Movies

[Helana]

Is anyone aware of a serious movie that portrays transgenderism issues realistically. I think accurate and serious portrayals in movies and on TV series is the most likely way forward for us to shift society's views.

The only ones I can think were done correctly were Boys Dont Cry and The Crying Game - and both of these were really TS cases rather than TV.

As long as Hollywood uses the comic angle then we wont make any progress in society - because unlike racism, bigotry, homosexuality, we TG people will not be marching through the city streets demanding our rights. Instead we will mostly stay inside our homes or go for walks in the night or go to gay bars.

I thank those members who are strong enough and are in a position where they can publically display their TG side. However these people are few and far between, 95% of TGs keep their nature quiet.

I feel society needs to be shaken into wakening up to an issue before a general consensus builds up that a certain group are allowed into mainstream society. Even though TG gatherings have exploded since the advent of the internet (thank God for the internet!) we still do not have the audacity, willpower and strength to shake society's beliefs that TG is really just a homosexual thing and something to be snickered at.

If I am correct then we have to rely on other parties sticking up for us - such as film and TV producers and the gay rights movement etc as too many of us (including me) essentially remain in the closet.

[Tamara Croft]

Hiya Helana let me first welcome you to the forum. I have to agree that society does seem to have you hung drawn and quarted. As a GG myself, I can see how hard it is for society to accept you all and I don't agree with it. I mean gay and lesbians have been accepted world wide, but a man goes out in womens clothing... there's always someone going to cause trouble. As for the film industry and those that make episodes like CSI, they haven't really done much other than to presume you are all gay. Until you all can stand on your own 2 feet and scream at the world from the highest mountain and say 'look at me' 'accept me' nothing will change.

Tamara x

[Helana]

Thanks Tammy, you really are all clued up!

Which part of Blighty do you come from?

My girlfriend is a beauty therapist too, in fact I met her after had a make-up session by her uncle who is an effiminate gay, so she was pretty much used to seeing men in frocks around the house. I am so glad I met her. It makes all the difference being able to confide my whole self with her and to be accepted.

[Vickie-CD]

Helana, I really can't think of any off-hand. An interesting note, Jaye Davidson from "The Crying Game" (I really enjoyed that movie), also played "Rah" in the movie "Stargate".
One positive thought, The Crying Game was well recieved by both the critics and the public. it's a start!!
Love,
Vickie

[Vickie-CD]

I almost forgot, in the 1950's Ed Wood (a cross-dresser himself) wrote and directed "Glenn or Glenda". A very low budget movie and pretty much not to good, but it did get distribution. Glenn or Glenda and a few other Ed Wood films still have a cult following.
Vickie

[Tamara Croft]

Which part of Blighty do you come from?

I just had to look that up LOL, I'm from the East Midlands.

Having a CD'r partner has made me look at things in a whole new prospective. Although I never really had a problem with them before, I do see things differently and can understand why men want to crossdress for so many different reasons. There's nothing wrong with it, it's nothing to be ashamed of and I think this is why a lot of CD'rs won't go out in public, apart from the obvious which is getting a good kicking. I mean do correct me if I'm wrong... but that's my opinion. I am very open minded and on a whole I think society needs a kick up the ass... I do hope that in time you all will be accepted as normal... well I think you are normal....it's them that's weird!!! I mean we were born with nothing on... who made it law as to what you can and can't put on your body and face?? You didn't see the Eygptian males getting blasted for wearing skirts and make-up...

Tamara x

[Helana]

I almost forgot, in the 1950's Ed Wood (a cross-dresser himself) wrote and directed "Glenn or Glenda". A very low budget movie and pretty much not to good, but it did get distribution. Glenn or Glenda and a few other Ed Wood films still have a cult following.
Vickie

Yes I saw the Tim Burton film about Ed Wood, but even that was a black comedy. That is probably the only film actually about crossdressing and not transexualism or drag queens. Kinda depressing when you think about it especially if you believe that 5-10% of the population are crossdressers to some degree or another. We must be the biggest social group out there to be totally ignored by society.

[ChristineRenee]

I believe the movie "Normal" is one. Julie M. has mentioned it several times in this forum.

By the way, "Glen or Glenda" written, directed by, and starring Ed Wood (using the pseudoname Daniel Davis) is an absolute scream. A definite guilty pleasure delight. Gives all the Bela Lugosi imitators some great material! :p

Bevare...bevare....take care....:D

Love,
Christine "Pull da strink...PULL DA STRINK!" Renee:p

[Helana]

I just had to look that up LOL, I'm from the East Midlands.

Having a CD'r partner has made me look at things in a whole new prospective. Although I never really had a problem with them before, I do see things differently and can understand why men want to crossdress for so many different reasons. There's nothing wrong with it, it's nothing to be ashamed of and I think this is why a lot of CD'rs won't go out in public, apart from the obvious which is getting a good kicking. I mean do correct me if I'm wrong... but that's my opinion. I am very open minded and on a whole I think society needs a kick up the ass... I do hope that in time you all will be accepted as normal... well I think you are normal....it's them that's weird!!! I mean we were born with nothing on... who made it law as to what you can and can't put on your body and face?? You didn't see the Eygptian males getting blasted for wearing skirts and make-up...

Tamara x

Glasgow myself. Guess that makes us mortal enemies (Braveheart playing loudly in the background) :D

I agree with you entirely. The truth is that most people if they are not confronted with an issue never bother to think about it and just follow society's convention - which unfortunately is old fashioned, conservative and bigoted. That is true for everything, not just crossdressing.

Here is a quandry though. As a Scotsman, I can put on a kilt and walk around town and nobody would think anything of it. It is an accepted male attire. Because it is male attire, I have no interest in wearing one even though it is essentially a skirt. The whole point about crossdressing for me is essentially to live out a fantasy, to fulfil a wish to be somebody else, to experince life from a different viewpoint.

I think the man who puts on his David Beckham England shirt when he goes out for a game of football with the lads is as much crossdressing as we are. While he is playing, he is Beckham and can create magic on the field. Its just that we take that fantasy to the extreme - after all, crossing over the gender divide is about as divergent as you can get. I think that scares people as well as homophobia and conservative values.

The fact that we go places and experience things that others are afraid to also erects a barrier between us and society. Basically society just does not "get" what crossdressing is all about. But I know that I and my girlfriend are much better people for sharing this together.

[Helana]

Christine

Thanks for the info. I have never heard of "Normal" so I looked it up and it says it is about a transsexual wanting a sex change operation. I think TSs and TVs are directly related so I welcome any movie dealing with TS issues as they are relevant to TVs too, but again my point is where are the movies about transvestites who probably outnumber transsexuals 1,000 to 1.

[Vickie-CD]

Yes I saw the Tim Burton film about Ed Wood, but even that was a black comedy. That is probably the only film actually about crossdressing and not transexualism or drag queens. Kinda depressing when you think about it especially if you believe that 5-10% of the population are crossdressers to some degree or another. We must be the biggest social group out there to be totally ignored by society.
Helena, you are right, it is depressing. I'm a big movie fan and would love to see a "good" movie about people like us. You know, movies about gay relationships are no longer taboo, and thats good, but we are being ignored. Hopefully one day a film-maker will be bold enough to take the first step.
Love,
Vickie :)

[Vickie-CD]

I believe the movie "Normal" is one. Julie M. has mentioned it several times in this forum.

By the way, "Glen or Glenda" written, directed by, and starring Ed Wood (using the pseudoname Daniel Davis) is an absolute scream. A definite guilty pleasure delight. Gives all the Bela Lugosi imitators some great material! :p

Bevare...bevare....take care....:D

Love,
Christine "Pull da strink...PULL DA STRINK!" Renee:p
Hi Christine, it's me again. I have never seen the movie "Normal", guess I need to check it out. Glad you mentioned Ed Wood, now I know I'm not the only one here that has watched his films. Have you ever seen any of John Waters films before he went Hollywood, such as "Pink Flamingo's". Divine is so funny. I don't think John Waters would have ever been noticed if it were not for Divine.
Love,
Vickie
:) P.S. it's cold in Florida this morning!!!!!

[ChristineRenee]

Hi Christine, it's me again. I have never seen the movie "Normal", guess I need to check it out. Glad you mentioned Ed Wood, now I know I'm not the only one here that has watched his films. Have you ever seen any of John Waters films before he went Hollywood, such as "Pink Flamingo's". Divine is so funny. I don't think John Waters would have ever been noticed if it were not for Divine.
Love,
Vickie
:) P.S. it's cold in Florida this morning!!!!!You mean the same guy who directed Polyester, Hairspray, Cry Baby, Divine Trash, Female Trouble, I Wanna Be A Beauty Queen, Mondo Trasho, and Serial Mom?

Uh...no...never heard of him.:rolleyes: :o

[jennysueaz]

The only movie I saw that did not try to make fun of CD'ing was :

Just Like a Woman (1992) dir: Christopher Monger.
Adrian Pasdar, Julie Walters
A story of two lovers learning to understand the one partner's crossdressing.

This movie is available on VHS in the old movie section of Amazon.

this forum is fantastic. I am new and look forwaed to lots of conversations with all of you wonderful women.

hugs.

[Tamara Croft]

Hiya Jennysueaz

Welcome to our little home. Looking forward to your posts and your avatar is really kewl :)

Tamara x

P.S. sorry for hijacking the post :p

[ChristineRenee]

Hi Jenny,

What Tamara said...welcome to the insane asylum. Show you around?....:)


Luv,
Christine "The thread hijacker extraordinaire" Renee:cool: ;)

[Vickie-CD]

You mean the same guy who directed Polyester, Hairspray, Cry Baby, Divine Trash, Female Trouble, I Wanna Be A Beauty Queen, Mondo Trasho, and Serial Mom?

Uh...no...never heard of him.:rolleyes: :o
Yep, thats him. I think we watch the same movies!!!
Vickie :)

[Lawren]

Hi, Helena.
You may like the movie, "(To Wong Fu), Thanks for Everything, (Julie Newmar)" with Patrick Swaze. It's a sort of whimsical adventure about 3 gay CDs on a trip across the states. It may not be 100% true to life but it does depict some of the issues that CDs have to deal with.
Lawren

[christine55]

About a little boy who wants to be a girl. Dresses in girl's clothes, French
language film, very well received by critics.
Hugs, Christine

[Wendy me]

a soldgers girl on show time

[Deina]

I haven't seen Just Like a Woman in years, but would love to see it again!

The only movie that I can think of that hasn't already been mentioned would have to be Priscilla, Queen of the Desert which I find to be a less Disney-esq version of To Wong Foo

Someone made a brief mention of Soldiers Girl, based on the true story of the murder of Army PFC Barry Winchell at Ft. Campbell, KY. My main complaint about this movie is that, yes, soldiers do use a word starting with the letter "f" at least once in every sentence. After 24 years in the service I know this, and I think most everyone else knows it as well, but the foul language detracted from the story and prevented a lot of the people who needed to see it from watching the movie.

Deina

[StephanieCD]

I want to write one and have toyed with several script outlines... I'm afraid it'd have to be a blockbuster for me to submit it though - it's comfy in my closet ;)

I knew a gay guy once who didn't know I dress - he went off a couple of times about the CDers at a gay club. He led me to believe that even among some of the gay community crossdressing is frowned upon as it's like dressing like the enemy. Which confused me a bit because the same guy drove 2 hours to see Dame Edna.

It's touchy. Media has enormous power. I've considered writing to Larry Wachowski - one of the writers of the Matrix - who is heavily believed to be transitioning or at least a CDer... to urge him to use his status to fight for us. Let's petition him!! One good movie could make it ok for guys to wear heels :) Or at least a well made corset...? Awwww come on! How bout a shawl? Just a friggin' shawl is all I'm askin'!

Well, maybe the heels, too.

[racheal]

You know, it's funny that the 'crying game' was mentioned in the first thread, that movie had a 'profound' affect on me when I watched it at the age of 13, when I started to play with bras at that time. It stirred up quite a few emotions, that movie...

[Vickie-CD]

You know, it's funny that the 'crying game' was mentioned in the first thread, that movie had a 'profound' affect on me when I watched it at the age of 13, when I started to play with bras at that time. It stirred up quite a few emotions, that movie...
A very,very good movie!
Vickie :)

[ChristineRenee]

Christine

Thanks for the info. I have never heard of "Normal" so I looked it up and it says it is about a transsexual wanting a sex change operation. I think TSs and TVs are directly related so I welcome any movie dealing with TS issues as they are relevant to TVs too, but again my point is where are the movies about transvestites who probably outnumber transsexuals 1,000 to 1.I totally agree with you Helana. It is unfortunate for us that there are not more movies that would deal openly and honestly (Hollywood...honest?) about CD's.

I went to my first therapist regarding being a CD back in 1991 when I was 40. I had already been a CD by that time for 29 years. I could tell no one about it, had no support group or person to fall back on. I felt totally alone and isolated. Worst of all, I thought I was the only person who was like that and I could never understand where this need, and that's exactly what it was, a need, came from, as my childhood environment did not indicate anything that could be even remotely tied in to CD'ing. I was pretty much an emotional basket case by the time I had my first session with the therapist. She indicated to me then, and remember now, this is 1991 we are talking about, almost 14 years ago, that studies that had recently come out had shown that 80% of adult males had had at least 1 instance of crossdressing in their lives. That doesn't mean necessarily that they continued on with it, but that 80% of adult males had at least TRIED it 1 time. Given that CD'ing is an addiction, and, so far at least, incurable, what does that tell you about the prospect of our possibly not so "secret society" being much larger than mainstream society has any clue about?:eek:


Luv,
Christine Renee

[Helana]

Hi, Helena.
You may like the movie, "(To Wong Fu), Thanks for Everything, (Julie Newmar)" with Patrick Swaze. It's a sort of whimsical adventure about 3 gay CDs on a trip across the states. It may not be 100% true to life but it does depict some of the issues that CDs have to deal with.
Lawren

Yes seen it, it is based on Priscilla and a bit too Hollywood for my taste. The best thing about it is how the Hollywood custume designers designed their clothers to make 2 big guys look feminine - you can actually get a lot of good tips by looking at how they managed that. I could see that they were adopting many of the tricks I use myself plus a few I had not thought about.

[Helana]

You know, it's funny that the 'crying game' was mentioned in the first thread, that movie had a 'profound' affect on me when I watched it at the age of 13, when I started to play with bras at that time. It stirred up quite a few emotions, that movie...

When I watched the film, I had no idea what it was about so I was clueless that she was actually a boy - it came as a complete shock to me. In fact he was so good in that role that I was convinced at the time that he was a gg and they had just stuck fake genitals on her. It was only years later that I found out that Jaye Davidson really was male.

When you consider Hillary Swank got an Oscar for playing a transsexual, then how come Jaye Davidson got nothing for his part which I believe was far more convincing and better acted. He did not even get nominated. Talk about double standards.

[racheal]

Last night (really late) I finished watching 'Bring It On". God how I want to get one of those cheerleader outfits. I think that I would look like the BOMB in one. (When shaven of course :)). I think I'll have to start searching on e0Bay for one my size again. Maybe all you girls may know where to find a cheerleader outfit? Let me know if you do. Thanks...

[Sweet Susan]

I have never seen a transgender issue movie that I was happy with. I feel that virtually all of them with the exception of Just Like A Woman ultimately made crossdressers or transvestites or transgendered people out to be something to laugh at. The Crying Game was simply smashing, and it went beyond the crossdressing thing. Jaye Davidson, as portrayed in The Crying Game, was one of the sexiest things I've ever seen in my life. I honestly believe that she could seduce 999 out of 1000 straight men with barely a glitch.

To Wong Foo and Julie Newmar were funny and mass camp, but they were over the top and seemed to me to be more about gay men than crossdressers or transvestites. My only problem with Just Like A Woman is that it was too bland, though I was grateful that the protagonist wasn't too outrageous.

There is another one, and it might be Normal, though I can't remember the name, but it was about an English man and his best friend from childhood. The protagonist was a genderbender from his early years. The movie showed him dealing with it as a boy, then a teen, then as a young man. Finally, he lives as a woman. Not sure if he got a sex change. Anyway, he one day while he is out and about as a woman, he runs into his old high school chum. The chum is shell-shocked by what he sees, but they restart their friendship, though on different terms. Naturally, they become romantically involved, and the chum has to learn to deal with his new desires, much like Rea did in The Crying Game. I can't remember how it ends, but I do remember that they are lovers for most of the remainder of the film. This is probably the best one that I have seen. Does anybody know the name of it?

[Olivia]

When "Just like a woman" first came out, early 90s I guess, my wife and I went to Austin one sunday afternoon just to see it. I had read a review in the Austin paper and couldn't wait to see it. I wore red lace panties and matching, red garter belt and stockings beneath my jeans. I just couldn't muster up the courage to wear the matching red lace bra I had.lol The movie was a lot of fun. There were about four other couples there and a few other individuals. I thought it was pretty good and my wife enjoyed it as well. The 2 hour ride home was the best memory I have of this trip however. We talked; I should say, I talked a lot and she listened, and so many things came out that I had never discussed even with her. I guess it was quite a cathartic experience for me and maybe both of us. It's interesting how the movie served as a catalyst for this moving episode in our lives. Later girls, Olivia.

[Helana]

Susan

Your description jogged a memory. I think the film you are referring to is called "Different for Girls" made by the good old BBC. I have not seen it myself but it looks to be a serious look at transsexualism and is recommended in reader's reviews. Anyone else seen this?

[fast_halley]

Have any of you girls seen 'Britney Baby One More Time'? If you can go into it with a sense of humor, I think you would enjoy it. It's sort of a mockumentary about a guy doing a documentary about a true life story of a Britney Spears Impersonator, who's a CD, who has a run-in with the real-life Diva herself.

[Jiera]

Is anyone aware of a serious movie that portrays transgenderism issues realistically. I think accurate and serious portrayals in movies and on TV series is the most likely way forward for us to shift society's views.

The only ones I can think were done correctly were Boys Dont Cry and The Crying Game - and both of these were really TS cases rather than TV.

As long as Hollywood uses the comic angle then we wont make any progress in society - because unlike racism, bigotry, homosexuality, we TG people will not be marching through the city streets demanding our rights. Instead we will mostly stay inside our homes or go for walks in the night or go to gay bars.

I thank those members who are strong enough and are in a position where they can publically display their TG side. However these people are few and far between, 95% of TGs keep their nature quiet.

I feel society needs to be shaken into wakening up to an issue before a general consensus builds up that a certain group are allowed into mainstream society. Even though TG gatherings have exploded since the advent of the internet (thank God for the internet!) we still do not have the audacity, willpower and strength to shake society's beliefs that TG is really just a homosexual thing and something to be snickered at.

If I am correct then we have to rely on other parties sticking up for us - such as film and TV producers and the gay rights movement etc as too many of us (including me) essentially remain in the closet.

I think I've posted about this film somewhere else on this site, but there's a documentary called "Creature" that is the story of a transsexual from the south. She is now a TS porn star named Barbie. It's more about being a transsexual than being a CD, so I don't know if it's what you want.

Ji

[sherri]

Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers a tragic but powerful tour de force performance as a CD saving up for SRS in "Flawless", starring de Niro.

Two gay crossdressers show up briefly in what I think are sympathetic, well- acted roles in Sweet November, starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves.