Nonbinary people are put under constant scrutiny from every possible community. From the queer community's own dogged attempts to de-legitimize them, to zealots who insist we "have mental disorders," it's a bad scene out there for people who don't feel entirely comfortable in the classical gender binary.
That's why it's important for popular media to provide positive representations of nonbinary persons. Popular media is worshiped in our society, and healthy, normalized depictions of marginalized communities can have a tangible impact on our culture. Smaller games, like Arcade Spirits and Raging Justice, are huge steps in the right direction, but are ultimately not titles that have what PR firms would call "mainstream appeal."
That's why Fast & Furious Crossroads, and its nonbinary lead Cam, are so important to the continued growth of positive representation.
Who Is Cam?
Cam Stone is the secondary protagonist of Crossroads. They live in Barcelona with their lifelong friend, Vienna, after escaping a life of crime in the Miami street racing underworld. But after Vienna's boyfriend falls in the sights of Spain's criminal network, Cam is dragged into a dogged race for vengeance - one that just so happens to ally them with franchise stalwarts Dom, Letty, et al.
Cam's role in the game is that of both a driver and a hacker. They're a skilled wheelperson in their own right, with enough driving know-how to outrun a rockslide and effortlessly drift through city streets. But they also are a technical genius - able to hack cop cars, criminal databases, and security systems in the blink of an eye.
Who Plays Cam?
Cam is played by Asia Kate Dillon - best known for their role as The Adjucator in the John Wick franchise and as Taylor Mason in Billions. In 2015, they began to remove gendered pronouns from their bios, and eventually began to openly embrace their non-binary identity.
Dillon has done tremendous work for not only the queer community, but for the world at large since coming out. On top of using their platform to push for more representation, and providing nonbinary viewers with some fantastic characters to empathize with, they've also taken on tackling racial injustice through their own production company.
What Is "Good" Representation?
"Good" representation is a fickle beast when it comes to the queer community - especially when it comes to gender identity. To me, Sleepaway Camp is a vital bit of queer cinema that undermines expected gender norms, and presents us with a clear-cut transgender anti-heroine lashing out at a heteronormative society. To many others, it's a gross piece of exploitative pulp that actively marginalizes trans women and paints them as violent psychopaths.
Is anyone really wrong here? No, not to me. Because that's the thing - good rep to some isn't good rep to others. That's fine! What's important is that there are more depictions of a wider array of gender identities that push back against regressive norms. Furthermore, it's important that these depictions involve people actually affected by said representation, and that they're not there as a cheap gag - or purely as a victim.
Things are getting a bit better when it comes to these sorts of depictions in gaming, but we still have a long way to go. And even games that openly collect accolades for good representation, like Tell Me Why and The Last of Us Part II, still stumble in major ways. Tell Me Why, in particular, suffers from "give me Good Boy Points" syndrome - that is to say, Dontnod is actively using their trans masc lead as a marketing point, and publicly making promises that they're going to do the right thing.
That's all well and good, but frankly, I could give less of a fuck if a cis person promises a trans person they're going to be respectful and nice. Show us, and don't demand that we pat you on the back for a job well done. You're an ally, not a scribe of our community.
What Makes Crossroads "Good" Representation?
What makes Fast & Furious Crossroads good representation, to me, are two things.
First and foremost, it wasn't in any of the marketing. We knew that Asia Kate Dillon was going to be in the game, but we didn't know that they'd be playing an actual non-binary character (they've portrayed some cis women in the past.) But throughout the game, every character refers to them with they/them pronouns, and their gender identity is respected throughout the experience. In other words, this game does it right, but doesn't ask for any special favors because of it. It leaves it up to us, as a community, to decide if we like it and want to uplift it.
Secondly, the type of story that Crossroads tells isn't one that enby people usually get to take a leading role in. Make no mistake - this is classic Fast & Furious, with goofy dialogue, impossible stunts, and plenty of cars drifting away from explosions. It's a high-octane action romp, and not a twee coming-of-age story or a grounded slice-of-life yarn. While those types of stories are important and vital to the tapestry of the trans canon, it's nice to see nonbinary rep in an action game like this. Cam isn't defined by their lack of binary gender - they're defined by being smart, acerbic, and one hell of a driver.
More Like This, Please!
Fast & Furious Crossroads is already a fun, breezy blockbuster that almost makes up for the next film in the series being delayed into next year. But Cam, and Asia Kate Dillon's fantastic portrayal of them, is what helps elevate this game for me. As a nonbinary person myself (I freely use she/her or they/them pronouns,) I like this sort of casual portrayal.
Because, for me, I'm more than a nonbinary trans woman. Yes, it's who I am, but it's only a part of who I am - I'm not defined purely by my identity, and only ask that people respect it. No queer person is just queer, and being queer is not the end all, be all definition of a person.
Crossroads get that, and because of that, I'd go to bat for it being the year's most important nonbinary representation so far.