tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post3600196580242642116..comments2024-02-05T16:40:42.711-08:00Comments on Skip the Makeup: Tomboy... an experiment in indentity.Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11126067426459920339noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-92232662588020094192015-11-21T11:24:06.144-08:002015-11-21T11:24:06.144-08:00After just watching this movie as I am trans and t...After just watching this movie as I am trans and thought it would be realistic, i wasn't wrong, at least from my point of view. Mikael passes as a boy, they all believe him, but he is ashamed of being who he really is at home. His sister seems very accepting of who he is inside, his father seems distraught but not as bad as his mother. His mother might as well have burned him alive in public because thats what it seems to have felt like for Mikael. As far as the ending, it made me cry to see the pain in his eyes once he was forced to be Laure at all times. The fild was very well made and the actors were great, but the plot was poorly constucted as there was no real solution to the problem.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17560489579082407912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-87655365458193454102013-10-24T17:52:43.826-07:002013-10-24T17:52:43.826-07:00I have to disagree. The last word sets the mood t...I have to disagree. The last word sets the mood that Mickael got what he "deserved" for "lying". I was nauseated with how his mother treated him; she completely ridiculed him and also took away Mickael's own right to determine who he is. The other children continue with a same note (they get a small pass for being kids as kids are really cruel), and the film makes us believe that this is okay. At no point, does the film make us feel that the other people around Mickael are wrong, and shouldn't abuse him like that. Even his dad kinda tells him to forget this silliness, 'cos it's all going to be alright, since everything will go back to NORMAL.<br /><br />I cannot see how this is an uplifting film? Only parts that are uplifting are when Mickael is with his little sister. Othervice it was painful to watch. It's horrible to see someone denied their identity (whether it's gender, hobby etc.), really crushing.<br /><br />Also, even if Mickael had just been a girl playing around (which he clearly wasn't, you can tell by his reactions) how everyone treated him was still horrible and plain wrong. The film doesn't pass on that feeling, it just brushes away all of the main characters pain, like it never happened, and we're supposed to move on.<br /><br />In conclusion, I think the film is well made, the actors and actresses are all great, but the message is lost in good intentions but bad execution. If the director wanted to make a lesbian film, she should've done a lesbian film, and not another seemingly trans-film which has the message "you can struggle all you want; we as a society won't accept you as you are, but as we want you to be" which I think is a crappy message to send to anyone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-16588590739721759372012-12-14T22:08:24.612-08:002012-12-14T22:08:24.612-08:00I thought the ending was vary appropriate. Mickael...I thought the ending was vary appropriate. Mickael had lied to Lisa, Lisa had stood up for him, and he felt he should tell her the truth. The way Mickael told Lisa his/her name, his tone and facial expression showed the conflict between his identity and birth name/gender. I feel the movie portrayed a child questioning his/her social (possibly gender) identity. Besides Lisa and Mickael where in a complicated (age appropriate)relationship. I think they where friends, that had a crush on each other. Lisa sees (saw) him as a boy, Mickael feels like a boy, and they had feelings for each other. The last word in the movie is fitting, it resolves the plot. The rising action of the film started with unintentional one-word "lie" to Lisa and was resolved by telling her his female birth name name. In the movie's conclusion Lisa still sees him as a boy (tomboy or transgendered, and Mickael is forced to face the fact that he is biological female. (which doesn't mean he now sees himself as a girl.) I don't think his journey of self discovery has finished, but rather just beginning. For everyone that liked this movie, can I suggest a similar 1997 French film Ma vie en rose (My Life in Pink). It is similar but with the opposite twist.Grasshopperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683108866837908323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-29414130391779714712012-02-22T17:09:34.915-08:002012-02-22T17:09:34.915-08:00I just got back from seeing the movie, and OH MY G...I just got back from seeing the movie, and OH MY GOD the mother was a horrible character. I was never as mad at a character than her. She was just a horrible transphobic witch. It's the few moments where I regret watching a movie.Hannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17705666638264163453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-4059425755987005222012-01-09T10:45:27.407-08:002012-01-09T10:45:27.407-08:00Thanks for this - I've linked to it on my blog...Thanks for this - I've linked to it on my blog.<br /><br />Right up until the last minute, I was sure the film was about a trans boy not a butch babydyke. Even knowing in advance that the director wouldn't answer definitely, even with the answer in the last few seconds, I thought that just left it open, not confirmed either way. Mikael presents as a boy throughout - and I got from what the mother said that he's done it before, though not so successfully or thoroughly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-40074097364964897322011-12-09T10:01:41.343-08:002011-12-09T10:01:41.343-08:00@Tiger: I can certainly see people of varying IDs ...@Tiger: I can certainly see people of varying IDs and experiences reacting to the ending differently. I'm sure many non-trans people would find it "hopeful, cute & optimistic." I shared your experience, especially because the rest of the film, up to that last few seconds, seems waaay more about a trans boy than a tomboy. And if the director doesn't think Mikael is trans (in a recent interview in Original Plumbing she said she's not saying), then I think she's appropriating a lot of trans experience to pad out her film.Ginahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126067426459920339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-65025773943304471552011-12-08T12:59:02.798-08:002011-12-08T12:59:02.798-08:00I want to echo your complaint about the ending str...I want to echo your complaint about the ending strengthen it-- after a beautiful movie, i found the ending totally traumatizing and transphobic. Whether or not the main character goes on to identify as male or female, gender fluid, etc, later in life, this film does not even suggest the existence of these options. In the scene where the mother is outing Mikael/Laure to neighbors, she vocalizes this, saying "I don't see any other option. Do you?" Mikael/Laure doesn't, and neither, it appears, does the director. The message I received was, "lie about your gender and you will be punished." Ick. And, get it together, France! Ma Vie En Rose came out like 15 years ago. No excuse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-5800312818386286472011-11-29T08:18:19.811-08:002011-11-29T08:18:19.811-08:00@Maddox: Yup, I've been thinking about the fil...@Maddox: Yup, I've been thinking about the film some more the past few days and, in retrospect, feel even stronger about that point. That said, it's still an excellent film and I hope no one would take a pass on it because of that. :)Ginahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126067426459920339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774093333515644935.post-21164161028016037062011-11-28T18:17:28.196-08:002011-11-28T18:17:28.196-08:00(WARNING: spoilers?)
Curiously enough I *just* sa...(WARNING: spoilers?)<br /><br />Curiously enough I *just* saw this film this weekend. And I echo your sentiments exactly. Both my spouse and I felt that the movie left us completely deflated by the utterance of the very last word. I kind of wanted to yell "NO! Rewind! It can't be!" It would've been an entirely different movie had this word been switched. <br /><br />It seems the current ending (as you point out) emphasizes a possibly fluid identity, lending it a more butch/tomboy slant rather than a trans one. But given that the rest of the movie brings home the portrayal of a "trans boy" I felt this was a major betrayal on the part of the director.maddoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04724703551253667180noreply@blogger.com