I was over the moon about this movie, since it's not often Hollywood produces something like this. We don't have many LGBTQ+ movies, and we sorely lack representation.
But I was severely disappointed. Firstly, the movie isn't actually about Ray. The protagonist is Ray's mom, an 18-year-old in the body of a grown up (at some point she complains her lesbian mothers are breaking up with her, because they suggest she might move out of their house). She is trying and mostly fails to support Ray in transition (which is odd, since she mentions years of therapy with him), misgendering him several times throughout the movie and expressing doubts about the authenticity of his experience. She acts completely immaturely where Ray's father(s?) are involved, which is a major subplot for some reason. The biological father and one of the grandmothers often misgender him and direct transphobia at him. In addition, a lot of Ray's own experience of gender, conveyed through his videos, seems to be based off gender roles (him saying he'd rather be a race-car driver or a cowboy than a princess) and that made me doubt the writers actually did any research on trans individuals and gender identity.
The fact is that the creators of the movie had an amazing opportunity to bring out an interesting story of someone that is often overlooked in film and thus can offer a new perspective to the viewer. Instead, they chose to push Ray into the background and focus on the emotionally immature mother and her weird love triangle. A FILM THAT WAS MADE TO HIGHLIGHT THE EXPERIENCE OF A STIGMATIZED AND UNDER-REPRESENTED MINORITY DEVOLVED TO THE POINT WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE Plot line IS WHITE/RICH/STRAIGHT/CISGENDER CHARACTERS' DRAMA THAT CENTERS AROUND FURTHER STIGMATIZING/DISENFRANCHISING THAT SAME MINORITY. To me, the movie felt plastic. I don't know what it was trying to do, but it felt like the story was just an afterthought. If it ends up raising awareness somehow, great. But in the end, it's just a bad movie.
But I was severely disappointed. Firstly, the movie isn't actually about Ray. The protagonist is Ray's mom, an 18-year-old in the body of a grown up (at some point she complains her lesbian mothers are breaking up with her, because they suggest she might move out of their house). She is trying and mostly fails to support Ray in transition (which is odd, since she mentions years of therapy with him), misgendering him several times throughout the movie and expressing doubts about the authenticity of his experience. She acts completely immaturely where Ray's father(s?) are involved, which is a major subplot for some reason. The biological father and one of the grandmothers often misgender him and direct transphobia at him. In addition, a lot of Ray's own experience of gender, conveyed through his videos, seems to be based off gender roles (him saying he'd rather be a race-car driver or a cowboy than a princess) and that made me doubt the writers actually did any research on trans individuals and gender identity.
The fact is that the creators of the movie had an amazing opportunity to bring out an interesting story of someone that is often overlooked in film and thus can offer a new perspective to the viewer. Instead, they chose to push Ray into the background and focus on the emotionally immature mother and her weird love triangle. A FILM THAT WAS MADE TO HIGHLIGHT THE EXPERIENCE OF A STIGMATIZED AND UNDER-REPRESENTED MINORITY DEVOLVED TO THE POINT WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE Plot line IS WHITE/RICH/STRAIGHT/CISGENDER CHARACTERS' DRAMA THAT CENTERS AROUND FURTHER STIGMATIZING/DISENFRANCHISING THAT SAME MINORITY. To me, the movie felt plastic. I don't know what it was trying to do, but it felt like the story was just an afterthought. If it ends up raising awareness somehow, great. But in the end, it's just a bad movie.