Thrihyrne

( ah, the dreams )

My folks and I watched Southern Comfort last night. I can't remember how on earth I found out about it, but I'd checked it out from the Multnomah public library before relocating. The JMU library had it so we watched it last night. It's hopeful, it's anger-inducing (toward the health care system), it's heartbreaking, and poignant. These two paragraphs are from Kate Davis, the director:

These themes of courage and stepping out of the closet were also the backbone of Southern Comfort. When I met Robert Eads at a conference for transgendered men, I found myself living with a very hidden minority, hidden because they pass so well as men, and hidden to protect themselves against the daily perils of living as a transperson in a world which still persecutes them and makes every day a dangerous prospect.

The men in Southern Comfort were fine living their regular lives, and hardly jumped at the chance to be part of a documentary. In fact, Robert himself resisted for months, and one day called to tell me that he was up for it. That he would be dead by the time the film would be finished. And so we all started to help tell Robert's extraordinary tale of being a transman, a parent, a shotgun-toting guy who can pass for a classic Redneck from rural Georgia, and as someone who was falling in love during the final year of his life. During the filming, I began to hear one recurring idea: the importance of accepting oneself. From that comes the strength to live a more honest life, and from that comes the chance to open up the hearts and minds of others.

Robert, the FTM who is the focus of the documentary, states early on how ironic it is that the one female part left to him is what's killing him- ovarian cancer. That's not to give anything away; that he's dying from the beginning of the documentary is stated outright. It was filmed in 1998 and I desperately hope that the medical community is far more understanding of trans* individuals more than a decade later, but in the area where he lived, it's hard to say. There are "Bubba-lands" in various regions of the U.S.; Hooterville comes to mind.

There are interviews with three of the cast members as extras on the DVD and I recommend watching those, too. They are at one of the film festivals, and they each wear shirts publicizing the movie, and they say: Love is a many gendered thing. I've not heard something so profoundly true and moving in a long time.

Regardless, this documentary is highly recommended. There's one person on my flist for whom this topic is near and dearly personal. I thought of you the whole time. ::kisses::