transthings
Public recs post of books & movies that would probably interest you if you liked the pumpkin. I've read/seen most of these (unless I say I haven't) and can more or less vouch for them. Fiction & non & film, mtf & ftm & other, not in any order:
Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein
Sex Changes by Patrick Califia
Michael Tolliver Lives and all the Tales of the City books by Armistead Maupin (read MTL in one sitting, was like crack after missing Tales of the City so much for so many years!)
Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg (and also Stone Butch Blues. & also Feinberg's website)
Body Alchemy by Loren Cameron
Different for Girls (1996) (OMG I love how at the end they turn into superheroes on motorbikes!)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Boys Don't Cry
All About My Mother
Before Night Falls (Johnny Depp! Johnny Depp!!!)
There was also this series of documentaries making the rounds in the 90s, I remember seeing them at various places in New England--one of them was basically life histories of transmen (You Don't Know Dick), with Loren Cameron being one of them. There was also a *fascinating* documentary about a bunch of drag queens and pre and post op transsexuals living somewhere really gritty, not sure where, mostly homeless prostitutes, and then this christian weirdo converts a bunch of them back into being men, which they do in a very self-aware, savvy way, one of them suggesting that this guy just likes their tits. It was a great movie but I doubt it's in wide distribution--saw it at a very small gendery film fest where one of my dear friends from college (transitioning to male at the time) called me "dad" when I strong armed my way to the booth to buy him a t-shirt b/c nobody was listening to him. Anyway.
If you're in a more hardcore theoryhead mood, try Jay Prosser, brilliant man.
Falling in Love with Chris and Greg, an excellent TV show, still being produced & released on youtube, recently premiered at frameline http://www.youtube.com/user/LovingChrisandGreg
Looking forward to Original Plumbing magazine (for now just on facebook)
Let the Right One In is great for the simple reason that unlike almost every other film made about trans issues, the gender difference of character here is not the focus of the film, is not the be all & end all of her sexuality, is not really even that important. There are other interesting things about Eli; the brief hints we get that she is "not a girl" do not steal scenes...and it's SCARY and WONDERFUL. I'm afraid of the US remake--very afraid--but the Swedish version (subtitled, not dubbed) was excellent.
Tranny Fest: San Francisco's Transgender/Transgenre Film Festival (call open until 1 oct)
A trip down memory lane. there is obviously a LOT MORE that I didn't include either because I can't remember or didn't think it was very good.
xoxo
rbr
Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein
Sex Changes by Patrick Califia
Michael Tolliver Lives and all the Tales of the City books by Armistead Maupin (read MTL in one sitting, was like crack after missing Tales of the City so much for so many years!)
Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg (and also Stone Butch Blues. & also Feinberg's website)
Body Alchemy by Loren Cameron
Different for Girls (1996) (OMG I love how at the end they turn into superheroes on motorbikes!)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Boys Don't Cry
All About My Mother
Before Night Falls (Johnny Depp! Johnny Depp!!!)
There was also this series of documentaries making the rounds in the 90s, I remember seeing them at various places in New England--one of them was basically life histories of transmen (You Don't Know Dick), with Loren Cameron being one of them. There was also a *fascinating* documentary about a bunch of drag queens and pre and post op transsexuals living somewhere really gritty, not sure where, mostly homeless prostitutes, and then this christian weirdo converts a bunch of them back into being men, which they do in a very self-aware, savvy way, one of them suggesting that this guy just likes their tits. It was a great movie but I doubt it's in wide distribution--saw it at a very small gendery film fest where one of my dear friends from college (transitioning to male at the time) called me "dad" when I strong armed my way to the booth to buy him a t-shirt b/c nobody was listening to him. Anyway.
If you're in a more hardcore theoryhead mood, try Jay Prosser, brilliant man.
Falling in Love with Chris and Greg, an excellent TV show, still being produced & released on youtube, recently premiered at frameline http://www.youtube.com/user/LovingChrisandGreg
Looking forward to Original Plumbing magazine (for now just on facebook)
Let the Right One In is great for the simple reason that unlike almost every other film made about trans issues, the gender difference of character here is not the focus of the film, is not the be all & end all of her sexuality, is not really even that important. There are other interesting things about Eli; the brief hints we get that she is "not a girl" do not steal scenes...and it's SCARY and WONDERFUL. I'm afraid of the US remake--very afraid--but the Swedish version (subtitled, not dubbed) was excellent.
Tranny Fest: San Francisco's Transgender/Transgenre Film Festival (call open until 1 oct)
A trip down memory lane. there is obviously a LOT MORE that I didn't include either because I can't remember or didn't think it was very good.
xoxo
rbr