The actor formerly known as Ellen Page

To a casual reader, this would be confusing. Who is Elliot Page? Is this a male actor who wants to be called he/him? Well, of course, men should have male pronouns and women have female pronouns. Why is this a discussion? Oh, you mean that 'he' was born a 'she' and is now a 'he' but the media is reporting it that 'he' is a 'he' who wants to be a 'he'?

There was a whiff of Moscow about how swiftly websites such as IMDB and Wikipedia fell over themselves to edit their webpages on Page. Page is now 'Elliot Page' and their preferred pronouns are 'he/him' and 'they/them'. There is the brackets saying 'as Ellen Page' after each of Page's past IMDB credits but even that could be erased.

If you were an older person who was not online and did not access celebrity news, in time, you might come to wonder just what happened to that promising young actress that had a breakout performance in 'Hard Candy' in 2005 and became a household name in 2007 with 'Juno'. That identity has been erased and what is displayed is a new identity that is unfamiliar to most of those who have followed Page's career.

'What does Elliot Page's gender identity have to do with you?' Asked a stranger to me in an online forum.

Nothing. I don't know Page and we will likely never meet. I believe people can self-identify however they want.

What I am interested in, is the implications of this change in identity which, in some ways, is uncharted waters.

True, Bruce Jenner became 'Caitlyn Jenner' and the Wachowski Brothers are now credited as 'the Wachowski Sisters'. But, for those figures, there wasn't hours of popularly-viewed celluloid of them in their biological gender.

For a 33-year-old, Page has amassed a decent body of work, appearing in 27 feature films since 2002 and playing a woman in all of them.

What about Page's nomination for Best Actress for 'Juno' in 2008?

If Page has always been a man, does that make him the first man to be nominated for a Best Actress Award?

So, what happens now? Does Page keep playing female roles while living as a man? Will Page still be eligible to be nominated for awards for Best Actress?

Or maybe Page will now take male roles.