Written by Neville Percival Croft

What do you think of when you hear someone mentions the transformers? Many would say the movies which star brave resister Shia LaBeouf or maybe the old cartoon show from the 80s. Not me, I know better. I think of what any sane person should think of: bigotry and transphobia. It’s time for us to realize that this beloved franchise is actually a dangerous and frightening tool used to indoctrinate our children to hate transgender persons. Here’s why:

The movies in particular are problematic, especially how they rampantly objectify women for the male gaze.

Let’s address the biggest issue with transformers, it’s blatant transphobic undertone. It literally has ‘trans’ in its name and not one of the robots is actually transgender. This is utterly offensive and quite frankly should not be tolerated. After all, it is 2019 and we should know better. Even worse is the slogan “robots in disguise”. Obviously this is an attack on the existence of persons of trans, claiming that they simply are not to be believed and that they are just “in disguise”. I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I’m most definitely shaking at these distressing and problematic connotations.

Clearly, the creators of Transformers at Hasbro have no idea how badly an effect this inherently discriminatory franchise is having on its LGBTQ+ viewers. One notable example is bold non-binary pansexual transgender person Peter File, who is an activist against transphobia. For a long time, Peter has suffered for zir identity and has decided to bravely speak out against the Transformers for encouraging violence against LGBTQ+ persons. NPC Daily reporters managed to engage in an interview with this fierce yet unique individual.

Literally every day and I mean EVERY day, I am belittled, harassed and insulted by poorly educated trolls, both online and in reality, who don’t understand me. Come on, it’s 2019, and I should be paraded for my bravery in coming out, not made a target. When I heard about Transformers, I was skeptical and gave it a watch. After watching an episode, I felt like my mind was raped. It was worse than anything any Neo-Nazi has ever said to me! From the overly male robot cast, to the lack of transgender robots, I felt like my eyes were about to fall out of my head in shock! This needs boycotting NOW! I’ve been through four gender transitions, I don’t deserve this hatred! Peter File, non-binary, pansexual, transgender activist.

It’s thanks to heroes like Peter that we are making sense of the increasingly hateful and utterly offensive world we live in. The sooner the boycotting starts the better, and hopefully Transformers transforms into something a little more diverse and inclusive. More female, transgender and non-binary robots are required and perhaps we may even see major characters like Megatron, Optimus Prime or Starscream come out as gay in the future. One can only hope, but until then Transformers will remain problematic.

Here’s a picture of future President Elizabeth Warren to cheer you up after reading this upsetting article.



Elizabeth Warren

Neville Percival Croft is a reporter for NPC Daily and enjoys campaigning for animal rights, watching RuPaul’s Drag Race and helping empower minorities.