Break Free: The Rise of Ruby Rose
The highly anticipated third season of Orange is the New Black leaked early after being scheduled for release on Netflix on June 12, 2015. The seasoned cast returned with a few new faces joining the already famous Litchfield inmates, one of which has taken the Internet world by storm.
New inmate, Stella Carlin, played by Ruby Rose, 29, has everyone buzzing with excitement not only about her nude shower scene that appears in episode 9 of the season, but about her short film that she released in July 2014.
Last July, the heavily tattooed model, actress, musician released a short film, Break Free, that explored gender roles, transgender, and what it means to identify as a man or a woman and how these genders should appear according to society. Although the short film was released nearly a year ago, it has recently hit over 5 million views and is receiving praise within the media.
The film begins with Rose featured as a materialistic, stereotypical woman with long, blonde locks and a full face of makeup. After seeing herself in the mirror, she starts cutting her hair off into a short undercut, removing her makeup, and revealing the tattoos that cover her arms, neck, and back. As she strips down from a skimpy dress and high heels, she then gauzes her breasts flat and dress in male attire.
The Orange is the New Black star identifies herself as “gender fluid,” meaning although she was born a female, she does not consider herself either gender, but rather somewhere in between. The cast are no strangers to gender identification roles as they co-star alongside, Laverne Cox, the first transgender individual to be a Primetime Emmy nominee.
Rose’s attention from her short film and role in the Netflix original series comes at a rather great time in the LGBQT community. It was not long after Rose’s film debut that Bruce Jenner, former Olympic athlete, revealed to the public that he was transgender and would be undergoing surgical operations in order to complete his transformation into a female. He recently made his debut as Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair.;
“Between Orange with Laverne, the show Transparent, and Caitlyn Jenner, obviously we’re in the middle of something enormous – a transgender movement,” Rose revealed to Elle magazine. I’m just proud to be alive during this massive shift in the world.”
