Change Your Image
bballk11-269-111138
Reviews
Normal (2003)
Great Movie
Most movies that I have seen that deal with transgender issues seem, to me, to exploit the issues and make fun of them. I like that this movie was more of a splice of life film that happened to be about a transgendered character. Roy is just a normal Midwestern farmer who works hard and loves his wife and daughter. He and his wife are beginning to get on in years, but they seem to have the perfect marriage; until we find them in a church marriage counseling room. (I did think that the couple going to counseling at their church was a good move for this movie as people in such small towns usually don't trust psychologists and want to follow the social standard of having an active church life). Roy then reveals that he has always felt like a woman, he loves his wife and family, but he has always felt wrong, or at least awkward in his own body.
Roy and his wife, Irma are begin fighting about the issue in secret, but they keep up all public appearances even within their family as if nothing has changed. Irma is angry and wants to keep herself and their daughter separated from Roy, but two events change that. First, after Roy's father, who knows nothing of what is going on, makes fun of him because he doesn't want to inherit the farm and he was caught dressing as a girl when he was very young; and Roy walks out, a while later, when it is time to go Irma goes looking for him and he is found by her with a gun in his mouth. She gets him to return home and live with her and their daughter again. At this point she knows she cannot have him out of her life.
The Second event, was when she is at church, singing in the choir that Roy was kicked out of, and she sees an usher saying something to Roy, who then gets up and leaves with his daughter. She knew if she walked out then, in front of everyone that she was choosing him over everything else, but she did. The small society of a town, everyone she knew, church, everything she put aside because she knew she loved him.
This movie also didn't really take advantage of the transgender issues for comic effect, it used some of the real situations that would come up as Roy went through his process to lighten the mood without making fun of SRS. For example the daughters amusement that their her and her father's breasts were the same size.
Beautiful Boxer (2003)
Bold and 'Beautiful Boxer'
I had not heard of this movie before I saw it, so I didn't really have any expectations, however I was very pleasantly surprised. Most movies that portray transgendered people or transvestites lean heavily on the use of stereotypes to portray characters. While the movie does little to show the difference between these types of people and doesn't really even It is also nice to see a movie which from a non-western culture take on these types of issues.
The film is about a Thai boy Parinya Charoenphol, also known as Nong Toom who, from a very young age knew that he was not truly a boy. The very gentle Toom had, for most of his life knew that his sex and his gender are very different, but had no real way of affording an operation to make himself feel like a complete person. When he first winds up in a Muay Thai match, Toom is very afraid of getting injured, however a lucky hit makes him win.
With the cash prize in hand and with a new found confidence gained by his ability to defend himself Toom decides to join a Muay Thai training camp. He has several initial troubles as he feels like the only women in a group surrounded by men. However he is able to get some help in secretly expressing his feminism from the wife of the camps coach. The coach Pi Chart eventually finds out Toom's secret after he has begun to win a few fights. To his surprise Toom is encouraged to keep wearing makeup, even during matches.
Toom had begun fighting to free his family from financial burdens and to earn enough money to get a sex change operation. He's transvistism gave him an advantage with the audience, they may have laughed at him at first, but once he won so many matches, many of which ended in knock outs, the crowds loved him and his antics. Some accused Toom of not being a real transgendered person, but it appears that she was accepted on mass, before and after her surgery.
This movie boldly speaks out on gender issues, and it is treated very differently than it would be in the West. Yes, there is some comedy in the actions and dressing of Toom when he cross dresses. However, his sexuality and gender isn't part of the comedy of the movie as it would probably be in an American movie. It is addressed more as a fact and in a more mature way.
Just Like a Woman (1992)
Amusing, But Not Enough
'Just Like A Woman' is a very amusing story with an attractive leading character, Gerald who is charming and interesting. He is a heterosexual male who feels happiest when he is wearing women's clothes. He is at first so ashamed of this, and so afraid of judgments that he hides this desire from everyone, and lives in fear of discovery.
In the beginning of the movie his wife and children come home unexpectedly early from a trip, and find women's clothing, make-up, and accessories. His wife accuses him of having an affair and files for divorce. Gerald could have tried to explain that he was a transvestite, however chooses not to so that he doesn't have to live with the fear of loosing his job or from any other social pressures that could be pressed upon him. Gerald then moves into a boarding house and meets Monica, an older woman who discovers his transvestism. Monica is very supportive of Gerald, and his feminine personality, Geraldine.
This movie is entertaining, but lacks in substance, that is to say that the character of Gerald/Geraldine is not fully developed. The sexuality of the character is identified as entirely male, however his gender identity is not entirely relieved in the movie. In the beginning we think that Gerald is a transvestite, meaning that he identifies his gender as a male, but likes to wear women's clothing for either fun, or to make himself feel more comfortable.
Gerald's character seems to be confused of his own gender as he begins to have a relationship with the supportive Monica. She is at first thrown off by his transvestitism, but it becomes part of their sex play, which moves from being transvestitism to being a fetish. It is not explained if it is part of a fetish for him in the movie, but as Monica talks to some of her girlfriends about it she admits to finding it very exciting. Therefor she may be helping him discover his nature and gender in a way to satisfy her new desires.
In the end of the film Gerald goes to a business meeting as a woman, stating that he and Monica were in business together. At first he is not entirely recognized, but is still shy and afraid of being found out, but by the end of the meeting he decides to give a shock to a man that had wronged him before. In this scene, it appears that Gerald is more willing to be seen publicly in as a woman. So it appears that he has become transgendered rather than being a transvestite. (Meaning that he is beginning to see himself as a woman in gender). This movie would be much more interesting if the film was willing to express the differences in sexuality, and gender identity.
Gazon maudit (1995)
Very French, with a Twist
Mainstream comedies that deal with Homosexuality and bisexuality normally do so in one or two ways; they make fun of the alternate lifestyles or they use two women who are both very beautiful and seemingly straight and merely have them make out to excite the male portion of the audience that the movie is generally geared towards. (I.e.: the kiss in Cruel Intentions that got enormous publicity for the movie). Basically it is used as a way for a B-movie to get some extra attention from the news media and therefore get more film goers. This French film, however has a different approach, it treats the kissing scenes as just some normal scene. There are two people kissing, not two women kissing. It also has the ability to draw you in with more of a story than a Hollywood movie of the same fashion would. This is primarily because the Hollywood movie would be shot in a more exploitive way than this film.
The plot is fairly predictable, however there are several twists that make this movie much more interesting then I would have originally thought. The idea behind this story is not very original, and neither are the characters portrayed, however the story and the few plot twists that occur make it intriguing enough to keep you in your seat. The aesthetic quality of the film is about average for a film of this age (it was made in the mid 1990's), and budget.
Although this is not a film that I would readily watch again, and wouldn't have normally picked up in the first place it may be worth a look if it is in the normal genre of films that you like.