Transophobia

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1855389977/

The movie Ma Vie en Rose which chronicles the life of Ludo, a young boy who more closely identifies with the female gender. This is called either transgenderism or transvitism. Ludo, who is seven years old, does not have any knowledge of adult sexuality and is often confused why his desire to be a girl is considered different or wrong. The movie Ma Vie en Rose is rated "R" for brief strong language in the film, according to the MPAA. Those who have seen the movie would agree that the "strong language" is nothing worse than most Adam Sandler movies that are rated PG-13. This disparity in the rating system leads many people to think that there is a case of either transphobia or homophobia in the MPAA. Since there is no evidence that Ludo in the movie, that he is gay, it leads me to believe that there is a transphobia going on. In fact, I would say Ludo is heterosexual because he only wants to marry his neighbor Jerome after he becomes a girl.

Transgenderism from male to female disturbs some particularly when displayed in film especially when it involves children. What is the significance of this? According to Ken Corbett and Michael R. Schiavi, the cultural norm is to presume children are either asexual or latently heterosexual. Any person that has feelings that could connotate homosexuality have no story to tell until he or she reach puberty allowing he or she to be sexually active and present some type of informed reason to make this decision. What is the significance of this? Ludo is a seven year old boy, by the definition of Corbett, he would have no story to tell. What is the significance of this? Ludo obviously has a story to tell but must follow it under a different definition. Pat Califilia states that differently-gendered subjects live in a discourse where other people are investigating you, describing you, and speaking for you. What is the significance of this? In the film, Ludo is constantly being coersed into agreeing with authority figures with his ideas about his gender identification.

So what does this have to do with the unwarranted "R" rating by the MPAA? This is one of the first forrays into film to discuss the idea of transgenderism in children. This film shows that not all children are latently heterosexual or asexual but can be either "differently-gendered" or homosexual. However, since it was one of the first films to discuss these issues, it was unfairly punished for it because of transphobia. The fear by many of those judging is that they will affect children's own ideas. Since younger viewers are perceived by the public to either be latently heterosexual or asexual, the fear is that this movie could change children't minds to be something closer to homosexuality or transgender.

Listed Below is a link to a website that helped inspire the blog post: http://www.thirdtablet.com/WhyIsMaVieEnRoseRatedR/

Castration and Far From Heaven

In the movie Far from Heaven, all acts by the characters in order to gratify their sexual urges are quickly followed by some form of punishment. What is the significance of this? According to psychoanalysis, this is a form of the punishment of castration that is often associated with the oedipus complex. What is the significance of the oedipus complex in the movie Far from Heaven? According to Lampl-De Groot's essay "The Evolution of the Oedipus Complex in Women", the child renounces his first love-object in order to retain his penis. In psychoanalysis, the penis represents power. Frank denounces his homosexuality to not only retain his job but also to stay in his marriage where he also maintains the power.
Are the punishments for trying to gratify their sexual urges accurate representation of castration according to psychoanalysis? Now, as noted before, the penis generally represents power, so the loss of a penis would be the loss of power. There were five instances in the movie that I found where one of the characters was trying to gratify their urges and were punished for it.
The first one is where Kathy is trying to sleep with Frank in the bedroom. He turns her down saying that he's too tired. The look on Kathy's face is steeped in rejection. The loss of power in this scene is that she is no longer able to entice her husband. The second scene that I noticed is when Kathy visits Frank at his office. Because of the surprise Frank and his lover break a lamp in his office. The lamp is pretty phallic, in general. The fact that it is broken could be taken as a sign for castration. However, the next day the secretary, finds the broken lamp in Frank's closet. This fact leads to an uncomfortable exchange where Frank has to try to explain why the broken lamp is in his closet. Frank loses some credibility because of this and has a chance to lose his job.
After the party at their house, Frank tries to sexually attack Kathy. After a few seconds of general uncomfotableness, Frank breaks down and hits Kathy. The loss of power in this scene is that Frank is crying which is taken as a loss of masculinity and Kathy's loss of power is that her appearance is damaged. The next scene that I noticed was when Kathy is dancing with Raymond. She really wants to dance with Raymond, however in doing so, she is opening herself up. This is a loss of power because she is leaving herself vulnerable. The last scene that I noticed was in the hotel room between Frank and his lover. After this scene, Frank loses his wife and family. Whatever power he had with his family, was lost because of his inability to control his sexual urges.

Marx Dancing in the Dark

In the movie, Dancer in the Dark, the main character, Selma, frequently has daydreams that result in musical sequences. These sequences are filmed at different camera angles and the overall picture is different. This is because the musical sequences are shot with multiple cameras instead of just the single hand held one that is used for the rest of the movie. However, there is one musical sequence that is different than the rest. The last musical scene or as it is called "The Next to Last Song", is filmed with the same camera angle as the rest of the movie and filmed with the same picture type.
The last musical sequence takes place with Selma about to be hanged. As she is singing, the camera stays with her and the quality of the picture does not change. The fact that this song does not get shot in the same way as the other musical sequences leads me to believe that she was actually singing this time. The other musical sequences involve every other character in the scene. This one scene, nobody else is involved in the singing, and the other characters in the scene are even giving looks as if to say why is she singing?
The other musical scenes involve her escaping her life in some way. The scene before this one, she is singing on her way to the gallows to actually be able to walk. Other times, she is seen singing and dancing while she is at work to delay the monotony. Karl Marx writes that "animals produce onesidedly whilst man produces universally." He also states that "an animal only produces what it immediately nees for its own or its young." In this way, Selma is seen producing like an animal due to the alienation she feels at work.
However, at the end of the movie, with the last musical scene, she is finally producing universally instead of just protecting her young. Her friend is obsessed with trying to save her from death for the good of her son Gene. What is the significance? This way she can still raise him. What is the significance of being able to raise him? Selma, having suffered through the same eye disorder, could help Gene deal with it. What is the significance of having to deal with it? She saved up money to pay for his surgery so he would not suffer later. How does the surgery show she is producing universally? While it seems like it is merely protecting her young, she is clearly not producing for his immediate needs but to satisfy a need that will arise later. What is the significance of her singing by herself then? By singing all by herself she is showing that only through her own alienation can she truly find what she is supposed to do. When she is with the different groups of people she has to act in accordance with them. However, when she's by herself, it is only her making the decisions.