Laverne Cox channels Pam Grier in this powerful portrait. From her proud afro and pursed lips to her leather jacket and defiant stare, Cox combines Black radicalism with the rugged sensuality of Grier’s Blaxploitation persona to fashion a vital vision of Black femininity.
Through her groundbreaking role as Sophia Burset in Orange is the New Black (2013–19), Cox brings a complex and nuanced portrayal of trans womanhood to the screen. Burset fights transphobic attacks, forges friendships, creates community and survives solitary confinement, where she’s stripped of her signature glamour but not her spirit.
On and off screen, Cox has used glamour as armour. “I needed to put on my face to get ready to be harassed on the street,” she has said. The high-femme aesthetic embraced by Cox and many other trans women was, and remains, an approach to surviving and navigating the dangers of a transphobic society. After years promoting LGBTQIA+ rights, Cox has contributed greatly to building mainstream trans visibility, adding to the long legacy of Black women who have fought for a better and more equitable world.
An interview with Laverne Cox about her documentary Disclosure via Still Watching Netflix's YouTube channel
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Collection
Not in ACMI's collection
Previously on display
1 October 2023
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
193596
Curatorial section
Goddess → Fighting Back → Blaxploitation