I have seen quite a few movies dealing with MTF trans, but rarely one dealing with FTM. So needless to say, I was very excited to see this. And sadly, I couldn't be anymore disappointed.
This film feels like a straight up gay male film, thanks to a miscasting of epic proportions. While I'm sure Rick Okon is a fine actor, he has no business playing the role he was cast in. There are so many real transgendered actors and actresses out there, struggling to get work like the rest. And yet, they are denied roles that were basically made for them! It seems very hypocritical for a film that wants to express the struggle of being transgendered. They literally slapped prosthetic breasts on a biological male and called it a day. There are no nuances in Rick Okon's performance to give us any clue that we are watching a pre-op transgendered male struggling with his identity. Not even seeing his breasts can fool me into thinking for the briefest second that he is trans.
On top of that, the story was sub par and resembles that of a cheap cliché gay romance flick more than anything. And even that's a stretch, as the romance here is so illogical and poorly done that I was actually irritated when they ended up together. His supposed love interest spends half the film taunting and teasing him, and otherwise humiliating him in public. And then suddenly a light bulb goes off in his head, and we're suddenly supposed to believe that he is instantly redeemed for his transgressions? I don't think so. It is incredibly fake, lacking any semblance of heart.
I also have many objections to the portrayal of trans life and emotions. As a trans person myself, it saddened me to see how pertinent questions and issues were just glossed over to make the film a bit more easily digestible to hetero cis gendered viewers. In a perfect world, this film would clue in cis gendered people as to what many trans people experience and struggle with and feel, while making any fellow trans viewers feel a sense of solace and understanding. I don't expect every LGBT movie to be a "Boy's Don't Cry" style tragedy, but I do expect portrayals of LGBT issues to be respected. This film has no respect and no interest in portraying any issues or struggles a real transman faces in the world.
Lukas is clearly struggling with his transition, and struggling to find his place in the world as a man who still has his female parts. Yet none of the film's events explore that. In fact, the film contradicts itself by not exploring those feelings, trading it in for cheap pseudo-conflict in the form of the mild teasing and taunting he faces. He is striving to be as masculine as possible, and yet the possible conflict he faces while being attracted to a man, which is by the general consensus of society considered "unmasculine", is never really even brought up. It is a simple, watered down portrayal of trans life that I would only recommend to cis heterosexuals that want to watch a film about a minority, without having to ponder their own beliefs and the harsh realities many trans people face everyday.
It's more or less a gay film, with a lead who happens to be trans. It'd be a tad more excusable if there was at least some good drama or romance to be found. And there is not. This could have been an amazing film, and instead it is cheap and even mildly offensive.
This film feels like a straight up gay male film, thanks to a miscasting of epic proportions. While I'm sure Rick Okon is a fine actor, he has no business playing the role he was cast in. There are so many real transgendered actors and actresses out there, struggling to get work like the rest. And yet, they are denied roles that were basically made for them! It seems very hypocritical for a film that wants to express the struggle of being transgendered. They literally slapped prosthetic breasts on a biological male and called it a day. There are no nuances in Rick Okon's performance to give us any clue that we are watching a pre-op transgendered male struggling with his identity. Not even seeing his breasts can fool me into thinking for the briefest second that he is trans.
On top of that, the story was sub par and resembles that of a cheap cliché gay romance flick more than anything. And even that's a stretch, as the romance here is so illogical and poorly done that I was actually irritated when they ended up together. His supposed love interest spends half the film taunting and teasing him, and otherwise humiliating him in public. And then suddenly a light bulb goes off in his head, and we're suddenly supposed to believe that he is instantly redeemed for his transgressions? I don't think so. It is incredibly fake, lacking any semblance of heart.
I also have many objections to the portrayal of trans life and emotions. As a trans person myself, it saddened me to see how pertinent questions and issues were just glossed over to make the film a bit more easily digestible to hetero cis gendered viewers. In a perfect world, this film would clue in cis gendered people as to what many trans people experience and struggle with and feel, while making any fellow trans viewers feel a sense of solace and understanding. I don't expect every LGBT movie to be a "Boy's Don't Cry" style tragedy, but I do expect portrayals of LGBT issues to be respected. This film has no respect and no interest in portraying any issues or struggles a real transman faces in the world.
Lukas is clearly struggling with his transition, and struggling to find his place in the world as a man who still has his female parts. Yet none of the film's events explore that. In fact, the film contradicts itself by not exploring those feelings, trading it in for cheap pseudo-conflict in the form of the mild teasing and taunting he faces. He is striving to be as masculine as possible, and yet the possible conflict he faces while being attracted to a man, which is by the general consensus of society considered "unmasculine", is never really even brought up. It is a simple, watered down portrayal of trans life that I would only recommend to cis heterosexuals that want to watch a film about a minority, without having to ponder their own beliefs and the harsh realities many trans people face everyday.
It's more or less a gay film, with a lead who happens to be trans. It'd be a tad more excusable if there was at least some good drama or romance to be found. And there is not. This could have been an amazing film, and instead it is cheap and even mildly offensive.