I've been watching a lot of transgender documentaries and a few movies lately, mostly transsexual based though. People repeat scenes, a lot.
A lady putting on make-up.
A man body building.
Little girls (or rarely boys) playing with their toys and showing them off.
Girls showing off pictures they've drawn before they transitioned, showing them as their gender.
...
I don't even know that many FtM that body build. I've wanted some dumbbells and I wanna gain a bit of muscle but that's it.
Why do they feel the need to show these stuff every documentary I don't get. Kids like toys, and kids draw, but it just gets so obvious they're connecting it to stuff.
...and let's not even get into the ridiculous number of "transsexual serial killer" films, fer christ's sake.
People don't want originality, they want what they have seen and liked before over and over.
Quote from: tekla on February 28, 2011, 07:29:15 AM
People don't want originality, they want what they have seen and liked before over and over.
Yeah. That's why Hollywood has been remaking everything under the sun for the last decade. I mean, a Speed Racer movie? Was that a joke? Transformers (which was actually entertaining) followed by an extremely bad sequel which the scriptwriters should have been so ashamed of that it should have never made it into production to begin with?
This lack of originality cannot be serious. But apparently it is, as the film industry keeps pumping out the same movie with the same formula with a different title and characters.
You can't blame films for that, TV is guilty, as are books, and no where is it truer than the music biz (what's left of it). Religions too follow that path, same old crap in a new wrapper.
I know that for the people I've worked with who have done the Van's Warped Tour (kiddie band crap) the funniest (saddest) part is that we change out one band for the next and the equipment is a carbon copy of the last one and the next one. Ampeg bass amp, check. Marshall for the lead, check. Orange Amp for the rhythm, check. Skinny girl jeans, obvious eye shadow and crappy hair cut for the lead singer, check. Same chords, check, check and check.
I think it might be in our best interest to focus on an individuals uniqueness. Especially in Documentaries. It seems to me that It would point out that we as trans people are more than a vague notion. It is easy to NOT like an idea, its harder to not like person. We are people who may share a common path but we don't all wear the same shoes. But no one ever said that movie makers and Trans people share a common interest.
No one speaks the truth like Tekla.
The only reason they do things like that in documentaries is because its the easiest to understand. Transgender/transsexual people as groups are hard enough to understand for unknowledgable people, let alone the complexity of unique individuals. It'd blow people's minds to see an FTM who desires to appear male, but that has adopted feminine tendencies as a part of that desire. Black and white appeals to almost everyone, not everyone can understand the shades of grey.
One of my golden rules has always been: Never ascribe to malice that which can be easily explained by stupidity.
In other words - go for the easy explanation first. (Also known as Occam's razor)
(Don't worry, I'll duck after I finish writing this)
So many people in here frequently ask if they always have to explain their 'trans' status, or wonder why everyone is so damn interested in it. And they reach for an explication like 'perverts' or 'people prying' when the real answer might be much simpler: really, it's not just the most interesting thing about you, it's pretty much the only interesting thing about you.
That (and I'm assuming that this comes from the Lisa Ling bit on OWN) ex-boy learns how to put on makeup, and ex-girl is boxing at the gym stereotype aside from being a good visual (and since it's TV visuals are pretty much everything) is that other than that, there is not much of any interest at all in any of it. Yeah, you might be able to get someone like Kate Bornstein to sit down and do in-depth explanations and cultural analysis of the the inner nature of transgenderness and the impact of these changes on society - but you know that has all the sheer excitement of any other episode of Charlie Rose interviewing anyone else. It's like Amy Goodwin interviewing Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now! - television that makes for damn good radio and even better reading, but has even less excitement than watching paint dry or grass grow when you put it on the tube.
The true inner nature of all of this, combined with often having subject that are, shall we charitably put it, less than articulate, (How many ways and for how long can you say "I've always felt like this"?) pretty much forces the producers hand into having to put on something - anything - that has some action to it.
Oh look it takes pills is not entertainment, and the very nature of GRS makes it not a subject that TV can cover, so exactly what are you left with? Boring people living rather mundane lives (which I know is really the goal for a lot of people here) that really have no compelling interest about them at all. So the producers and directors are stuck with what amount to stock footage of the cliché scenes.
To be honest, when you boil narratives down to their most basic, there's only about 7 distinct narrative themes. Besides, if postmodernism holds any weight, there are no more original ideas now...just endless rehashs.
I see the documentaries about trans kids following the same script, two MtFs, 2 FtMs - usually one MtF that makes the viewer think "OMG she's a he?" and one that's built like a tank. The FtMs are usually older and the only one's I've seen in any stage of HRT (including blockers). Why is it that no documentaries show older kid MtFs? Despite a number of documentaries that show MtFs in the 6 - 9 y/o range, no one seems to have documented an MtF teen on HRT, etc. It almost makes me worry that these kids are on a path to self destruction, otherwise where are they when the producers come calling?
As for the adults, why are FtMs always interviewed at the gym? And when they show pictures of MtF's pre-transition "dressed" why are they always hyperfeminine? It just makes me feel like we're all branded a bunch of crossdressers.
/rant
Why is it that no documentaries show older kid MtFs?
Parental consent. And I would never give mine to any camera crew.
Quote from: tekla on February 28, 2011, 10:10:05 AM
Why is it that no documentaries show older kid MtFs?
Parental consent. And I would never give mine to any camera crew.
I would agree with that, but there are probably 1/2 dozen relatively out pre-teens. I have yet to see an article or documentary about an MtF older then say about 9/10. So what is it about that age that parents suddenly clam up? And if that's the case, why are older FtMs (>10 y/o) profiled? I would think the logic would be the same.
So many people in here frequently ask if they always have to explain their 'trans' status, or wonder why everyone is so damn interested in it. And they reach for an explication like 'perverts' or 'people prying' when the real answer might be much simpler: really, it's not just the most interesting thing about you, it's pretty much the only interesting thing about you. (tekla)
That's gold !
If I had a trans child the LAST thing I would want to do is make them a 'trans celebrity' in any way, shape or form. What an amazing handicap for anyone who wants a 'normal' life to have to carry.
Quote from: tekla on February 28, 2011, 10:33:47 AM
If I had a trans child the LAST thing I would want to do is make them a 'trans celebrity' in any way, shape or form. What an amazing handicap for anyone who wants a 'normal' life to have to carry.
Its no different then the moms that parade their daughters around the pageant circut. Anything to put the attention on them. I would say the majority of these parents are well intentioned, but I'm just as sure they're offered money for their appearances and money changes people. I know of one child that seems to be making the talk show circuit, and I really question the motives of the mother, including some on camera "day in the life" conversations she's having with her child, including some in depth discussions about GRS with an 8 y/o? There is other family history that makes me wonder if this is just a confused child doing what they see pleases their mother. If that's true, I fear for their future.
If you are a Kim Petras and your life depends on coverage that might be one thing (though I'm still inclined not to agree, but I hate all child 'stars' for the most part), but for anyone else it's the kiss of death because you will always be 'that person in that documentary'. That stuff never goes away. Kind of like how we were talking at work the other day about being so fortunate to grow up in a time where everyone didn't have a camera and was not constantly taking pictures.
Its no different then the moms that parade their daughters around the pageant circut.
I watch Toddlers & Tiaras and think 'child abuse.'
As I understand Kim Petras, she gained fame, prior to her singing career, becuase her parents were battling the German legal system and the newsmedia picked up on it. They didn't go looking for it, it found them.
In every case that I'm aware of, the parents are willing to admit rather then fight the legal system they are side stepping it in allowing their children to live their lives as they choose. More then one parent has expressed fear that they will have some explaining to do to child services (who still forbids that sort of thing) or the extraordinary measures they've taken in schooling their children.
The media is in their life becuase they invite them in.
Quote from: tekla on February 28, 2011, 10:48:21 AM
I watch Toddlers & Tiaras and think 'child abuse.'
Did you ever watch
Little Miss Sunshine? Children's pageants is one of the themes. The movie is a satire about a bunch of people who are completely unsuccessful and unremarkable.
I've never been close to that world at all, don't know anyone who has ever gone close to those things, but I have worked on 'adult' (late teenage) pageants, but those girls are old enough to decide that such things are worth what it takes.
However, watching shows like that convince me that it's pretty much the same as what I do have a lot of experience working with, which is kids in theater. Really I'd rather be shot than ever have to work The King and I, The Sound of Music or Oliver ever again. The kids are uptight and the parents are pretty much the worst people I've ever met on this planet.
Quote from: tekla on February 28, 2011, 10:48:21 AM
I watch Toddlers & Tiaras and think 'child abuse.'
Oh gods, this.
Well not to put too fine a point on it (never a fault in my writing) I see little difference between that and parents that would allow their kid to be in any kind of trans documentary. The point is not about 'let's help this kid' the real point is 'God, I'm such a wonderful, caring, contemporary and liberal parent. Look at me, look at ME, LOOK AT ME!" That's pretty much what I see from watching pageant parents (it's all about them, most of the 'mothers' are either fat and butt ugly, or more plastic than Barbie) and they are living through the kid, the kid is the spotlight that will shine on them and they will be wonderful at last. I know that's damn true about stage parents.
The worst part about the stock shots in TG stuff is that it (I'll duck again here) reinforces the absolute worst and most regressive notions of 'boys do this/girls do that' that is available from the most retro and repressed sources imaginable. "Oh see, he must be a little girl, s/he wants a pink room.' Hell, it's a color choice not a fricking lifestyle.*
It's all meant in a rather lame (everyone is seeing through it) to reinforce the binary and ignore the very real social revolution that the entire trans deal is just a part of.
* - I once painted my office in a awesome shade of lavender. I got remarks ranging from 'gay pride' to 'Prince tribute?' Reality is that we had two cans of lavender left over from a production, a color not used in the rest of the theater (so we would never have a need for it) and my budget was zero, so it was lavender or black.
Agreed - we live in such an either/or culture, there's so little room i people's comfort zones for anyone who wants to be mid-spectrum or all-spectrum.
Every-time I watch a show, documentary or movie where someone talks about how a person who is MtF played with dolls when they were little.
Are like the sole deciding factor of gender? I loved dolls when I was little. I also played with action figures. What now!? :P
Quote from: tekla on February 28, 2011, 08:57:52 PM
The worst part about the stock shots in TG stuff is that it (I'll duck again here) reinforces the absolute worst and most regressive notions of 'boys do this/girls do that' that is available from the most retro and repressed sources imaginable. "Oh see, he must be a little girl, s/he wants a pink room.' Hell, it's a color choice not a fricking lifestyle
One documentary questioned the fact that the young Mtf (8 y/o) still liked to play with "boy toys". It still goes back to my pretty pretty princess vs. built ford tough analogy. They seem to single out the two extremes and disregard the 80% of us that are middle of the road. Anyone else get the feeling 20% of the population gets 80% of the media focus?
Maybe if people understand that transgender rights/acceptance will make it easier for boys to like being boys AND like easy bake ovens and girls to like being girls AND like toy guns.
Quote from: Phate on March 01, 2011, 06:30:19 AM
Every-time I watch a show, documentary or movie where someone talks about how a person who is MtF played with dolls when they were little.
Are like the sole deciding factor of gender? I loved dolls when I was little. I also played with action figures. What now!? :P
I watched a documentary recently, suprisingly no kids this time, in which an MtF said MtFs that pursue hypermasculine careers unnecessarily put themselves through a living hell, I about fell off the couch. Why is there this overwhelming need for our self-appointed spokespeople to reject anything either hyper masculine or feminine? I'm tired of, in this case, MtFs, that insist on repeating the mantra they "were just fooling themselves" in pursuing their career in public safety or the military, what about the rest of us that are quite happy in those pursuits, are we some how less of an MtF then they are? Grr...
Quote from: Phate on March 01, 2011, 06:30:19 AM
Every-time I watch a show, documentary or movie where someone talks about how a person who is MtF played with dolls when they were little.
I didn't like dolls (except for action figures)
I did have dozens of stuffed animals, though. Otherwise, all of my interests were masculine. Video games, construction toys (like Legos and similar items), guns, cars (I loved toy cars). My favorite toy was the Tonka truck. I would push it around the yard. Unfortunately, I eventually destroyed the truck by repeatedly dropping it from the top of the playhouse. Once dysphoria set in, I got really aggressive. Crashing the toy vehicles and buildings was one of the ways I took out my rage.
But I bet you won't see any of that in an MtF documentary.
Quote from: VeryGnawty on March 01, 2011, 07:05:42 AM
I didn't like dolls (except for action figures)
I did have dozens of stuffed animals, though. Otherwise, all of my interests were masculine. Video games, construction toys (like Legos and similar items), guns, cars (I loved toy cars). My favorite toy was the Tonka truck. I would push it around the yard. Unfortunately, I eventually destroyed the truck by repeatedly dropping it from the top of the playhouse. Once dysphoria set in, I got really aggressive. Crashing the toy vehicles and buildings was one of the ways I took out my rage.
But I bet you won't see any of that in an MtF documentary.
My childhood fell on both sides of the gender fence. I played with action figures, all kinds of "army" like games AND my cousin (female) and I painted our nails, our moms nails, played with her easy bake oven, the snoopy icee machine, you name it.
Knowing how expensive transition is, would I say what the cameras wanted to hear for the right price? I probably would... :(
Anyone else get the feeling 20% of the population gets 80% of the media focus?
More like 2% getting 95%. Ice Road Truckers and Dangerous Fishermen when most guys work in offices.
Quote from: tekla on March 01, 2011, 11:50:37 AM
Anyone else get the feeling 20% of the population gets 80% of the media focus?
More like 2% getting 95%. Ice Road Truckers and Dangerous Fishermen when most guys work in offices.
Your stats are probably closer to the truth, I was thinking more about the freak show that is the human existance. The very extremes of the gender spectrum, not the middle of the road that is most of us. What's exciting about an average person experiencing an average transition with little to no social hardships when they can interview a six year old who's mother is battling with the school district to allow her child to "live authentically" (becuase they're struggling with allowing the child to use the bathroom appropriate to the gender they are presenting, but are happy to accomodate the child with a single toilet) or the Ice Road Trucker who is one week from GRS and still looks and acts very much like a man, but professes their absolute delight at being just seven days from "achieving womanhood".