About ten years ago there was a TV show about crossdressing. I can't remember the name but it didn't last long at all. Maybe two or three episodes. Then there was the book made into a movie about 35 years ago. It was called 'I Want What I Want', starring Anne Heywood. It was about a young man discovered CDing by his father (Harry Andrews). He left home with the intention of becoming Wendy, which he/she did. Of course it involved all the trials and tribulations of a TG person.
I believe it is available on Netflix and Blockbuster and I think if one were to go to LogoTv.com it might be there. It is a Showtime documentary titled Lady or Gentleman. It is narrated by RuPaul (she is quite good with regard to the narration) and the documentary deals with how Hollywood views and addresses cross-dressing. It not only deals with MtF but also FtM. Believe it or not an opinion expressed in the documentary cites the movie Psycho as a pivot point changing the way cross-dressing was viewed going foreward.
The movie 'The World's Fastest Indian' has bits in it with a cross-dressing/TG character and one doesn't have to be a lover/fancier of motorcycles to enjoy it.
While I'm on the subject of movies and pivotal points and motorcycles the movie that changed the general public's view toward motorcyclists stared Marlon Brando and was titled 'The Wild One.' Lee Marvin stared in it too.
Just because the character isn't hetero/isn't married doesn't mean it isn't "honestly" portrayed.
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This is true, however I get the feeling that are a lot more straight crossdressers than there are drag queens, most drag queens are celebrities or performers of some kind. Nothing against drag queens by the way, I would just like to more honesty in TV and movies. Entertainment out of Hollywood has three purposes, the two mentioned earlier (entertaining and making money), but it is also there to shape public opinion and control how people think.Originally Posted by Fab Karen
There's no scientific study to show a majority either way. "Drag queens" are performers- that's different from not being hetero. Breakfast on Pluto for example is noteworthy, though not heterosexual.
[SIZE="3"]Gender is a state of mind[/SIZE]
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This may be true, I think the point I'm trying to make is that Hollywood tries to make people think that a guy who wears women's clothing is gay, and yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but those movies are few and far between. Nothing against gays either, one of my best friends is a gay guy I knew since junior high school, I didn't know he was gay then, to be honest I don't think he even knew.
If your wife is mistaking Jerry Springer for a reliable information source I suggest that you throw your TV away. It isn't doing her any good.
One movie that shows a reasonably good view of a crossdresser is "The World's Fastest Indian." The TG character isn't central to the plot, but she is one of the characters that befriend the main character. No negative portrayal there!
Eryn
"These girls have the most beautiful dresses. And so do I! How about that!" [Kaylee, in Firefly] [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"What do you care what other people think?" [Arlene Feynman, to her husband Richard]
"She's taller than all the women in my family, combined!" [Howard, in The Big Bang Theory]
"Tall, tall girl. The woman could hunt geese with a rake!" [Mary Cooper, in The Big Bang Theory]
Available on Hulu for free:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/242017/ed-wood
Some of the other movies here might be also, but I'm not going to search them all out.
Ed Wood is one of my favorite movies of all time. Not just because Ed is a transvestite, but because the movie is just great in general, it has a lot of funny lines, and Johnny Depp's portrayal of Ed is so endearing, plus Tim Burton did an excellent job of recreating the cinematic style of a 50' B-Movie. Ed himself made a fairly honest portrayal of life as a crossdresser, a film called "Glen or Glenda" mentioned earlier in this thread, but it's a terribly made film. The "Ed Wood" movie deals at one point with the making of it, but Wood was working on such a small budget that he actually has scenes that are just people doing voice over with stock footage running.
For me, I don't feel like in general the issue of crossdressing in movies is really a "gay vs. straight," thing, as much as it is, that most movies that do feature a heterosexual male dressing as a woman, not only is it for comedic value, but there's always got to be a reason why he's doing it. From "Some Like It Hot" to "Tootsie" to "Mrs. Doubtfire" to "Sorority Boys" to "Big Momma's House" to... well you get the point. It's rarely ok for a guy to just "like" to crossdress in a movie.
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Maybe you haven't noticed that because you don't go to enough movies.
Stardust is the most recent one I saw.. robert deniro liked to dress up in private but it was only a small piece of his character and it didn't define him
Also what about boondock saints? Although I'll admit willam defoes character was gay, it's not like he was flamboyant or way over the top
flicker on a TV screen... everything's more than it seems
the mighty backward fall, stare at the lights on the wall
and I swear to this - she felt like velvet
I think if you do a search the topic has come up recently (and often).
The thing I detest about Hollywood is the formulatic approach to drama. I find most major production movies overtly commercial and predictable. I prefer independent and foreign films.
I would like to add "Breakfast on Pluto" and "Ma Vie en Rose" to the list of favorites on this subject.
Warmly,
Sheren Kelly
The movie "I Want What I Want" was terribly depressing. I saw it when it opened so long ago and have a DVD of it now.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Mark Twain
Juwanna Mann (2002) was pretty good ..was suppose to be a comedy .. but it kinda blew up in the actors face ....because he turned out to be a pretty good looking chick ...so it took some of the funny out of it
Joann
This was really funny to me. I know it is not a positive persona of a cross dresser, but it is still pretty funny. If you can't laugh at yourself, you can't laugh at anyone.
Once in a while at my CD support group they'll show a movie or two. I got to see "Just Like A Woman" and "Breakfast On Pluto" earlier this year and I liked them both although I kind of favor "Just Like A Woman" a bit more.
-Audrey
I've seen many of these. And one of the problems you run into when making a movie about crossdressing is that there needs to be some kind of events to move the plot along, or you completely lose the audience. In The Crying Game, we had a very passable transgendered character, but gay and involved with a man. It was very well-handled and respectful, but this person was actually living as a woman, and was transitioning. She may have been a non-op transexual, but most of us don't transition. In Just Like a Woman, the crossdresser takes on corporate intrigue and takes down a company mogul. Interesting, but not altogether realistic. But it did address some everyday activities many of us can relate to. Hedwig was an entertainer, and very disturbed about her transgender issues. Normal involved a male to female transexual, and handled the situation very respectfully, but this guy's life did fall apart around him as a result of his desire to transition.
But most of us are just average Josephines who go about our daily lives and never get involved in any really monumental activities related to our crossdressing. We'd make for some lousy and boring movie plots. It would be nice to have a secondary character here or there who was a successful guy with a wife and maybe some kids, who just happens to also be a crossdresser. No comedic shots at him, no over the top stupidity...just presenting crossdressing for what it is most of the time: simple female emulation.
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I have not seen Soroity Boys, but the other 3 did not actually involve crossdressers. They involved man who were crossdressing as a means to an end. Dustin Hoffman was an out of work actor. Robin Williams was trying to be near his kids after a divorce. Hanks and Scolari were desparate for a relatively inexpensive place to live in NYC, as I remember. They were NOT crossdressers to begin with.
I remember that discussion about "...does size matter?". The home girls got that straightened out in a hurry!
normal starring jessica lange is a great transgender movie, netflix has it
I actually saw "Ed Wood" and liked it. At first he was with a chick who was weirded out by his dressing up, then he hooked up with a girl who was fine with it. I liked that. I never saw "Glen or Glenda", just those few segments that were in Ed Wood.
I always thought that Some Like It Hot with Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe had such an undertow of gay or transgender, but this was the 1950's and Hollywood could only go so far.
Don't forget Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire.
The Belgian/French film Ma Vie En Rose is about a 9 year old boy who is transgender....that's the closest I've seen of any film that grapples with being transgender.
Last edited by NathalieX66; 06-25-2011 at 09:05 PM.
I saw that many years ago when I was a kid. One part I remember that made me laugh was when Jack Lemmon says, "Wait, hold on a second, one of my 'chests' came off!!"
Some like it hot is the only movie i've seen with monroe. I liked it. Thought it was funny. Didn't think it had gay undertones.
Also the movie "white chicks" kinda reminded me of some like it hot. the part where damon waynes dresses up like a man and meets the girl out on the beach.. happens in both movies.
flicker on a TV screen... everything's more than it seems
the mighty backward fall, stare at the lights on the wall
and I swear to this - she felt like velvet
The Drew Cary Show had his brother as a crossdresser and although I don't recall they ever showed him crossdressed, it was referenced in a positive light.
Another recommend for Ed Wood. While it wasn't a huge part of the plot, I thought it was treated with respect, and realism. One of his ladies rejected Ed's CDing, the other was fine with it, and it was an afterthought in their relationship. And, whenever friends of mine talk about the movie, it's always in the context of "wasn't he the guy who made those terrible movies?" not "wasn't he the crossdressing director?" Refreshing for a change.
-Sedona
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