.
In a tell-all interview with The Guardian last week, Page recounted one of the horrifying experiences after a powerful man forced her to perform a sex act as a teen. “I went stiff. He laid me down on the bed. Starting to remove my pants, he said, ‘I want to eat you out.’ I froze. After it was over, he tried to stay in the bed with me.”
In another incident of sexual abuse, Page describes a female crew member assaulting her. “That freezing coming over me again. The next thing I knew I was on the rug, the floor firm on my back. I didn’t say no, I did not resist, I just stiffened.”
We know from various studies that many people with severe gender dysphoria who become trans do so as a response to childhood trauma and sexual abuse. A 2018 study that examined the link between complex trauma and gender dysphoria found that 56 percent of those with gender dysphoria experienced four or more early traumatic experiences in childhood. In a separate study, 55 percent of trans identified adults said that they had experienced unwanted sexual experiences before age 18.
It doesn’t take a doctor to realize that Page is likely trying to process these difficult traumas and removed her breasts as a way to try and mask the abuse she suffered as a teen. Just like in her new ABC interview, where she talks of feeling "joy," it's clear she is suffering deep down and lacking a true support system.
But instead of the people around her helping her, she is being paraded on endless TV shows, magazine covers, newspaper articles, and pushed as the poster child for being trans. In reality, she is being exploited - exploited to try and push a narrative that only causes pain and suffering to Page and others that look up to her.
Page is not a symbol of "trans joy" or any kind of "joy" for that matter. She is instead a victim, a victim of being exploited by doctors that were all too quick to prey on her traumas and vulnerability and make her a lifelong customer of big pharma.
