Transgender individuals are subjected to distinct forms of discrimination. Transwomen are often vilified and accused of being sexual predators, while transmen, even when they are acknowledged, are frequently portrayed as misguided girls and women who are baffled and incapable of comprehending their true identities. Page reflects in his memoir where he describes what he experienced when he came out in 2014 and states that despite the vast majority believing him, the malicious backlash he currently faces is incomparable.
Page feels a regression to the period when movie studios controlled his public image. He declares, “I am fed up with people’s creepy obsession with my body and their tendency to make me feel like a child (I have always encountered this, but never to this extent). It isn’t just anonymous people who are harassing me but also acquaintances and friends.”
However, Page has never run short of supporters. He has many vocal defenders that probably make him the most well-known transman across the globe. On-screen, his superhero character presents an alternative paradigm of masculinity founded on sensitivity and inner fortitude rather than brute strength and muscles.
His character progression from Vanya to Viktor exemplifies the possibility of a world in which transitioning is normalized, acknowledged, and no longer the centerpiece. “Really glad for you, Viktor,” as another member of The Umbrella Academy closes out.
Page worked with showrunner Steven Blackman to ensure that his character’s transition was genuine and lifelike. Specifically, they inserted Schwartzenburg’s narrative into a season that had already been tightly packed and competently scripted. In his memoir, Page examines his intricate relationship with shop windows and the imagery in them, which reminded him, before his transition, of a body and a persona he observed but did not desire. McBee turned that recollection into another memorable scene in The Umbrella Academy where Viktor, played by Page, pauses in front of a store window and someone asks him what he sees. “Me,’ he responds, smiling and shrugging. ‘Just me.'”
“Genuinely happy for you, Elliot,” as a final statement.
