Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Wow. Just wow.

What an amazing movie. With just a few alteration, I could imagine someone had fictionalized my own story.

I'm sure most of you have seen this film so I don't want to drop into the formalities of a movie review here but rather, just some rather scattershot disjointed reactions....

Wilkerson - A really cool move for them to hire an actor that the audience would immediately react with "there's no way that guy could ever look feminine" rather than take the easy route and cast a less burly actor. I have to admit there were just a couple of moments when I thought he hit a wrong note but overall, the performance really resonated with my own experience.

Lange - The right mix, for the plot of the film, of rejection and ultimately acceptance. And deftly handled the tension that remained even when she decided to accept Ruth. I don't think the role as written could have been played better.

Few others in the cast made much difference to me, they were mostly props, with two exceptions:

The son - I thought this actor, too, REALLY played his part well and while I understand that for the purpose of storeytelling they had to cram what is surely, in real life, a months or years long process into a single dramatic night - laying that aside, I thought the guy nailed the mixture of rejection (of the sort you wold extend to a stranger if you disapproved) with love and loyalty that comes with being in the same family into what ended up being massive confusion.
I would assume that sort of emotion isn't easy to convey for an actor.

The pastor - On the one hand, the part had a lot of cliche to it but on the other hand, those cliches are almost certainly what your average small town pastor, thrown into this situation, would fallback on. Having spent most of my life in a "church family" - this part to, both as written and as acted, rang very very true to me.

It's hard for me to imagine this sort of story being told any better than this film told it.



Now, here's the downside.

I tried to get my wife to watch it with me because her reaction is very much like Irma's and her relationship to me, what she values in me and so forth, is very much like the relationship in the film. i had hoped that she would be able to at least be introduced to the concept of how such a couple stays together through this sort of thing.

But she couldn't make it through it without more than one derisive comment. We only got maybe 30 r 40 minutes in before I shut it off in despair because it was provoking mostly hostility.

Maybe another day...

never heard of it. a trans related movie I gather.

Could you provide a link? I wasn't able to find it at IMDB... Looks interesting though.

Quote from: Jasmine.m on April 30, 2010, 08:29:37 AM
Could you provide a link? I wasn't able to find it at IMDB... Looks interesting though.

here's the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdWur61dvqI# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdWur61dvqI#)

I loved this movie!

Quote from: Jasmine.m on April 30, 2010, 08:29:37 AM
Could you provide a link? I wasn't able to find it at IMDB... Looks interesting though.

I missed it too. Was it a recent release?

It was a good movie.

I was having a hard time with my wife understanding what I was going through, what I had been trying to tell her, and so got her to watch this movie with me. She really liked the movie (she just did not like what it implied about me!)

IMDb at:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338290/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338290/)

Thanks, Tek. I didn't realize it was for TV. Is it an on-going series or a made for TV movie?

Edit:

Never mind... "an HBO feature film" :)

RTFA, it often helps.

It was released in 2003.  Here's the IMDB entry for it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338290/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338290/)

I came in the middle of it and the guy was about to blow his brains out with a shotgun.  I stopped watching then and never returned to see it again.  It was too much like how I felt right about then.

It got mediocre reviews as I recall.

-Sandy

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Post Merge: April 30, 2010, 10:49:26 AM

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Damn, Kat, you are quick!

It's pretty much generally available as R1 or R2 DVD from the usual online sources..

I just saw it too....Worth watching, if a little painful at times....and more down to earth than a lot of other titles around.

..and Laura, don't even start to compare yourself to "Ruth", you are way better looking.. :icon_flower:

:icon_hug:

Chrissty

Awww...shucks!

*blush*

UGH!  I hate films about ->-bleeped-<-s.  and especially with lead ones with zero femaleness..played for laughs from the neanderthals .

It would be nice to see a film using a genuine MtF but there'd be no box office draw.

Quote from: lilacwoman on May 02, 2010, 04:53:03 AM
UGH!  I hate films about ->-bleeped-<-s.  and especially with lead ones with zero femaleness..played for laughs from the neanderthals .

It would be nice to see a film using a genuine MtF but there'd be no box office draw.

this was absolutely NOT played for ANY laughs.

Quote from: lilacwoman on May 02, 2010, 04:53:03 AM
UGH!  I hate films about ->-bleeped-<-s.  and especially with lead ones with zero femaleness..played for laughs from the neanderthals .

It would be nice to see a film using a genuine MtF but there'd be no box office draw.

I think the first Ace Ventura film had a MtF antagonist :) Tho it was an impossible kind (huge guy to tiny woman :P)

Also, I too think its STUPID how the media portrays everyone in the LGBT communities, gays are inserted into tv shows and movies for comical effect ie, "haha, lets laugh at the gay guy, hes so funny, look at him be so camp, haha" thats so unfair!

In the UK we have these TV shows called "soap operas" and theyre basically like.. Friends and The Office.. But soap operas are more casual and have several different storylines following all different sorts of people in the community. Anyway, in these shows, they ALL have at least a dozen hetero love plots going on at the same time and theres always a boy eating the face off a girl every five minutes - not that I got a problem with heterosexuality, this is just to put into contrast how they include LGBT people in their shows! When it comes to gay people, theres only ever ONE gay guy in these shows and theyre normally the "clown" added to the show for comical effect.. They NEVER find true love and you DON'T see gay men kissing; and if a love plot just so happens to develop, they are promply written off the show! I don't think theres ever been a transexual.. Tho I think that's a good thing..

Quote from: Little Dragon on May 02, 2010, 05:17:43 AM
In the UK we have these TV shows called "soap operas" and theyre basically like.. Friends and The Office.. But soap operas are more casual and have several different storylines following all different sorts of people in the community. Anyway, in these shows, they ALL have at least a dozen hetero love plots going on at the same time and theres always a boy eating the face off a girl every five minutes - not that I got a problem with heterosexuality, this is just to put into contrast how they include LGBT people in their shows! When it comes to gay people, theres only ever ONE gay guy in these shows and theyre normally the "clown" added to the show for comical effect.. They NEVER find true love and you DON'T see gay men kissing; and if a love plot just so happens to develop, they are promply written off the show! I don't think theres ever been a transexual.. Tho I think that's a good thing..

..except (although I don't watch it) one of or "top 2" soaps in the UK has had a genuine and sensitively portrayed transsexual character for the last five years or so.....Coronation Street.

..but otherwise I agree about most of the rest of the shows just looking for cheap laughs at the expense of defenceless minorities..

Chrissty

This movie looked good enough that I ordered it... Keep in mind that I *rarely* watch any movies!! I guess this one hits close to home (figuratively and literally!) Should be here in a few days. :) I'll post my thoughts.

Quote from: Chrissty on May 02, 2010, 06:44:08 AM
..except (although I don't watch it) one of or "top 2" soaps in the UK has had a genuine and sensitively portrayed transsexual character for the last five years or so.....Coronation Street.

..but otherwise I agree about most of the rest of the shows just looking for cheap laughs at the expense of defenceless minorities..

Oh yea, I forgot about her! Though.. She really isnt being ortrayed as a transexual - the character is played by an actress, and the soap never talks about her transexualism at all, just the odd hint or mention at the fact she used to be a man XD

I was talking about a story plot of a man/woman wanting to be a girl/boy

I found Normal to be a pretty powerful movie... one of the few that seems to take the transsexual experience seriously.

I found myself cringing throughout, sometimes out of sympathy, sometimes chagrin. The main character's struggle to fit in as a woman despite not possessing any readily identifiable feminine attributes was very true to life. The mixture of learned male pride and stubbornness conflicting with an undercurrent of wanting to let go of all that was pretty accurate.

It wasn't perfect but it's one of the better dramatizations out there.

I saw this movie a long time ago, just happened to catch in on TV and glad I came across it. I recorded it but I don't think I have the recording anymore, gonna have to buy it. Yeah they weren't making fun of Ruth at all in this movie, it was pretty true to life.

Quote from: Little Dragon on May 03, 2010, 05:37:05 PM
Oh yea, I forgot about her! Though.. She really isn't being portrayed as a transsexual - the character is played by an actress, and the soap never talks about her transsexualism at all, just the odd hint or mention at the fact she used to be a man XD

... actually there have been some pretty powerful scenes at times, but I think it is very positive that she is seen most of the time as a woman with maybe an unfortunate past, rather than transsexual. It's good for such a popular show to have the subject not-sensationalised. ;)

Quote from: Little Dragon on May 03, 2010, 05:37:05 PM
I was talking about a story plot of a man/woman wanting to be a girl/boy

...and I did agree with the rest of what you said   :icon_flower:

Chrissty

Ooh - this movie made me cringe and hide behind my pillow several times.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that it was better or worse than I thought it was going to be.  It is just that it touched me in ways I was definately not expecting.

Perhaps it was combining her transition with so many elements I moved away from while growing up (the farm, small towns, old 'traditional' families, 'the church', etc.).
Then again, I'm decades younger.
Maybe it was just PMS on movie night.

At any rate, I can only agree that there were a couple of powerful scenes.

It was hard to watch because I found it so true to life. The ending made me feel very fuzzy, but dear lord was it an emotional experience watching this film.