Housekeeping

OK, just a few things to make sure we're all on the same reel, because
people have been very busy lately with vacations and jobs and moving and
singing contests and whatnot. My understanding is that Ben will begin
discussion of Cyrano sometime tomorrow or shortly thereafter, so this
would be a good time for last-minute thoughts on Transamerica. And
Christy is due to pick the next film. Driftwood follows her (assuming
he did not join some primitive polygamous commune while climbing in
the wilds of Utah). Have I forgotten anything?

On the road

What did you think of this as a road movie? — that hallowed American film tradition where two or more people, ususally at odds in some way, get in a car and drive across our beautiful country, usually from East to West (in true frontier spirit), and end up closer to each other, or with a greater understanding of themselves, at the end of the trip. Did Transamerica just follow the cliche route of road movies, or did it take some unexpected detours?

For comparison, here are some road movies I thought of: Little Miss Sunshine, Thelma and Louise, Dumb and Dumber, Another Day in Paradise (this is fantastic), Kalifornia, Lost in America, the Wizard of Oz ... a million others.

(What is your favorite road movie, by the way?)

Sexualities

And what did you make of Toby? Particularly his sexuality. He had been abused as a child (by someone who was not openly gay but was masquerading as a "normal" married heterosexual). He learned that sex was a valuable commodity, that he could make money at it and survive. In the end, he is making a living as a gay porn star. And yet, the only time we see him being sexually affectionate for no monetary gain is with the teenaged girl at the truck stop — and when he very touchingly offers to marry Bree, a woman, and accept her for who she is, before he learns of the blood relation. Are we supposed to think of him as straight, gay, bisexual, or is the point that it's all fluid and it doesn't matter in the slightest as long as he feels sexually free and content? Are the filmmakers making a point about labels?

And, on a related note, what did you think of Bree's response to the transsexual party? She was put off by their openness, by their unwillingness or inability to quietly "pass" for the opposite gender. I think this was a really important scene. Being in their midst made her feel freakish, like she wasn't entirely comfortable with the whole enterprise after all. Toby's unflinching acceptance of them made a telling commentary perhaps on Bree's worldview not being as expansive as she thinks it is. I think it's common in the gay world, too, where people who feel like they are straight looking and acting — people who need to "pass" — are dismayed by flamboyant behavior in men and "butch" behavior in women. Paul Monette, in his fantastic book "Becoming a Man," writes very eloquently of how he had that exact same feeling and that as he matured and became more comfortable and confident in his own skin he started becoming unconditionally accepting of others: femme, fey, butch, queen, bear, "straight-acting," etc. ad infinitum. It just had no relevance anymore. Just let people be.

Moms

I thought some of the strongest scenes in the movie were toward the end, when Bree and Toby visited the parents. Fionnula Flanagan as the dysfunctional, abnormally tanned matriarch was especially awesome. As soon as we meet her we get an immediate, palpable sense of what it must have been like to grow up with her as a "normal" kid, let alone a "special" kid, and it really adds a deep dimension to the film and our understanding of Bree. The affection that she lavishes on Toby — as a reward for being a "normal" masculine boy (little does she know) contrasts sharply with the vitriol and iciness she exhibits toward Bree. The pivotal moment in the movie for me was when she told Bree, "Don't do this awful thing to yourself, please. I miss my son." And Bree responds: "Mom, you never had a son." That was when I stopped thinking, "Oh, this is a guy who wants to be a woman," and started thinking, "Oh, this has always been a woman."

But what did you make of the mom being so over the top? Super bleached hair, permanent suntan, gaudy clothes, tiny "sex maniac" dog, dramatic mannerisms. She looked almost like a drag queen, I thought — sort of a caricature of a woman, or at least someone who went to great pains to maintain her "womanly" charms. Bree even points out that her mom, like her, has to take hormones, to prop up the illusion of femininity. Thoughts?

TRANSAMERICA

Rush, I know you are busy with your new career, but if you don't get us started soon, we'll all just start babbling. AEL is up to pick the next movie, if she wants, and then it goes to Ben.

Rush's pick: TransAmerica

I saw this about a month ago and just loved it. I think that there's a lot to discuss!

http://www.transamerica-movie.com/

You can check out this site, but just know that pretty much the entire dang movie is in the preview. So I'd suggest not watching it.

Felicity Huffman is amazing.