What movie helps you with being trans?

[Padma]

I've seen them all, but "She's a Boy I Knew" is the only inspiration.  Watching Gwen try to be ultra-femmy and obsessed and then finding the kind of woman that makes sense for her is something I think about a lot.  She seems so comfortable in her own skin, which is what I dream of.

Ditto - this was the film that made me realise I don't have to be heterofemme to be a transwoman, I can be any kind of woman I find myself wanting to be (and there are billions of kinds of woman to be).

Stand By Me was another film that gave me courage to come out to people, I saw it for the first time around the time I was deciding to tell my friends, earlier this year. Something about how those two boys show their hurt to each other was very liberating for me - it's something about love that is nothing to do with sex.

Oh, for the record, that song in Better Than Chocolate is actually called "I'm Not a ->-bleeped-<-ing Drag Queen!" (youtube version - contains strong language ):

I'm not a F**king Drag Queen

[Cindy]

Rambo:

Why would anyone want be a guy. ( )

Cindy

[Padma]

Rambo:

Why would anyone want be a guy. ( )

Cindy

...but...but... headbands!

[Ashley_C]

For me, it's "Splash!"

I've had a connection with it since I first saw it at age 5. When I hit puberty, I wanted to be her.

Now, even more of a connection.

[madirocks]

"Ma vie en rose" really helped me loosen up all the feelings I'd tried to hide from since I was a child. It's a really sweet movie.

I know this is an old thread, but I just watched this. I'll be honest, this movie just made me incredibly depressed. It was far too similar to my own childhood, but with a more abusive parent. I found it to be a very good movie, and perhaps a lighter movie for those wondering what some of us go through. But, watching the heartache the parents and the child went through was far too much for me, no matter how the movie ended.

[420NEKO]

^This.

I discovered Queer as Folk last summer...and then in December celebrated the 10th anniversery of the airing of the first episode. I have watched the show about six times now all the way through, more becuase I like disecting the characters the way we used to disect books in A.P. Lit. But QAF was an eye opener for me. It is definately a big part of what helped to having my little light bulb light up. I'm a gay boy too, despite how the rest of the world may see me, and I'm proud of it ^^

Queer as Folk is what actually triggered me to think about my gender identity again. I tried to repress my feelings and was starting to fall back into a depression, and when I rediscovered the show it really lifted my spirits.

I also discovered that Gale Harold is an amazing actor. <333

[mimpi]

The Rambo joke was great, btw!

Films that help, romantic films help me even if they make me cry. Films that show the beauty of humanity be that male or female like "In the mood for love". "XXY" helped as well as did "Wild Side" the french film starring a pre-op transwoman. Wild Side is about the importance of friendship across gender and sexuality and that's always a very positive message.

[anima.liber]

Was this mentioned before? Boys Don't Cry.

[Sunnynight]

For me, it's "Splash!"

I've had a connection with it since I first saw it at age 5. When I hit puberty, I wanted to be her.

Now, even more of a connection.

That is so weird. I had forgotten all about that movie, but now I remember when I saw it as a kid I wanted to be able to turn into a lady mermaid. It's always funny when I get to lift up another stone from my childhood and see unexpected symptoms of GID.

I don't really like most trans movies, they're all on the depressing side or I just can't relate to them that well. I did like the transgeneration documentary show, though. There were some things that Lucas said that really stuck with me.

[Kentrie]

Boys don't cry. It's extremely sad but just the character makes me feel better.

[NatashaD]

Rocky.

It shows triumph in the face of monumental adversity and everyone saying it's impossible, and he does so through hard work and sheer willpower.

I know a lot of people insist on breaking them up into separate films despite it being the path of a single character rising, falling, and setting things right in his life, so with that in mind I would say that the first and the last movies were the best with these messages.

[mimpi]

Wild Side (2004) by Sébastien Lif->-bleeped-<-z. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364120/

This film helped me. It's the story of a pre op trans prostitute, a french/algerian man and a russian immigrant. The film speaks of alienation and how at the end of the day it's friendship that's the bottom line. It's very slow, very graphic and sometimes a little shocking to some sensitive souls but I love the message it gives that those of us on the 'outside' of so called respectable society can find love and friendship among each other when all around us we face alienation.

Trailer: IMDb Video Player: Wild Side

[Jasper]

@Sandy: Better Than Chocolate is an excellent movie.

I also liked But I'm a Cheerleader.

Strangely, my girlfriend's favorite movie is She's the Man. And yesterday my gf helped me bind for the first time. I asked her why and she answered with that movie...it was weird...but I'll take it! Haha. So I guess that movie has helped me out with all of this a LOT.

Also, Imagine Me & You. I just love that movie and I find that it makes me happy when I'm in a tough spot.

I know there's another one, but I can't think of it right now.

[madirocks]

That is so weird. I had forgotten all about that movie, but now I remember when I saw it as a kid I wanted to be able to turn into a lady mermaid. It's always funny when I get to lift up another stone from my childhood and see unexpected symptoms of GID.

Lol, darnit I forgot about that one as well! We had it on VHS and I used to tell my parents I wanted to watch it because I liked Darryl Hannah. 

Has anyone mentioned "Switch" before? Not "The Switch," just "Switch." I convinced my brother to watch it with me when we were on holiday. I explained to him I thought it was interesting so he went along with it. I remembered the name of the movie and who played in it up until I could buy it on DVD... so about 15 years.

Strange enough this movie has helped me a lot with dysphoria. Although I usually wished it was real. 

[Padma]

I just watched the weird teen film Zerophilia (again). It's weird because it's about transgender issues, but it's a romantic comedy, and it's also kind of homophobic in its subtext (in a teen-fears, "girl-on-girl is hot but guy-on-guy is gross" kind of way), which is a real shame. Its premise is that some people in the world have an extra Z chromosome, and once it gets activated, they switch genders (anatomically speaking) when they have an orgasm. I found it unexpectedly moving, but at the same time (as I'm pretty bi) annoying. It's worth a watch as a coming to terms with yourself sort of story, even with the dodgy attitudes in some of it.

[eli77]

High Art, ->-bleeped-<-ing Amal, But I'm a Chearleader!, Aimee & Jaguar, Tipping the Velvet, Revoir Julie, etc....

Was obsessed with lesbian romance movies when I was a teen cause it was the first time I'd ever really connected to a story like that. Helped feel less depressed and lonely for an hour or two anyway, imagining I could love and be loved. They used to show up late, late at night on TV occasionally, and I'd stay up till 2 or 3 am hoping that there would be one...

She's a Boy I Knew helped with being okay with not being a particularly femme trans girl. And I got to meet Gwen. 🙂 Gave it to my parents to watch too.

[Padma]

She's a Boy I Knew helped with being okay with not being a particularly femme trans girl. And I got to meet Gwen. ...

I just had an envygasm . I wrote to Gwen to thank her after watching that film, but got no reply (yet...)

->-bleeped-<-ing Åmal is a great film - it made me laugh a lot (and roll my eyes) when I heard that it was released in the US as "Show Me Love" .

[eli77]

I just had an envygasm . I wrote to Gwen to thank her after watching that film, but got no reply (yet...)

She came to the youth group I was going to in Vancouver at the time (that's where she's from, Vancouver). I was still not on hormones, and terrified and shy, so I didn't say anything. But she was really nice, and hung around to answer questions about how things are now since where the film left off. She had dyed her hair black, and it was cut just to her jaw, and she was wearing jeans and a green jacket, and she was totally confident and butch and gorgeous and awesome.

She told a story about how right after she had her surgery she cut her hair back super short and dyed it platinum and was wearing her old punk black leather jacket. She showed her ID at a train station, which of course had a picture from right after she came out and switched over and was an all femmed-out version of her, and the security guy said "Good luck with everything, man!" She was walking away when she realized he thought she was a trans guy who was just starting out. 🙂