That Movie Book – Week Nineteen

This week’s theme was “Male? Female? Other? a weekend of gender-bending”  It seemed quite an appropriate theme for this week considering what has been happening in America with Obama and New Jersey, and also in Argentina. Gay and Trans rights have had some victories and some setbacks; it seemed a curious coincidence that the theme was to do with the issues facing this part of the community. Maybe Marc Fennell is psychic and knew this was going to happen. I guess we’ll never know. Anyway, on to the films.

 

First up I watched Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Hedwig is a German post-op transexual who tells her life story and how she came to be here at a series of punk rock shows to generally uninterested audience members.

Hedwig is a film I have seen people raving about and linking clips from and generally loving, and I felt that maybe if they all enjoyed it so much then I probably would too so it seemed a fairly safe choice for this week’s viewings. It was… not what I was expecting at all. Ben and I both thought it was going to be kinda light-hearted, so when it turned out to be a strange, confronting, confusing film we both didn’t really know what to make of it. The book said it took a little bit to get going, but even then it was not really my cup of tea. The story was a pretty tragic, but I feel like the outrageous way it was presented gave a sense of disconnect and I kinda spent most of the movie a little confused and wondering where it was going and when it would end.

It was an interesting film, but I couldn’t say that I enjoyed it. It’s interesting because I didn’t overtly dislike it, or dislike it enough to turn it off, I just didn’t like it that much. I liked the story in that it was a subject that should be addressed more in mainstream media, and the actors were interesting, it was just a bit too abrasive for me to say I liked it, but not abrasive enough to turn it off. It was like a puzzle; I felt like if I could work out the secret to the film then I would start enjoying it, but I couldn’t work it out. It made me think about what it is that makes me enjoy films, and why I watch them. Obviously I watch things for entertainment value, but since starting this challenge I have started watching more films that I wouldn’t normally watch and don’t necessarily like, but still feel like I should give them a chance. They may not be completely enjoyable but it feels like I have completed a step towards becoming more open minded in my viewing habits. But then I go and ruin that by watching terrible cheesy British TV shows. I guess it’s a slow process.

Perhaps part of the issue was that I couldn’t really relate to the characters. Hedwig was such an interesting, complex character with such a strange history, but because she was so different there wasn’t really anything at all I could try and have in common with her that I didn’t have any sentimental attachment to her and because of that, no attachment to the movie.

 

Next up was Transamerica. Bree is a pre-op transexual who is a week away from making her bits match the rest of her. Out of the blue she finds out that when she was in college, and still a man, she fathered a child who is now 17 and working on the streets. Her therapist convinces her to go meet him and that meeting results in the son thinking Bree is a missionary and they end up on a road trip back to LA together.

This probably would have been a better film to start the weekend with. It addressed a lot of the themes that Hedwig did, in terms of the challenges trans people face, but it is done in a lighter way that makes it easier to comprehend and digest. It’s a more mainstream film than Hedwig’s more avant-guarde style. Also, the actors were really good. Really good. They broached and dealt with a subject that could have been a big old downer, but handled it with a sense of humour that balanced nicely with the more serious parts to make it well rounded. I think I would say that I enjoyed this film, even though it was still pretty sobering as a topic. Felicity Huffman was nominated for and won a fair few awards for her role as Bree, and I feel like they were well deserved. Transgender people may disagree with me though, I don’t know how much my opinion on a woman’s portrayal of a trans woman is worth when it comes down to it.

It did make me think a lot about how messed up the situation is. It’s really rubbish that even if Bree had a loving, accepting family who supported her throughout her transition, the rest of society would make it hard for her in a number of ways. She obviously doesn’t, so that is another hurdle she would have to leap. I was able to relate to parts of the film more than I did with Hedwig, which might also explain why I enjoyed it more, but it was still mostly something I couldn’t relate to as a straight person who is comfortable with the gender I was born with. I think that’s a sign of a well made film that even though I am very different to the main characters I still felt an emotional attachment to them in a way. So I guess that means I think Transamerica is a better film than Hedwig. Yeah, that sounds like something I am comfortable in saying. They both were good films in that they tackled a difficult subject, but for me I feel that Transamerica did it in a way that was was gentler in introducing the issues to the viewers and because of this may encourage more people too look into these things.

Basically this weekend made me really sad that I have it so much easier than these people. It might be partly because I used to work with people who were very heteronormative, but after watching these two movies I feel guilty that I haven’t been as supportive when it comes to that part of the community. I guess I just wish it was a bit easier for them. Being transgender must be hard enough as it is without being judged by strangers as you walk down the street.

The other suggestions this week were Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The Crying Game and Boys Don’t Cry. I felt like the two I chose were a good choice, to be honest. I have seen Priscilla plenty of times so I figured that could be given a miss, but with the other two I felt like I had made myself feel guilty enough as it is with just two movies, any more and I’d get really depressed with the world. Next week, to celebrate Mothers Day happening in parts of the world, is about awful mothers. See if you can work out what the five films might be from that. Hopefully next week won’t result in my rambling for 1200 words with no real purpose.