Veneno
Veneno, 2020, still from a TV show on HBO Max. Season 1, episode 4. Cristina “La Veneno” Ortiz Rodríguez (Daniela Santiago).
THE FOURTH EPISODE of HBO Max’s Spanish-language biopic
Veneno (2020) etymologizes its title, the national pet name of Spain’s late trans icon Cristina “La Veneno” Ortiz Rodríguez. In the limited series’ most memorable sequence, Cristina (an intoxicating Daniela Santiago) descends on Parque del Oeste, the center of trans sex work in 1990s Madrid, to mark her territory among peers and bullies. Dressed in a slinky harem ensemble complete with an ass-grazing human-hair wig and brand-new Jessica Rabbit breasts Cristina confronts her rival, Fanny (Lara Martorell). Fanny shrieks that “a boob job doesn’t change shit! You’re still a faggot,” so Cristina tackles her, strangles her, and tears one of Fanny’s nipples clean off between her teeth! Lightning streaks, rain gushes; a gang of Nazis arrives to terrorize the working girls; Cr