Sunday, June 25, 2006
GENDER BENDER
Today, we watched
It is not on the Best Film list. A friend liked it a whole lot and so we rented it.
I have to say that I have some problems with the whole Trannie thing.
They are my problems, not the transgendered. It all just makes me squirmy. So, there it is.
It is a testament to the quality of Felicity Huffman's acting and the whole scenario's approach that this never bothered me in the film. High praise.
I cannot say the film eased my comfort with the whole thing but time will tell.
First and foremost, to its credit, It is not a message film.
Well, not a message about the transgendered.
It is about family.
A pre-op who is about to be opped finds out that she has a son.
They meet and spend a lot of time together; not all quality time.
The 'truth' does not emerge easily. That is the whole point of the story.
The cast is very good; unusually so for a 'small' independent film.
I liked it.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
What makes me squirmy?
It is not as though there is anything new about sex-change operations.
When I was a kid, Christine Jorgenson was singled out for mega-publicity. She was not the first person but she was the first to allow her name to be publicized and to actually 'come out' and promote herself and the procedures.
It was all quite sensational and yet Jorgenson was able to carry out her role as a spokesperson with grace and dignity.
Since that time, of course, the procedures have become quite routine and thousands of people have been able to get the body that their minds and spirits want to have.
I am not sure what the current spin is about, actually. There seems to be a move for a separate identity as a transgendered person rather than a person who fits into their gender and goes on quietly about it.
That is the part I don't get.
As I said, this film is not political and there is nothing in it about 'the movement' or any of that. Good thing.
