So, I was assigned this documentary for a class It's a dive into American transgender history. It focused on six individuals from the 1950s, whose stories were buried within the UCLA Gender Clinic archives.
Now, the movie has a unique approach where they reenact moments from the archives, and they've got real trans actors playing these characters, which is pretty cool. The actors would then get a little bit to talk about their own lives. But here's the thing - while we get these fascinating glimpses, the documentary mainly focuses on the actors and the scholar commenting on the archive. Take Agnes, for example. She's interviewed for a whopping two years, yet we only hear a fraction of what she said. And that's where the documentary falls a bit short.
But don't get me wrong, the documentary does touch on a lot of crucial issues. For instance, Georgia's story sheds light on the harsh realities faced by black trans women, who struggle more than other trans women to find employment opportunities due to racial discrimination. One story that stuck with me was about this trans teen. He was seeking to transition, and their humor was just something else.
There were however some missed opportunities to explore certain themes further. Religion, for example, is briefly mentioned through Georgia's evangelical background and her comment that she reads the bibile.
Moreover, another thing that struck me was how the documentary handled the validity of these archival interviews. What about the discussion of the limitations of the archive? The scholar commenting in this documentary barely scratches the surface, hinting at the amount of deception in the recorded trascript without fully delving into it. I would have enjoyed more critical analysis on this point.
Overall, it's not all action-packed. Some parts drag a bit, and it's not the kind of thing I'd watch for fun. And let's talk about the pacing. There were moments where the scholarly commentary felt disconnected. The constant abstract musings on visibility versus invisibility started to feel repetitive, and I found myself longing for more focus on the archival interviews.
Overall, it's a shallow journey into the past that mostly wants to reflect on the present. It's not gonna leave you with answers, but it'll definitely throw some abstract questions at you.