This list is divided into 1) Portrayals of Transsexuals
(both male to female, and female to male), 2) Portrayals of Cross-dressing, 3) Portrayals
of Drag Queens, 4) Portrayals of Other Nontraditional Gender Identity, and 5) Portrayals
of Gender Identity As a Symptom of Mental Illness. The purpose of this list is
to a) recommend intelligent, respectful films about gender variance; b) warn
about derogatory, inappropriate representations of gender variance; and 3)
comment on interesting statements of gender variance, whether they be realistic
portrayals or insightful metaphors.
CAVEAT/DISCLAIMER: Sometimes the gender distinctions
are clearly portrayed, but more often these classification are confused (either
deliberately or not). Also some movies make statements about more than one of
the above categories. Everyone has a personal experience with gender variance that
may be portrayed in these films. So I
will attempt some form of objectivity in my own subjective way. To repeat, I
will only comment on the portrayal of gender variance if I find it particularly
negative or positive or otherwise worthy of discussion. I'm not the most
sensitive woman regarding gender variance. But I consider myself far from
insensitive. I am evolving. So my major mission is going to be taking inventory
of expressions of gender variance in film, TV and/or video. I hope to expose as
much blatant insensitivity as I can. Terminology is evolving faster than I can
learn the new definitions. I offer ahead of time another of what I'm sure will
be one of many apologies.
Certain filmmakers frequently use either drag or
transsexuals in their films (i.e., Tyler Perry, Andy Warhol and John Waters, to
name three). These films will be listed under the filmmaker's name. Stand-up
comedy videos will be listed under the comedian's name (i.e., Eddie Izzard). There
is a long-standing tradition in the theater and/or sketch comedy of using
gender variance in a repeating character (i.e., Dame Edna, Milton Berle, Red
Skelton, Jonathon Winters et al.), or as a function of an acting troupe (i.e.,
Shakespeare, Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, et al.). My intention is to list
these separately. I have reserved space on the list for future inclusion of
Anime productions.
In the future, I will collect the titles of films featured
at trans film festivals, such Translations in Seattle.
Some of the entries are box office successes. Some are
independent and/or foreign films with limited U.S. exposure. Also note that in some
films, gender is the main subject; while in others, nontraditional gender
portrayal is cameoed in very brief scenes. There are often insulting sight gags
that pass in seconds (or "cameos"). I hope to catch them all. I know
I won't.
I apologize for any typos, misquotes and factual errors. I
am building this list on my own. I have seen the vast majority of films/videos
on this list, but not all. I try to attribute any unoriginal research. I try
hard not to make mistakes, but . . . .
Lastly, I apologize to all my gay and lesbian friends out
their who are not revisionist, fallacious documentarians.
TS=transsexual; MtF=male to female; FtM=female to male;
Pre-op=preoperative transsexual, signifying the character has not undergone
gender reassignment surgery; Post-Op= postoperative transsexual, signifying the
character has undergone sex reassignment surgery; DQ=drag queen; gaab= gender
assigned at birth; cis= someone who identifies with their gab
PORTRAYALS OF TRANSSEXUALS
Film, TV show, video
|
Year
|
Director
|
Fic. or Doc.
|
Description of Portrayal
|
ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE
|
1994
|
Tom Shadyac
|
Fic.
|
WARNING. Villain is Pre-op MtF TS who is outed by
Ace Ventura in a very humiliating way for laughs
|
ADULT VERSION OF JEKYLL AND HYDE,
THE
|
1971
|
Ray L. Monde
|
Fic.
|
WARNING. This is violent soft core porn in which Jekyll is male and
Hyde is a sadistic female
|
1994
|
Stephan Elliott
|
Fic.
|
One of my favs; involves both DQ and TS portrayal in
a reasonably authentic way
|
|
ADVENTURES OF SEBASTIAN COLE, THE
|
1998
|
Tod Williams
|
Fic.
|
It's been awhile since I've seen it. It seems fair. The story of an
adolescent boy dealing with an MtF TS mother. However, I didn't find the
mother's character sympathetic
|
1999
|
John Scagliotti
|
Doc.
|
It's not about Stonewall. It's about
"gay/lesbian" (and NOT trans) reaction to Stonewall. Directed by
the Executive Producer of Before Stonewall. Beginning caveat reads
"Unless otherwise stated, the people who appear in this film should not
be presumed to be homosexual ... [next screen] ... or heterosexual ... or
bisexual ... or transgendered." By transgendered, they only mean gay men
in drag. Gay culture has been depriving transsexuals of recognition for their
pivotal role in the Stonewall demonstrations. Ironically, the interviewed lesbians
complain about sexist attitudes of gay men. The lesbians interviewed share
cherished memories about the Michigan Women's Music Festival, which is an
unapologetic celebration of bigotry towards MtF TS's. Here is a movie quote
about the Women's Music Festival: "The idea that we could be sensitive
[to all women], that's an accomplishment." LIAR! LIAR! Black jeans and
white wife-beaters on fire!
|
|
ALEXIS ARQUETTE:SHE'S MY BROTHER
|
2007
|
James
|
Doc.
|
Haven't seen it. Documentary about Alexis Arquette's SRS. Alexis is a
member of the Arquette acting family.
|
ALIENS
|
1986
|
|||
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
|
1999
|
Pedro Almodóvar
|
Fic.
|
I like Almodóvar. However, although he often creates MtF TS characters, they
are invariably sex workers.
|
ALL MY CHILDREN
|
2006-07
|
TV - Fic.
|
Introduces first trans character on a soap opera
named Zoe (f/k/a Zarf/Freddie). Never seen it, but from what I gather, they
sent her to transition in London in 2007, and no one has heard from her
since.
|
|
ALLY MCBEAL: Boy to the World --
Season 1, Ep.10
|
1997
|
Creator: David E. Kelley
|
TV - Fic.
|
Ally defends an MtF sex worker who eventually gets murdered on the
job. Have not seen it.
|
ALLY MCBEAL - Season 4
|
2000-01
|
Creator: David E. Kelley
|
TV - Fic.
|
A Pre-op MtF TS is a recurring character for five
episodes in season 4 (2000-01). Cindy McCauliff played by Lisa Edelstein has
a relationship with one of the main male characters. I've never seen it.
Apparently, there's a lot of trans-bashing jokes. The episodes she appears in
are:
Season 4:
Ep. 2 - Girls' Night Out
Ep. 3 - Two's a Crowd
Ep. 4 - Without a Net
Ep. 7 - Love on Holiday
Ep.12 - Hats Off to Larry
|
BABY MAMA
|
2008
|
Michael McCullers
|
Fic.
|
WARNING; Tina Fey/Amy Poehler vehicle in which Tina Fey's character reads
a book titled: 101 Things That Can Go Wrong With Your Pregnancy! and asks
"What if the baby's a hermaphrodite? . . . A chick with a dick?"
I can't count how many things are evil about that scene. Shame on
them! I guess Tina Fey will say anything for money. Isn't there a word for
that?
|
BAD EDUCATION (see MALA EDUCACION)
|
2004
|
Pedro Almodóvar
|
Fic.
|
A dark film noir piece about childhood abuse,
blackmail and murder. Once again, a main Almodóvar character is an FtM TS sex
worker. This time she's addicted to heroin and is bitter and angry.
|
BADGE, THE
|
2002
|
Robby Henson
|
Fic.
|
Small town sheriff investigates the murder of a local MtF TS. Deals
with the evolution from bigotry to the beginnings of understanding. Mind you,
only the beginnings.
|
BALLAD OF LITTLE JO, THE
|
1993
|
Maggie Greenwald
|
Fic.
|
Another of my favs. Based on a true story. It's about a cis gender frontier woman who will
lose her homestead unless she passes successfully as male.
|
BAMBI
|
1942
|
James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts,
Paul Satterfield and Norman Wright
|
Fic.
|
Not really trans, but there is one scene that means a lot to me. When
Thumper is teaching Bambi the names of things, a skunk pops his nose out of a
field of flowers. Bambi says "Flower." Thumper starts to correct
him, but the skunk interrupts, "That's alright. You can call me "Flower"
if you want to. I don't mind." Bambi repeats, "Flower. Pretty
flower," to which Flower now blushes and smiles and says,
"Gosh."
|
BEAUTIFUL BOXER
|
2004
|
Ekachai Uekrongtham
|
Bio
|
Bio pic about Parinya Charoenphol, former Thailand national
champion kick boxer. Underwent full MtF transition. Sweetly cheerful. The end
scene in which the ghost of his male presentation fades into obblivion is
beautiful, but a little much.
|
BEFORE STONEWALL
|
1984
|
Robert Rosenberg, Greta Schiller
|
Doc.
|
Not about Stonewall demonstrations. It's about U.S. "gay/lesbian"
(not trans) history before Stonewall.This precedes After Stonewall (entered
above). It is missing the reference to bi and trans in the introductory
caveat.
|
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
|
1999
|
Spike Jonze
|
Fic.
|
There is a secret passage in a building that leads
to the mind of the actor John Malkovich. When John Malkovich enters his own
mind he is confronted by dozens of bodies with his face -- including some
female bodies. It's a interesting statement about the male and female in all
of our psyches.
|
BELLY OF THE BEAST
|
2003
|
Siu-Tung Ching
|
Fic.
|
In this straight-to-video Steven Seagal vehicle, one of the martial
arts villains is an MtF TS. Yeah, that's right, she kicks butt!
|
BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE
|
1999
|
Anne Wheeler
|
Fic.
|
I love this movie. A major character is an MtF TS
who is a lesbian feminist. Two
important scenes: 1) a drunk lesbian beats her up in the bathroom for being a
TS; and 2) she sings a song, "I'm Not a Fucking Drag Queen."
Also, there's a hot lesbian sex scene!
|
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
|
1970
|
Russ Meyer
|
Fic.
|
For those who don't know Russ Meyer, he is a cotroversial cult icon known
for sexploitation soft-core porn (I.e., Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!, Vixen!,
Supervixens, etc.) featuring sexually aggressive female characters. Film
Critic Roger Ebert wrote the screenplay. The Machiavellian villain turns out
to be a woman posing as a man. What a shocking plot twist! Yeah, right.
|
BIRDCAGE, THE
|
1996
|
Mike Nichols
|
Fic.
|
Everyone's fav. It's ranked 377 in BoxOfficeMojo.com's
all-time domestic box office gross (as
of this writing). I prefer the original La Cage aux Folles franchise.
Story line: the son of a drag club owner introduces
him to his conservative future in-laws. Nathan Lane's character Albert
prefers to present 24/7, and seems to identify as a woman. This character's
femininity and her inability to present believably as male is played up for
laughs in all versions of the film.
|
BOYS DON'T CRY
|
1999
|
Kimberly Peirce
|
Bio
|
Must see. Academy Award-winning performance by Hilary Swank. The
synopsis, for anyone born after 1999, is the life and violent death of FtM TS
Teena Brandon.
|
BRANDON TEENA STORY, THE
|
1998
|
Susan Muska, Gréta Olafsdóttir
|
Doc.
|
Documentary of the life and violent death of FtM TS
Teena Brandon.
|
2005
|
Neil Jordan
|
Fic.
|
Seemingly
everyone's fav. A trans must-see. It's the odyssey of an Irish Pre-op
MtF named Patrick/Kitten in search of
her birth mother in London. She self-identifies as "gamine" which dictionary.reference.com
defines as "1. a neglected girl who is left
to run about the streets. 2. a diminutive or very slender
girl, especially one who is pert, impudent, or playfully mischievous."
Neal
Jordan also directed The Crying Game and In Dreams, two other films that are
or will be on this list.
WATCH TRAILER |
|
BRITANNIA HOSPITAL
|
1982
|
Lindsay Anderson
|
Fic.
|
Third installment of the O Lucky Man trilogy (If; O
Lucky Man; and Britannia Hospital). Brief cameo of an MtF trans actor.
Remarkable because It's subtle and unremarkable.
|
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK
|
2001
|
Harriet Dodge, Silas Howard
|
Fic.
|
I have not seen it. Main characters are gender queer (gaab female).
|
CADUTA DEGLI DEI, LA (The Damned)
|
1969
|
Luchino Visconti
|
Fic.
|
Drama and scheming in an upper class family around
the future of their business in Nazi Germany. One of the sons is a MtF CD who
is a Richard III-type villain.
|
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES II
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES III: THE
WEDDING
|
1978
1980
1982
|
Edouard Molinaro
Edouard Molinaro
Georges Lautner
|
The first of this film series was the basis for the film The Birdcage
(See above.)
|
|
CELLULOID CLOSET, THE
|
1995
|
Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
|
Doc.
|
I've intimated already that there are serious
problems with the scholarship of Vito Russo's book and this documentary. It
both usurps and buries trans issues, falsely attributing gender variance
unquestioningly to homosexuality.
|
CLERKS II
|
2006
|
Kevin Smith
|
Fic.
|
Running joke in film in which the character named Jay reenacts the
scene from Silence of the Lambs in which Buffalo Bill poses naked in front of
a mirror with genitals tucked saying, "I'd fuck me. I'd fuck me real
hard." In one scene he does this routine with full frontal nudity. Also,
in a later montage, Jay and Silent Bob are wearing pigtails.
|
CLOSER, THE: PILOT
-- Season 1, Ep. 1
|
2005
|
Michael M. Robin
|
TV-Fic.
|
The victim in the pilot is an FtM TS. The killer is
a woman whose motivation is lesbian panic
|
CLOSER, THE
|
2009
|
Rick Wallace
|
TV-Fic.
|
An older L.A. police detective's ex-partner comes out as an MtF TS
(played by Beau Bridges). The portrayal is not quite authentic, but close
enough so not to be too irritating.
|
COCKETTES, THE
|
2002
|
Bill Weber, David Weissman
|
Doc.
|
Great documentary about the 1960's San Francisco
commune scene. Focusing on the drag performance commune called the Cockettes.
The film examines the drug scene, the
anti-war movement, gender bending, Andy Warhol's Factory, early John Waters,
and more.
|
COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME,
JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN
|
1982
|
Robert Altman
|
Fic.
|
I'm giving away part of the surprise (but not nearly all). Set in a
small town diner, someone who had left returns as a Post-op MtF TS. The
transition is used as a shocking secret revealed. Don't worry there are other
shocking secrets.
|
CON AIR
|
1987
|
Simon West
|
Fic.
|
One of the prisoners escaping on the plane is an MtF
TS. There are no overly derogatory comments made at her expense. All she
wants to do is dance.
|
CONFUSION OF GENDERS
|
2000
|
Ilan Duran Cohen
|
Fic.
|
This inappropriately titled french film has nothing to do with gender
variance. It's about bisexuality. And I don't even see what that confusion
is.
|
CRYING GAME, THE
|
1992
|
Neil Jordan
|
Fic.
|
A Classic. One of the main characters Del is a
gorgeous MtF TS. It is interesting to compare this movie with the later Neil
Jordan film Breakfast on Pluto (see above). In this film, Del sacrifices her
identity for love, while in Breakfast, Kitten sacrifices love for her
identity.
|
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION: Ch-Ch-Changes --Season 5, Ep..
8)
|
2004
|
Richard J. Lewis
|
TV - Fic.
|
WARNING Victim is a Post-op MtF TS. Presented it like a freak show.
Chock full of misinformation about trnssexuality. The CSI unit gets its
information from the notorious Johns Hopkins gender clinic, which in reality
has subsequently closed its doors under a cloud. They are infamous for
refusing service, and raising unreasonable obstacle to transitioning. So be warned.
|
DEAD MAN
|
1995
|
Jim Jarmousch
|
Fic.
|
Eerie, sparse, atmospheric western filmed in black
and white. Stars Johnny Depp. Iggy Pop plays a transsexual in a scene or two.
|
DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS
|
1996
|
Richard Spence
|
Fic.
|
Romance about an MtF TS who meets an old schoolmate on whom she had a
crush and starts a relationship with him. This film portrays a TS living a
successful integrated life working stealth at a greeting card company. There
are difficult moments. Worst of which is when a police officer discovers
she's a TS he immediately arrest her for prostitution. Her cis boyfriend has
difficullty adjusting his sexual attitudes.
|
DR. JEKYLL AND MS. HYDE
|
1995
|
David Price
|
Fic.
|
The least lurid MtF Jekyll and Hyde-themed film on
this list (rated PG-13). But that's not saying much. Of course, Dr. Jacks is
the good man, and Helen Hyde is the evil woman who plots her takeover of his
body.
(Coincidentally, actress Sean Young (Ms. Hyde) also
plays the MtF TS villain in Ace Ventura, Pet Detective who is publically
humiliated.)
|
DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE
|
1971
|
Roy Ward Baker
|
Fic.
|
Again the female manifestation of the male Dr. Jekyll is evil. One of
Hammer Studio's horror films. Ugh.
|
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
|
1975
|
Sydney Lumet
|
Fic.
|
Classic Al Pacino. Desperate man tries to rob a bank
to pay for his MtF TS lover's reassignment surgery. The TS is played up more
as an effeminate gay man.
|
DRESSED TO KILL (De Palma)
|
1980
|
Brian De Palma
|
Fic..
|
DON'T WATCH! Hideous movie in which a psychiatrist played by Michael
Caine is defined at the film's end as a "transsexual" whose
motivation for murder is explained as follows: the "female half"
murders women to whom the "male half" is attracted. What the
f%$k?!?! In other words, the killer kills BECAUSE they are a
"transsexual." The most stupid, insulting plot point I've ever
scene. DON'T WATCH!
|
ER: ER CONFIDENTIAL -- Season 1,
Ep. 9
|
1994
|
Daniel Sackheim
|
TV - Fic.
|
An aging Pre-op MtF TS is admitted to the ER, and is
met with gender normative prejudice by the doctors. Nurse uses the word
"shemale" in a snarky sense to a doctor. The self-representation of
the TS is: MAN who WANTS to be a WOMAN
(which is the way I've often heard DQ's describe TS's). The patient commits
suicide at the hospital because of depression at no longer being able pass as
female. This is exacerbated by prejudice confronted in the ER. It portrays
the self-loathing and victimization that is sometimes felt by TS's. According
to the show, the problem was not the lack of respect, it was the failure to
notice suicidal ideation. They focused on the sadness of her isolation, not
on the validity of her identity. She bore the pathos of the mentally ill.
|
ESCAPE FROM L.A.
|
1996
|
John Carpenter
|
Fic.
|
Scene in which Pam Greer plays a Post-op MtF TS. Surprisingly
unoffensive.
|
FABULOUS! THE STORY OF QUEER
CINEMA
|
2006
|
Lisa Ades, Lesli Klainberg
|
Doc.
|
First, I'll list the things they got right:
- They dedicate an entire chapter (one out of
fourteen) of the video to gender variance, titled: "12 Transgender
Representation." Films mentioned are: Girls Will Be Girls, Southern
Comfort, By Hook or By Crook, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Boys Don't Cry.
The last two are discussed.
- They use the word "Queer" as an umbrella
term, so as to include both sexual orientation and gender variance.
Some of the things that they got wrong:
- The same problem as with other GLBT documentaries;
they confuse gender with sexual orientation
- In the openning montage, when many words flash
across the screen that describe "queer" the only gender variant
terms used are "drag king queen" and "GLBT."
- They state that after the Stonewall riots, there
was "a new way of thinking. It was about visibility." "A
reclaiming of history." Yeah, but is it yours to reclaim?
- A lesbian historian shows her collection of
"gay" movie memorabilia, including a poster for Gendernauts
-- not Sexualorientationnauts.
In one chapter, lesbians rave about Bound, directed
by MtF TS Lana Wachowski (then-closeted)!
|
FALLEN
|
1998
|
Gregory Hoblit
|
Fic.
|
A body possession film in which an evil entity passes from body to
body with no regard for gender.
|
FARSCAPE: OUT OF THEIR MINDS -
Season 2, Ep. 9
|
2000
|
Ian Watson
|
TV - Fic.
|
The main characters' consciousnesses transmigrate to
each others' bodies, involving gender switching. A male consciousness of
course feels up the female body he is possessing.
|
FAQS
|
2005
|
Everett Lewis
|
Fic.
|
The first 15 mins. of the film run as follows: A gun-toting MtF TS
porn director saves a young gay runaway from a couple gay bashers. She
immediately "adopts" him and brings him home to live with her and a
young FtM TS. The film heavy handedly polarizes gay vs. straight, gender
normative vs. gender variant. The gender- hetero-normative world violently
and/or verbally attacks.The MtF TS retaliates with arson, vandalism and
theft. It seems like all heteronormative people use defamatory antitrans
epithets.
|
FLAWLESS
|
1999
|
Joel Schumacher
|
Fic.
|
DQ rips off a drug dealer to pay for reassignment
surgery. Typical portrayal of drag houses. Subplot DQ (played by Philip
Seymour Hoffman) teaches homophobic, gendercentric retired cop (played by
Robert De Niro) to sing as therapy for stroke recovery. The cop evolves from
insults to affection for his teacher.
|
FOLLOW MY VOICE: WITH THE MUSIC OF
HEDWIG
|
2006
|
Katherine Linton
|
Doc.
|
Story behind the Wig in a Box album, the compilation CD for the
benefit of the Hetrick-Martin Institute. HMI provides services for LGBTQ
youths, including partnering with Harvey Milk High School in New York City
which specifically accommodates LGBTQ students.
|
FREAKS
|
1932
|
Tod Browning
|
Fic.
|
Cult classic starring actual sideshow entertainers.
One of the actors is Josephine Joseph, a half woman-half man.
|
GENDERNAUTS
- EINE REISE DURCH DIE GESCHLECHTER (Gendernauts - A Journey Through Shifting
Identities)
|
1999
|
Monika Treut
|
Doc.
|
I liked it. An intelligent, insightful examination of gender
variance.
|
GLEN OR GLENDA
|
See Portrayal of Cross-dressing, below
|
|||
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
|
2001
|
John Cameron Mitchell
|
Fic.
|
Must see. A great and underappreciated film about gender, sexual
politics, and identity.
|
HIDDEN, THE
|
1987
|
Jack Sholder
|
Fic.
|
Body possession film in which an extraterrestrial
alien wreaks havoc while possessing a series of host bodies without regard to
gender.
|
HOT CHICK, THE
|
2002
|
Tom Brady
|
Fic.
|
WARNING. Sandler was here. Rob Schneider vehicle involving a body
switch with "the hot chick." They play Schneider in drag for
laughs.
|
IN EINEM JAHR MIT 13 MONDEN (In A
Year Of 13 Moons)
|
1978
|
Rainier Werner Fassbinder
|
Fic.
|
TS as pathetic character. A homosexual man gets SRS
in order to be with a bi-curious, but predominantly heterosexual man.
|
I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE
|
1949
|
Howard Hawks
|
Fic.
|
Cary Grant vehicle. Title is about it for gender variation -- and
it's a sexist joke.
|
J'AI PAS SOMMEIL (I Can't Sleep)
|
1994
|
Claire Denis
|
Fic.
|
French film TO COME
|
KILLER DRAG QUEENS ON DOPE
|
2003
|
Lazar Saric
|
Fic.
|
Alexis Arquette (yes one of THE Arquettes) vehicle under her drag
name Eva Destruction. This film predates her SRS. It's a silly low-budget
indie film.
|
LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIM'S
UNIT: Fallacy - Season 4, Ep. 21
|
2003
|
Juan José Campanella
|
Fic.
|
Pre-op MtF TS as killer and yet played pathetic. She
kills someone who is going to "out" her to her boyfriend. For the
most part, handled insensitively and sensationally.
|
LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, THE
|
1999-02
|
Fic.
|
British comedy troupe and television series that frequently use drag.
The comedy is often biting, dark and macabre. One recurring character is
"Barbara" a Post-op MtF TS cab driver who is played hypermasculine
for laughs. Whenever a passenger gets into her cab she immediately starts
describing her SRS in graphic detail. Eventually she has sex with an inbred
son of shopkeepers and gives birth. Yes, it is horribly absurd.
|
|
LET ME DIE A WOMAN
|
1977
|
Doris Wishman
|
Doc.
|
A documentary about MtF TS's. Narrated at times by Dr. Leo Wollman, a
surgeon who performed SRS's in 1977. Doris Wishman is better known for her
sex films. So amid the "education" there is a vignette about a
Post-op MtF TS picking up a random guy in the park and having sex. ?!?!?!?
|
MA VIE EN ROSE (MY LIFE IN PINK)
|
1997
|
Alain Berliner
|
Fic.
|
Charming and at times difficult French film about a preadolescent
gaab boy who is gender variant. Ultimately uplifting.
|
MADAME SATĀ
|
2002
|
Karim Ainouz
|
Fic.
|
Bio-pic inspired by the life of Brazilian
popular culture icon, João Francisco dos Santos a small-time criminal who
performed in drag under the name Madame Satā.
|
MEDICAL CENTER: THE FOURTH SEX,
PARTS 1 AND 2 - Season 7, Eps. 1 & 2
|
1975
|
Vincent Sherman
|
Fic.
|
I haven't seen it. Prime time hospital drama. Patient is TS. It's
transsexuality on a popular television program in 1975.
|
MIGHTY WIND, A
|
2003
|
Christopher Guest
|
Fic.
|
Mocumentary about a reunion concert by 1960's folk
artists. In last scene of the film the bass player for a folk trio
transitions MtF and sings in a deep bass voice. Played for laughs.
|
MIXED NUTS
|
1994
|
Nora Ephron
|
Fic.
|
Light comedy. Insulting to suicide hotline workers. Liev Shreiber
plays an MtF TS named Chris. Her immediate family taunts her by calling her
Arnold. Genderphobia played for laughs. Shreiber's character is very sweet and positive.
|
MONTY PYTHON
|
Television and film sketch comedy
troupe often in drag.
Titles are:
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD
BOWL
MONTY PYTHON'S AND NOW FOR
SOMETHING
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
MONTY PYTHON'S THE LIFE OF BRIAN
MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE
Special mention of The
Life of Brian. One of the characters is Loretta, a Pre-op MtF TS.
Jokes about her right to give birth even though she doesn't have a womb.
Also, there is a scene in which women, some played by the male troupe
members, attend a stoning. They are disguised as men because women are banned
from stonings. In other words, men are in drag playing women pretending to be
men.
|
|||
MYRA BRECKINRIDGE
|
1970
|
Michael Sarne
|
Fic.
|
This is not a movie about transsexuality. It is a campy, ironic,
absurdist lampoon of Hollywood. Once again, gender variance as metaphor of
sexual orientation, and of the emasculation of the U.S. male by Hollywood.
Transsexuality is portrayed as an opportunistic whim. Director states in
commentary (starting at ch. 15, 1:10 of DVD) that 1) the movie is
"supposed to be a comic look at the idea of a man who would like to be a
woman," and 2) MtF TS's are "gays who mutilate themselves,"
and have a "mad, very sad determination to change their sex." No
lie, look it up. The more I listen to him talk, the more I visualize the
director of "Springtime for Hitler" in the movie The Producers.
|
NORMAL
|
2003
|
Jane Anderson
|
Fic.
|
A made-for-HBO movie. A hard but generally accurate
depiction of a middle aged MtF TS coming out to family and friends and
starting to transition.
|
ORLANDO
|
1992
|
Sally Potter
|
Fic.
|
Film adaptation of Virgina Woolf's novel. Orlando is an immortal
British noble who changes genders through time.
|
PLEASANTVILLE
|
1998
|
Gary Ross
|
Fic.
|
The mother character as metaphor for coming out
gender variant.
|
PRELUDE TO A KISS
|
1992
|
Norman René
|
Fic.
|
Body swap movie in which an elderly man switches bodies with a young,
new bride. Interesting comments contrasting psyche with body.
|
RAISING ARIZONA
|
1987
|
Joel Coen
|
Fic.
|
Coen Bros. satire of "family values."
Brilliant movie . . .
but . . . A early scene in the movie takes place in
a prison group therapy session with the following joke:
The therapist asks a muscular black prisoner
sporting a mustache and beard, "So, why do you use the word trapped?
. . . Why do you say you feel trapped [pause] in a man's body?" The
prisoner replies in a deep bass voice,
"Well, sometimes I get the menstrual cramps
real hard."
|
RITZ, THE
|
1976
|
Richard Lester
|
Fic.
|
Madcap comedy in which a mid-western, middle aged, middle class,
white, heterosexual, gendercentric man is sent unknowingly to a gay bath
house to hide from the mob. Scene in which he and two other men do an Andrew
Sisters song in drag. There is a running genderphobic joke: he is told that a
cis female performer is actually an MtF TS; she is told that he is a Broadway
producer; she chases him while he hides from her. Lots of gender bashing
comments.
|
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
|
1975
|
Jim Sharman
|
Fic.
|
The movie is a queer milestone. I have trouble with
"sweet transvestite from transsexual transylvania." But it was 1975
and the terminology is still evolving today. Transvestite as sexual predator.
The name of the alien planet is Transsexual. The movie confuses gender with
sexuality for shock value.
|
SOLDIER'S GIRL
|
2003
|
Frank Pierson
|
Fic.
|
Made-for-Showtime movie. Based on the true story of Calpurnia Adams
an MtF TS and her boyfriend Barry Winchell, a cis male soldier who ultimately
is beaten to death by a fellow soldier for dating her.
|
SWITCH
|
1991
|
Blake Edwards
|
Fic.
|
Comedy from the director of Victor Victoria. Man
dies and is sent back to earth by God to prove he shouldn't go to hell for
blatant womanizing. He is sent back as a woman. Ellen Barkan gives an
excellent portrayal. Raises interesting gender issues, if not gender variant
issues.
|
TRAINSPOTTING
|
1996
|
Danny Boyle
|
Fic.
|
Film about Edinburgh drug scene. One scene in which a member of the
drug scene picks up an MtF TS. [TO COME]
|
WARHOL, ANDY
|
||||
WATERS, JOHN
|
TO COME
|
|||
WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN, THE
|
2005
|
Roger Donaldson
|
Fic.
|
Biopic about Burt Munro who in 1967 set the world
land speed record with his 1920 Indian motorcycle. When he first comes to
town he is befriended by an MtF TS. Sympathetic portrayal of TS's.
|
PORTRAYALS OF CROSS-DRESSING
Film, TV show, video
|
Year
|
Director
|
Fic. or Doc.
|
Description of Portrayal
|
ALL IN THE FAMILY -- season 6, ep.
3:
Archie the Hero (DVD collection
lists it as Ep. 7)
|
1975
|
Paul Bogart
|
Fic.
TV
|
Archie Bunker saves the life of a male-identified, self-described
"female impersonator" and "transvestite" by
mouth-to-mouth resusitation. It's 1975. Old terminology. Gender pronoun jokes
galore. She takes off her wig to big laughs. Sexual orientation is studiously
avoided. To the show's credit, Archie says at one point,"Them people
have as much right to life as anybody else."
|
ALL OF ME
|
1984
|
Carl Reiner
|
Fic.
|
Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin vehicle. One of those magical wish, body
switching comedies. Crossed gender stereotypes played for laughs.
|
ALL THE QUEEN'S MEN
|
2001
|
Stefan Ruzowitzky
|
Fic.
|
WWII drama about a troup of soldiers who disguise
themselves as women to infiltrate Germany Enigma site. Stars Eddie Izzard
(self-proclaimed "transvestite") and Matt Le Blanc. 'Nuf said
|
|
|
1984
|
Rick Rosenthal
|
Fic.
|
Scene predating Austin Powers - "This woman is a man." Uh
oh. It's not a man after all. It's just a "mannish" looking woman.
Otherwise it's a charmer.
|
ANGER MANAGEMENT
|
2003
|
Peter Segal
|
Fic.
|
What can I say. It's Adam Sandler. So it's going to
be abusive to the trans community. Woody Harrelson plays Galaxia, a sex
worker described in the movie as a "shemale." Adam Sandler's
character states "I like to spend most of my time in girls without
Weinersville"; Galaxia (played by
Woody Harrelson) replies, "That's ok because I'm a lady," exposes
herself and says "Whoops! No I'm not." Real funny, huh.
|
ANIME
|
Fic.
|
Anime has characters known as bishōnen,
which according to reference.com, is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful boy,
or beautiful youth." Identifying as men, they present themselves in the
traditionally feminine. Sailor Moon featured three bishōnen villains known as
the Amazon Trio. In Japanese, all three are voiced by male actors. In the
U.S., one of the trio apparently looked too feminine so he was given a female
actor's voice. I plan to discuss Anime in a future essay.
|
||
ANYTHING FOR LOVE (AKA JUST ONE OF
THE GIRLS)
|
1993
|
Michael Keusch
|
Fic.
|
Corey Haim vehicle in which he disguises himself as
a high school girl to take advantage of a music program. If you are a member
of the Corey Haim fan club, then bon apetit.
|
ASSOCIATE, THE
|
Whoopi Goldberg vehicle in which she disguises herself as a man in
order to create the identity of a male boss in order to be treated seriously
as a financial advisor.
|
|||
AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
|
1997
|
Jay Roach
|
Fic.
|
|
BALLAD OF LITTLE JO, THE
|
1993
|
Maggie Greenwald
|
Fic.
|
Another of my favs. Based on a true story. It's about a cis gender frontier woman who will
lose her homestead unless she passes successfully as male.
|
BIG MAMA'S HOUSE
BIG MAMA'S HOUSE 2
|
2000
2006
|
Raja Gosnell
John Whitesell
|
Fic.
|
This is the same pap a la Mrs. Doubtfire, White
Chicks, Sorority Boys, in which insensitive men get in touch with their
"feminine" side and come out of the experience richer. The major
running punchline of these movies of course is that they're men, but get
this, they're dressed as women. Usually in disguises unpassable to everyone
except I guess Hollywood.
|
BLUE STEEL
|
1934
|
Robert N. Bradbury
|
Fic.
|
There is no trans character in this movie. However, I had to add it
because John Wayne plays a cowboy and he's is wearing a TON of eye makeup and
lipstick. He looks purty. I'm considering writing an essay called,
"Cowboys Wear Lipstick"
|
BOSOM BUDDIES
|
1980-82
|
Created by:
Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller, Chris Thompson
|
Fic.
|
Sitcom that lasted two seasons, starring Tom Hanks
and Peter Scolari whose characters must disguise themselves as women in order
to live in a women's-only apartment building. I think I'll term this conceit
the "Doubtfire effect": men who dress as women to get something
they can't get as men. (Only because it is ranked 152 in all-time box office
draw by BoxOfficeMojo.com (as of this writing)). There are movies in which
women dress as men to get something they can't get as women -- usually
respect.
|
BRINGING UP BABY
|
1938
|
Howard Hawks
|
Fic.
|
Has famous scene of Cary Grant dressed in a frilly, feathered robe.
|
BUGS BUNNY CARTOONS
|
That's right, I'm talking about the cross-dressing
seducer of Elmer Fudd and his dog, as well as the manicurist of the big,
fuzzy, orange monster
|
|||
BULGARIAN LOVERS
|
2003
|
Eloy de la Iglesia
|
Fic.
|
Spanish gay film with scene in which the main character fantasizes
visually that he is a gangster's moll. Another example of gay men having
fantasies of presenting female.
|
BULL DURHAM
|
1988
|
Ron Shelton
|
Fic.
|
Tim Robbins plays a rookie pitcher (cis male) who
wears panties to control his wild pitches.
|
CASANOVA
|
2005
|
Lasse Hallsröm
|
Fic.
|
18th century period piece. One scene
in which female lead disguises herself as a man in order to speak at a
scientific conference. Heath Ledger is dreamy. Fun movie.
|
CLOUD ATLAS
|
2012
|
Lana Wachowski, Andrew Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
|
Fic.
|
In case you don't know, Lana Wachowski used to
identify as Larry Wachowski, one of the Wachowski Brothers, co-creator of The
Matrix trilogy, among other films. This is her first full feature film credit
in which she is out. She promoted the film as Lana Wachowski . . . FINALLY!
This aside, I love this movie. It's about reincarnation in which each major
actor plays a chronological series of characters. This device implies that
each actor is a "soul" that reincarnates into their various
characters over time. Each actor plays at least one character that is cross-traditional
gender, implying that the soul is not bound to one gender.
|
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
|
2000
|
McG
|
Fic.
|
Drew Barrymore's and Cameron Diaz' characters disguise themselves as
men to infiltrate a technology company
|
COCKETTES, THE
|
2002
|
Bill Weber, David Weissman
|
Doc.
|
Great documentary about the 1960's San Francisco
commune scene. Focusing on the drag performance commune called the Cockettes.
The film examines the drug scene, the
anti-war movement, gender bending, Andy Warhol's Factory, early John Waters,
and more.
|
C.R.A.Z.Y.
|
Jean-Marc Vallée
|
2005
|
Portrait of a dysfunctional French Canadian, devoutly catholic
family. The film centers around one son who struggles with homophobia and repressed
homosexual feelings. Two scenes of his childhood in which: 1) he is caught
dressing in his mother's clothes, and 2) he prefers a baby carriage over a
table top hockey game for a Christmas present. Once again gender variance as
an indication of homosexuality.
|
|
DARK KNIGHT, THE
|
2008
|
Christopher Nolan
|
Fic.
|
In one scene, the Joker infiltrates a hospital he is
about to demolish wearing a wig and an
anachronistic female nurse's uniform that is a dress. Taken together with his
trademark garish makeup, the effect is a powerful anarchic statement.
|
DON JUAN DEMARCO
|
1995
|
Jeremy Leven
|
Fic.
|
Charming tale about a mysterious young man who is being
psychologically. Played by Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando, respectively. In a
scene from one of his tales, he sneaks into and out of a harem in drag.
Typical punchline that the sultan is attracted to him.
|
DRESSED TO KILL (Izzard)
|
See Izzard, Eddie in Portrayals of Cross-dressing.
|
|||
ED WOOD
|
1994
|
Tim Burton
|
Bio
|
Biopic about the director who posthumously won a Golden Turkey Award
for being the "Worst Director of All Time." He was a heterosexual who
cross-dressed. The film portrays his cross-dressing intermitently and
matter-of-factly.
|
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO
KNOW ABOUT SEX*
*BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
|
1973
|
Woody Allen
|
Fic.
|
Movie based on the non-fiction best-seller of the
same name. Woody Allen creates vignettes inspired by the book's topics. The
vignette, begin at ch. 16 of the DVD, is titled "are transvestites
homosexuals?" and is horribly humiliating.
|
FIREFLY: OUR MRS. REYNOLDS --
Season 1, Ep. 3
|
2002
|
Vondie Curtis-Hall
|
Fic.
|
Scene in which Mal Reynolds disguises himself as a woman to bait
stage coach robbers.
|
FREEBIE AND THE BEAN
|
1974
|
Richard Rush
|
Fic.
|
The villain is a petite, cross-dressing, homosexual
hit man. The movie is ubermacho.
|
GANGS OF NEW YORK
|
2002
|
Martin Scorsese
|
Fic.
|
1860's New York City. Three male sex workers are dressed as women.
|
GAY DECEIVERS, THE
|
1969
|
Bruce Kessler
|
Fic.
|
Comedy about two heteronormative, cis men pose as a
gay couple to evade service in the Vietnam War. A party scene has several gay
men in drag. One of the draft dodgers gets into bed with one of these guest,
thinking they are a cis woman.
It's fairly sympathetic to gays, considering
homosexuality was a mental illness in 1969. It was released one month after
the Stonewall Riots.
|
GLEN OR GLENDA
|
1953
|
Edward D. Wood Jr.
|
Fic.
|
A 1953 movie about a CD! Writen and directed by a CD. There are two
consecutive stories. In the first, Ed Wood (Golden Turkey award for
"Worst Director of All Time") plays the title character under the
pseudonym Daniel Davis. Repeatedly uses the word "strange." Suddenly
and inexplicably, at Ch. 9, 3:25, the movie interjects scenes of S&M,
striptease, bondage and women posing in lingerie. Then at ch. 9, 9:55, it
launches into a bizarre montage involving the devil. It is unclear whether
the devil wants him to wear women's clothes or not.
The second story is about a "pseudohermaphrodite" who gets
"corrective" surgery.
The movie begins by arguing that gender variation should be accepted,
and then concludes that SRS should
only be performed on intersexuals, and that all other gender variations are
caused by environmental trauma that can be cured psychologically.
|
GOOD BURGER
|
1997
|
Brian Robbins
|
Fic.
|
Vehicle for Nickelodeon TV stars Kenan and Kel. In
one scene, they are in drag to infiltrate a rival burger joint. Played up
|
HAUNTED WORLD OF ED WOOD, THE
|
1995
|
Brett Thompson
|
Doc.
|
Bio of Edward D. Wood, Jr., a CD filmmaker in the 1950's..
|
HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE
|
2003
|
Ron Shelton
|
Fic.
|
In one scene, Lou Diamond Phillips plays an
undercover police officer working vice as a female sex worker.
|
HOODWINKED!
|
2005
|
Cory Edwards
Todd Edwards
Tony Leech
|
Fic.
|
Animated comic retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale as
a crime drama. Big bad wolf dressed as grandma.
|
HOUSE BUNNY
|
2008
|
Fred Wolf
|
Fic.
|
Sandler was here. In one scene the title character
is in a police holding cell with several sex workers. One of the sex workers
is clearly a muscular male in drag. In response to beauty tips, he replies
"I'm a dude."
|
IZZARD, EDDIE
|
Self-described "transvestite" standup comedian. Usually
presents as male in dramatic roles.
|
|||
JACK AND JILL
|
2011
|
Dennis Dugan
|
Fic.
|
WARNING: Adam Sandler was here. Sandler plays the
dual role of Jack and Jill. Besides being consistently offensive, it's also
not funny.
|
JURASSIC PARK
|
1993
|
Steven Spielberg
|
Fic.
|
Scientists clone dinosaurs and genetically engineer them to be
female. They loosely explain the biology of embryonic gender development.
|
JUST ONE OF THE GUYS
|
1985
|
Lisa Gottlieb
|
Fic.
|
High school girl disguises herself as male in order
to write an article for the school paper.
|
KIDS IN THE HALL
|
1988-95, 2011
|
Fic.
|
Male comedy troupe that had a weekly series on HBO. Often present in
drag. Gender variance is not played for laughs.
|
|
KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY
|
1996
|
Kelly Makin
|
Fic.
|
Movie vehicle for the Kids in the Hall (see above)
|
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
|
1985
|
Hector Babenco
|
Fic.
|
Drama in which a gender variant gay man spins tales about a film noir
character "the spider woman" to his cell mate in a Brazilian
prison.
|
LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT:
MALEDICTUS -- Season 1, Ep. 19
|
2002
|
Frank Prinzi
|
Fic.
|
Killer is an MtF CD who killed his mother when he
was a young child and then kills again as an adult to keep it covered up. He
is also a masochist. He originally is a suspect of the later murder under the
mistaken motive of fear of being ""outed." He is portayed as a
neurotic, desperate "victim."
|
LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, THE
|
1999-02
|
Fic.
|
British comedy troupe and television series that frequently use drag.
The comedy is often biting, dark and macabre. One recurring character is
"Barbara" a Post-op MtF TS cab driver who is played hypermasculine
for laughs. Whenever a passenger gets into her cab she immediately starts
describing her SRS in graphic detail. Eventually she has sex with an inbred son
of shopkeepers and gives birth. Yes, it is horribly absurd.
|
|
LILIES
|
1996
|
John Greyson
|
Fic.
|
TO COME
|
LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER, THE
|
1963
|
John Huston
|
Fic.
|
Murder mystery with a gimick. Several name actors make cameo
appearances in deep disguise. The audience is shown the actors out of
disguise during a "curtain call" at the end of the film.
|
M. BUTTERFLY
|
1993
|
David Cronenberg
|
Fic.
|
Loosely based on a true story about a French
diplomat who has a relationship with a male Chinese opera singer. In the
film, the diplomat does not realize that the Chinese opera singer is a male
in drag for the length of their relationship. The diplomat is ultimately
played as pathetic and tragic when he finds out.
|
MAGIC CHRISTIAN, THE
|
1969
|
Joseph McGrath
|
Fic.
|
Yul Brynner makes a cameo in drag for shock value.
|
M*A*S*H
|
1972-83
|
Fic.
|
Sit-com in which one repeating cis male character
usually dresses in drag, trying get a Section 8 psychiatric discharge from
the army during the Korean War. Gender variance is crazy . . . and it's a ruse
to defraud.
|
|
MERCHANT OF VENICE
|
Shakespeare
|
|||
MRS. DOUBTFIRE
|
1993
|
Chris Columbus
|
Fic.
|
Robin Williams vehicle. Man disguises himself as a
female nanny in order to get close to his children. One of those formula
movies in which he gets in touch with his "feminine" side and
becomes a better man.
|
MR. NANNY
|
1993
|
Michael Gottlieb
|
Fic.
|
Hulk Hogan plays a bodyguard/nanny. One scene with Hulk Hogan in a
tutu.
|
MONTY PYTHON
|
Fic.
|
See Portrayal of Transsexuals, above.
|
||
MUNICH
|
2005
|
Steven Spielberg
|
Fic.
|
Israeli agents disguise themselves as women. Unremarkable.
|
MOROCCO
|
1930
|
Josef von Sternberg
|
Fic.
|
[TO COME]
|
MY FELLOW AMERICANS
|
Comedy about two ex-U.S. presidents on the run from being targeted
for assassinated by the standing president. Scene in which they meet a secret
service officer who is marching in a gay pride parade dressed as Dorothy from
the Wizard of Oz. Gender variance equals gay.
|
|||
NAKED CIVIL SERVANT, THE
|
1975
|
Jack Gold
|
Fic.
|
Made-for-BBC movie based on the autobiography of
Quentin Crisp. [TO COME]
|
NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY
|
1968
|
Jack Smight
|
Fic.
|
Rod Steiger plays a serial killer who is a man of many disguises. One
of them is a woman.
|
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN::THE
CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL:
|
2003
|
Gore Verbinski
|
Fic.
|
Two pirates who are "stage clown" devices
are put in a boat, one of them in a frilly dress and parasol.
|
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD
MAN'S CHEST
|
2006
|
Gore Verbinski
|
Fic.
|
Female lead disguises herself as a man in order to join a ship crew.
|
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN::ON
STRANGER TIDES
|
2011
|
Rob Marshall
|
Fic.
|
Female pirate disguises herself as Jack Sparrow to
recruit sailors.
|
PRODUCERS, THE
|
1967
|
Mel Brooks
|
Fic.
|
Comic scene in which vacuous gay director appears in drag with the
character Bloom has a homophobic, genderphobic panic attack.
|
PRODUCERS, THE
|
2005
|
Susan Stroman
|
Fic.
|
Remake of 1967 film. Comic scene in which vacuous
gay director appears in drag with the character Bloom has a homophobic,
genderphobic panic attack.
|
QUEEN CHRISTINA
|
1933
|
Rouben Mamoulian
|
Fic.
|
Greta Garbo vehicle. Scene in which Queen Christina dresses as a man
in order to anonymously travel her realm.
|
RAT RACE
|
2001
|
Jerry Zucker
|
Fic.
|
Broad comedy with two gender variant scenes: (1) in
the beginning at a bar a character reads the bartender with back turned as a
woman, she turns and he misreads her front appearance as male and she
corrects him -- the joke is that he's a disgraced football referee who
literally cannot tell heads from tails"; in a later scence he hijacks a
bus full of Lucille Ball impersonators, one of them is a cis male in drag.
|
ROBOTS
|
2005
|
Carlos Saldanha
Chris Wedge
|
Fic.
|
Animation. A silly "male" robot (voice of Robin Williams)
is in drag in one scene . . . because he is a silly robot.
|
SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS
|
2006
|
Todd Phillips
|
Fic.
|
Michael Clarke Duncan's character wears a blond wig
and plays the woman on a mock date to help students learn how to be
womanizers.
|
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
|
1998
|
John Madden
|
Fic.
|
Historical fiction. Shakespeare loves a noble woman who wants to act.
Typical drag actors of the day.
|
SHE'S THE MAN
|
2006
|
Andy Fickman
|
Fic.
|
Based on Shakepeare's Twelfth Night, starring Amanda
Bines.
|
SORORITY BOYS
|
2002
|
Wallace Wolodarsky
|
Fic.
|
Three male college students get kicked out of their fraternity, so
they disguise themselves as women to join a sorority. There are interesting
nuances regarding gender variance worth looking for that can be overshadowed
by the broader typically offensive man-in-drag/homophobia jokes.
|
SOME LIKE IT HOT
|
1959
|
Billy Wilder
|
Fic.
|
Classic. Two musicians, Joe and Jerry, disguise themselves
as women to hide from the mob in an all-women's jazz band. In the closing
scene, Jerry in drag is wooed insistently by Osgood. When Jerry confides that
he is a man, Osgood responds, "Nobody's perfect." This statement of
unconditional acceptance and love is a remarkably enlightened perspective for
1959.
|
STAGE BEAUTY
|
2004
|
Richard Eyre
|
Fic.
|
Beautiful and poignant historical drama about the rise of the first
woman to take the British stage and the fall of the last great drag acting
due to a ban on drag acting during Restoration England.
|
TANGO AND CASH
|
1989
|
Andrey Konchalovsky
Albert Magnoli (uncredited)
|
Fic.
|
Ubermacho buddy cop movie. Kurt Russell's character
escapes from the police in drag. They play it up for laughs. Stallone's
character says, "You're gonna make a very ungly bride someday."
|
TOOTSIE
|
1982
|
Sydney Pollack
|
Fic.
|
Classic Dustin Hoffman vehicle. He plays an actor who disguises
himself as a woman to get a part on a soap opera. Gets in touch with his "feminine"
side and becomes a better person. A little bit condescending: women can only
succeed and their arguments can only be respected if they are men.
|
TROPIC THUNDER
|
2008
|
Ben Stiller
|
Fic.
|
Briliant send up of Hollywood. A film cast gets lost
in a Cambodian jungle and stumble across an opium field. One of the opium
grower's hired guns presents as gender variant.
|
TWELFTH NIGHT
|
Shakespeare
|
|||
UNDER SEIGE
|
1992
|
Andrew Davis
|
Fic.
|
Arms dealers takeover a destroyer to steal its
missiles and hold Hawaii ransom. Scene in which Gary Busey is in drag as a
gag at the captatin's birthday party.
|
VELVET GOLDMINE
|
Todd Haynes
|
Fictionalized representation of the British glam rock scene of the
early 1970's. It is a celebration of pan-sexual, gender variant liberation .
. . for gaab men. It dramatizes the music industry's exploitation of gender
variance and pan-sexuality to sell records. Ultimately they portray
homosexuality and gender variance more as an act of rebellion than identity. But
still, worth watching on other levels.
|
||
VICTOR VICTORIA
|
1982
|
Blake Edwards
|
Fic.
|
Comedy based in the 1930's in which a woman
disguises herself as a male DQ and becomes a Euroopean singing sensation.
|
WAKING THE DEAD: WALKING ON WATER,
PARTS 1 & 2 -- Season 3, Eps. 3 & 4
|
2003
|
Andy Hay
|
Fic.
|
British television crime drama. Gender variant gaab male returns to
his hometown to takeover the family business and becomes the prime suspect of
murder. Gender variance again as code for homosexuality.
|
WALLANDER: ONE STEP BEHIND
--Season 1, Ep. 3
|
2008
|
Philip Martin
|
Fic.
|
British television crime drama situated in Sweden.
Episode is a gay CD serial killer who steals people's mail, hunts them down,
and kills them.
|
Portrayal of Drag Queens
Film, TV show, video
|
Year
|
Director
|
Fic. or Doc.
|
Description of Portrayal
|
|
ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF
THE DESERT, THE
|
|||||
AFTER STONEWALL
|
See above
|
||||
ANOTHER GAY MOVIE
|
2006
|
Todd Stephens
|
Fic.
|
Parody of coming of age films -- only gay. Mother is
played by a DQ, a main character has a sex fantasy in which he is the prom
queen only to have it become the pig blood scene from Carrie. I don't know
anything about the gay male psyche, but having sexual fantasies about being a
woman more often indicates that the person is a woman. Drag queen in gay bar
with garrish makeup.
|
|
BEFORE NIGHT FALLS
|
2000
|
Julian Schnabel
|
Bio
|
Bio pic of Cuban novelist/poet Reinaldo Arenas. It is a powerful
statement on creativity, like Schnabel's earlier film Basquiat. Narrated as
if an autobiography, persecuted and imprisoned in Cuba for being gay and a
writer. As his mind deteriorates, his narrations get more fanciful. Johnny
Depp plays a drag queen who sneaks Arenas' novel out of prison by concealing
it up his ass. It works as a symptom of Arenas' decaying grip on reality.
|
|
BEFORE STONEWALL
|
See above, in Portrayals of Transsexuals
|
||||
BENT
|
1997
|
Sean Mathias
|
Fic.
|
Based on the play, which was nominated for both a Pulitzer and a
Tony, about gays during the Holocaust. There are several portrayals of DQ's.
The opening scene is a drag caberet. The chanteuse is ....... MICK JAGGER IN DRAG!!!!!! Also, I would see Ian McKellen in almost
anything
|
|
BIRDCAGE, THE
|
1996
|
Mike Nichols
|
Fic.
|
Everyone's fav. It's ranked 377 in
BoxOfficeMojo.com's all-time domestic
box office gross (as of this writing). I prefer the original La Cage aux
Folles franchise.
Story line: the son of a drag club owner introduces
him to his conservative future in-laws. Nathan Lane's character Albert
prefers to present 24/7, and seems to identify as a woman. This character's
femininity and her inability to present believably as male is played up for
laughs in all versions of the film.
|
|
BRITNEY BABY, ONE MORE TIME
|
2002
|
Ludi Boeken
|
Fic.
|
Silly independent film vehicle for a Britney Spears impersonator.
|
|
CABARET
|
1972
|
Bob Fosse
|
Fic.
|
The Musical centers around a cabaret in Berlin in
the very early part of the rise of Nazi Germany. DQ's and/or CD's are not
featured, but are in the Cabaret and audience. The MC is very gender variant,
but it's in a close performance setting,
|
|
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES II
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES III: THE
WEDDING
|
1978
1980
1982
|
Edouard Molinaro
Edouard Molinaro
|
The first of this film series was the basis for the film The Birdcage
(See above.)
|
||
CONNIE AND CARLA
|
2004
|
Michael Lembeck
|
Fic.
|
Nia Vardalos' follow-up screenplay to My Big Fat
Greek Wedding. Goofy but sweet comedy about two women hiding from drug
dealers by pretending to be DQ's. Some genuinely hilarious moments. Some over
the top jokes about misogyny among drag queen. But I can't say they're
entirely misplaced. It's a silly bit of unrealistic entertainment. And Toni
Collette is great. Interesting moment: when they reveal that they are cis
women, they show their breasts.
I am a Pre-op MtF with natural breasts. That scene
makes me personally (maybe inappropriately) happy
|
|
DIE MOMMY, DIE
|
2003
|
Mark Rucker
|
Fic.
|
Vehicle for drag actor/playwrite Charles Busch. Send up of 1960's
Hollywood melodramas a la Harold Robbins/Jacqueline Susann. Busch's female
character is not played for laughs.
|
|
DON'T ASK DON'T TELL
|
2002
|
Doug Miles
|
Fic.
|
They took an old 1960's Peter Graves sci-fi film,
replaing the dialogue with a new plot involving homosexuality. New scenes
edited in here and there. Some with campy drag.
|
|
EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES
|
1993
|
Gus Van Sant
|
Fic.
|
Based on the Tom Robbins novel. Underwhelming translation to the big
screen. John Hurt plays "the countess" -- the head of a modeling agency and a
"flaming queen." Sometimes he's in drag.
|
|
EVENT, THE
|
2003
|
Thom Fitzgerald
|
Fic.
|
Suspicious circumstances surrounding someone who has
died of AIDS. DQ's are featured
throughout. DQ beats up a cop.
|
|
FEMALE TROUBLE
|
See John Waters. TO COME
|
||||
FISHER KING, THE
|
1991
|
Terry Gilliam
|
Fic.
|
Scene in which the title character, a schizophrenic,
quixotically rescues a damsel/DQ in distress.
|
|
FLAWLESS
|
1999
|
Joel Schumacher
|
Fic.
|
DQ rips off a drug dealer to pay for reassignment surgery. Typical
portrayal of drag houses. Subplot DQ (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman)
teaches homophobic, gendercentric retired cop (played by Robert De Niro) to
sing as therapy for stroke recovery. The cop evolves from insults to
affection for his teacher.
|
|
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
|
2003
|
Richard Day
|
Fic.
|
Raunchy send up of melodramas about Hollywood
starring well-know DQ's Jack Plotnick, Clinton Leupp and Jeffery Robertson.
Funny at times, but often over the top.
|
|
KILLER DRAG QUEENS ON DOPE
|
2003
|
Lazar Saric
|
Fic.
|
Alexis Arquette, who is a Post-op MtF TS (yes one of THE Arquettes).
She stars under her drag name Eva Destruction. This film predates her SRS.
It's a silly low-budget indie film.
|
|
LIFE'S A DRAG: A 2007 DRAGUMENTARY
|
2008
|
Lara Sebastian
|
Doc.
|
WARNING. Misrepresentation of transsexuals is far
from benign. This is not the first "documentary" I've scene in
which drag queens presume to spread misinformation about transsexuals.
|
|
LUST IN THE DUST
|
1985
|
Paul Bartel
|
Fic.
|
One of the few films featuring Divine that is not directed by John
Waters.
|
|
MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND
EVIL
|
1997
|
Clint Eastwood
|
Fic.
|
Features the Lady Chablis, a DQ who plays herself,
in a supporting role. She never presents as male. She refers to her penis as
her "true" -- implying that her female presentation is false. Her
character is one of many symbols of "truth" versus "appearance."
|
|
MONDO TRASHO
|
See John Waters [TO COME]
|
||||
OUTRAGEOUS!
|
1977
|
Richard Benner
|
Fic.
|
A up and coming DQ performer takes care of a
schizophrenic friend while managing his career. Lots of DQ performances.
|
|
PARIS IS BURNING
|
1990
|
Jennie Livingston
|
Doc.
|
Critically acclaimed documentary about New York City drag houses.
|
|
QUEENS OF HEART: COMMUNITY
THERAPISTS IN DRAG
|
2006
|
Jan Haaken
|
Fic.
|
WARNING. Don't be deceived by the title. Their
misrepresentation of transsexuals is far from benign. This is not the first
"documentary" I've scene in which drag queens presume to spread
misinformation about transsexuals.
|
|
RITZ, THE
|
1976
|
Richard Lester
|
Fic.
|
Madcap comedy in which a mid-western, middle aged, middle class,
white, heterosexual, gendercentric man is sent unknowingly to a gay bath
house to hide from the mob. Scene in which he and two other men do an Andrew
Sisters song in drag. There is a running genderphobic joke: he is told that a
cis female performer is actually an MtF TS; she is told that he is a Broadway
producer; she chases him while he hides from her. Lots of gender bashing
comments.
|
|
TO WONG FOO THANKS FOR EVERYTHING,
JULIE NEWMAR
|
1995
|
Beeban Kidron
|
Fic.
|
Popular film about three drag queens driving across
country. They are forced to stop in a small town, and revitalize the
population. John Leguizamo gives a brilliant performance.
|
|
TORCH SONG TRILOGY
|
1988
|
Paul Bogart
|
Fic.
|
Harvey Fierstein dramatic piece in three vignettes.
|
|
VICTOR VICTORIA
|
1982
|
Blake Edwards
|
Fic.
|
Comedy in which a woman disguises herself as a male
DQ.
|
|
PORTRAYALS OF OTHER NONTRADITIONAL
GENDER IDENTITY
Film, TV show, video
|
Year
|
Director
|
Fic. or Doc.
|
Description of Portrayal
|
|
BABY MAMA
|
See above in Portrayals of Transsexuals
|
||||
BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS, THE
|
2005
|
Auraeus Solito
|
Fic.
|
Filipino/Tagalog film about a 12-year-old named Maxi, living with
family who are low-level criminals. It's an interesting depiction. In the
first half of the film, Maxi presents and socializes as a girl, as an MtF TS,
and has friends that do the same. But in the second half of the movie, Maxi
presents masculine. It makes me want to investigate Phillipines concepts of
gender and sexuality.
|
|
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK
|
2001
|
Harriet Dodge, Silas Howard
|
Fic.
|
I have not seen it. Main characters are gender queer
(gaab female).
|
|
BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
|
1999
|
Jamie Babbit
|
Fic.
|
Classic lesbian coming out comedy. Girls and boys go to a rehab that
"deprograms" them from homosexuality. It plays off stereotypes of
different homophobic impressions of gay men and women. One stereotype raises
questions that I don't think they knew they were even asking. One of the
lesbians has a unibrow and mustache, sports a mohawk and wears a baseball
shirt. She identifies female and insists she is heterosexual. The character
could be read several different ways.
She's like a gender rorshach. Interesting dialogue starter.
|
|
CRITTERS
|
1986
|
Stephen Herek
|
Fic.
|
Sci-fi flick in which a farmhouse gets infested with
what can only be described as dust bunnies with teeth and spiky poisonous
quills. Two alien bounty hunters must pick human appearances. One immediately
picks a male rock star, while the other has difficulty transitioning until
shown a playboy centerfold.
|
|
DOTTIE GETS SPANKED
|
1993
|
Todd Haynes
|
Fic. - short
|
A six-year-old boy processes seeing a Lucille Ball-type character get
spanked on TV. There is a subplot in which he prefers to socialize with girls
and wear saddle shoes.
|
|
GENDERNAUTS
- EINE REISE DURCH DIE GESCHLECHTER (Gendernauts - A Journey Through Shifting
Identities)
|
1999
|
Monika Treut
|
Doc.
|
Excellent documentary exploring the transcendence of
binary gender identity.
|
|
GLEN OR GLENDA
|
See Portrayal of Cross-dressing, above.
|
||||
HOUSE, M.D.: SKIN DEEP - Season 2,
Ep. 13
|
2006
|
James Hayman
|
TV - Fic.
|
House diagnoses a female supermodel with male pseudohermaphroditism
(specifically, androgen insensitivity syndrome, a/k/a testicular feminization
syndrome). In other words, she has testes that never dropped or produced
testosterone. House makes cracks like "perfect man is a woman." If
you're expecting sensitivity from the show, House's character is defined by
his insensitivity. Personally I don't expect sensitivity from the medical
profession. Although I've been happily surprised at times.
|
|
HOUSE M.D.: BETTER HALF - Season
8, Ep. 9
|
2012
|
Greg Yaltanes
|
TV - Fic.
|
I haven't seen this episode, but according to lezgetreal.com (1/31/12),
"[House] dismissed [asexuality] as being caused by either medical
pathology or deception." And of course House is a medical supergenius
who is never wrong . . . .
|
|
LITTLE BIG MAN
|
1970
|
Arthur Penn
|
Fic.
|
Dustin Hoffman vehicle. One or two scenes feature a
twin-soul Sioux.
|
|
MA VIE EN ROSE (MY LIFE IN PINK)
|
1997
|
Alain Berliner
|
Fic.
|
Charming and at times difficult French film about a preadolescent
gaab boy who is gender variant. Ultimately uplifting.
|
|
PARTY MONSTER: THE SHOCKUMENTARY
|
1998
|
Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
|
Doc.
|
"Shockumentary" about guru of the New York
City Club Kids scene (circa late 1980's-early 1990's) who murders a Club Kid
named Angel in cold blood. Alig and other Club Kids are cis gendered and
gender variant. The poster for this "shockumentary" shocks with
gender variance - face of angry cis male wearing thick eye makeup and
lipstick.
|
|
PARTY MONSTER
|
2003
|
Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
|
Fic
|
Dramatization of their "shockumentary" starring Macaulay
Culkin as Michael Alig and Seth Green as James St. James
|
|
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
|
1975
|
Jim Sharman
|
Fic.
|
The movie is a queer milestone. I have trouble with
"sweet transvestite from transsexual transylvania." But it was 1975
and the terminology is still evolving today. Transvestite as sexual predator.
The name of the alien planet is Transsexual. The movie confuses gender with
sexuality for shock value.
|
|
SHREK 2,
SHREK THE THIRD
SHREK FOREVER AFTER
|
2004
2007
2010
|
Andrew Adamson
Kelly Asbury
Conrad Vernon
Raman Hui
Chris Miller
Mike Mitchell
|
Fic.
|
Starting with the second film of the franchise, Larry King is the
voice of Doris, an "ugly" stepsister. In the third and fourth
films, Regis Philbin joins him as the voice of Mabel, a second
"ugly" stepsister. In other words, a low pitch in a female voice is
"ugly." Ironic, considering the message of the franchise is
self-acceptance.
I won't elaborate on the consequences to someone who is gender
variant and female identified and has a low pitched voice.
Also, in one Shrek deliberately insults the male villain by implying
he is wearing women's clothes. Another example of using shame to enforce
gender expectations.
|
|
ZEROPHILIA
|
2005
|
Martin Curland
|
Fic.
|
Luke is a zerophiliac. He has the ability to change
his gender. Makes some interesting statements about gender and sexual
orientation. But is a little silly.
|
|
Portrayals
of Gender Identity As a SymPtom of Mental Illness
Film, TV show, video
|
Year
|
Director
|
Fic. or Doc.
|
Description of Portrayal
|
HITCHCOCK
|
2013
|
Sacha Gervasi
|
Fic.
|
Bio-pic about the making of Psycho. The psychology
of Ed Gein (the real life inspiration for Norman Bates) is still fuzzy and
confused after 50+ years as to the nature of his gender variation.
|
PEACOCK
|
2010
|
Michael Lander
|
Fic.
|
Moving and disturbing tale of a gaab man with disociative identity
disorder involving two personalities: one male and one female.
|
PSYCHO
|
1960
|
Alfred Hitchcock
|
Fic.
|
Horror film about a serial killer who dresses up as
his dead mother to butcher people staying at his hotel. The psychological
explanation at the film's conclusion is fairly silly.
|
PSYCHO
|
1998
|
Gus Van Sant
|
Fic.
|
Uninspired remake of the Hitchcock classic.
|
RAISING CAIN
|
1992
|
Brian De Palma
|
Fic.
|
John Lithgow plays a psychotic who at one point
infiltrates a hospital disguised as a female nurse. Why couldn't he disguise
himself as a male nurse? Because he's psychotic, and psychotic men dress as
women?
|
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
|
1975
|
Jim Sharman
|
Fic.
|
The movie is a queer milestone. I have trouble with "sweet
transvestite from transsexual transylvania." But it was 1975 and the
terminology is still evolving today. Transvestite as sexual predator. The
name of the alien planet is Transsexual. The movie confuses gender with
sexuality for shock value.
|
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
|
1991
|
Jonathan Demme
|
Fic.
|
Classic thriller inspired (as was Psycho) by the
real life serial killer Ed Gein. The film, through the character Hannibal
Lecter, specifically states that the serial killer "Buffalo Bill"
is not a true transsexual. His gender variance is a symptom of a personality
disorder. This distinction is often missed by the audience.
|
WIRE IN THE BLOOD: THE MERMAIDS
SINGING (PTS. 1 & 2) -- Season 1, Eps. 1 & 2
|
2002
|
Andrew Grieve
|
Fic.
|
The pilot to a British crime TV program. A uniquely skilled clinical
psychologist volunteers to be a forensic psychologist. Brace yourselves. A
serial killer is torturing and killing homosexual men in gruesome ways
reminiscent of the movie Seven. The homophobic murderer is an MtF TS, for no
reason given other than her mother wouldn't let her help bake when she was a
child.
|
