A review by Kaitlyn Sonoda

Changing the Game, directed by Michael Barnett, is an incredible documentary-style film that outlines some of the struggles that trans athletes face not only on the field, but in their daily personal lives, too. It follows the lives of three high school athletes: Sarah, a skier fighting for trans rights in her state, Andraya, a track athlete finding her way as an African American trans woman, and Mack, a wrestler fighting for his right to fight on the men’s team rather than the women’s. This movie is invaluable in understanding what everyday life is like you are trans, and here is why.

Throughout the film, the three characters face heart-breaking discrimination and we are able to see how it affects them and their lives. When Andraya is racing at a track meet, people in the bleachers yell that she is a man, that she has a mental illness, that she is making a mockery of girls’ sports, and that she is ruining what girls have worked so hard to get for years. These comments suggest that Andraya’s not a woman, and that she has no right to be doing what she loves. These comments were hurled from middle-aged, white, presumably cisgender people – this raises some serious questions and concerns about the power dynamics in place today. It also leads us to wonder what these interactions would have been like if Andraya were white and trans, or African American and cis.

Mack is shown browsing through Facebook posts about his wrestling accomplishments, but nearly all of the comments say things such as, “she shouldn’t be allowed to compete”, and even “it should kill itself”, which dehumanize him entirely. Mack even finds pages that are dedicated to tearing down him and his accomplishments. These occurrences are startling, but unfortunately, as Mack expresses, they are not rare for trans people. In “The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media”, Stuart Hall examines the perpetuations of racism in media, and he says, “institutions like media produce, reproduce, and transform ideologies” (Hall, 19). Though he was speaking about race, we see this same production and reproduction with Mack’s case, because of the parallels seen in the oppression of both racialized and trans people. People are producing the ideology that only cis people should play sports by creating hateful Facebook pages, and it is being reproduced by the people commenting on positive pages about Mack who are deliberately trying to tear him down. These interactions reveal a detrimental relationship between cis and trans people and the ways that trans people are oppressed and discriminated against.

The film also touches on institutionalized discrimination and shows how trans people are disadvantaged right out of the gates. Sarah explains how the policy for all state sports used to be that gender reassignment surgery had to take place before someone could compete in that gender category. Sarah talks about how it should be the person’s choice to reassign or not, and that it should not be the state’s business at all. Sarah also faces workplace discrimination in her job as a ski instructor, where she works knowing that if her employers find out she is trans, she will be fired simply for being who she is. This kind of discrimination leads her to advocate for the passing of Bill HB1319, which would give trans people basic rights under the law and would prevent things such as nonsensical job loss. When we see Sarah talking about this bill in court, she has people that testify against her, saying that they would be scared for their children having to “share a bathroom with predators”. In “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”, Audre Lorde speaks on how we handle differences, and she says that the first thing we do is “ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate” (Lorde 115). The comments that Sarah receives directly reflect Lorde’s ideas. The concerns these people have were not brought up publicly until this court hearing, which shows that they first decided to ignore the difference. When, however, the issue is brought to court, the difference becomes too significant to ignore, and so the privileged group (cis people) creates a subordinate group out of what they perceive to be “different” (trans people), and this is where we see the “destroy it” portion of Lorde’s claim.

The reasons that Changing the Game is invaluable for understanding trans issues do not stop here though. This film also manages to keep the tone light at times though, showing Andraya having gossipy hangouts with her friends, and talking about her funny dating life. They show Mack and his girlfriend, Preslee, and Mack talks about  never liking horses, but he does now because Preslee loves them. We also see Sarah making YouTube videos where does makeup tutorials and vlogs her school life. These interactions work to challenge the cissexist gender binary which tells us that cis people are the only ‘normal ones’, by showing the teens having typical teen experiences.

At first, I was disappointed that the film ended the way it did, because I wanted a happier ending. I will refrain from spoiling the plot, but the ending of the film felt slightly abrupt to me, and it felt like the stories were not finished yet. This was something I disliked at first, but after thinking about it more, I came to appreciate the message that this abrupt stop sent.

The journey for those three kids is never over, and their stories do not end there – they will still face discrimination, and they will continue to fight for every single victory, big or small. This abrupt ending symbolized the unending journey of fighting to be you, and that there is not a true happy ending for these kids – at least not yet. The slightly unsettled feeling I was left with gave me motivation to do more to help, and I hope that it had this same effect on the others who have watched as well, because this is the feeling that we need to instill in people so that big scale change can happen.

For more information on how you can help support trans rights:

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

https://transequality.org/

For more information on Reelout Film Festival:

https://www.reelout.com/

References

Lorde, Audre. 1984. “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press, 1984. pp. 115.

Hall, Stuart. “The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media.” Gender Race and Class in Media: A Text Reader. Ed. Dines, Gail and Jean M. Humez. California: Sage Publications, 1995. pp.19.

Word Count: 1033

The Queer Intimacies Shorts Program provided different narratives about what it looks like to have romantic, queer relationships. It analyzed problems that are consistent in heterosexual relationships and queer relationships while looking into the dynamics within the relationships and the different facets that come with being queer. The films were entertaining but lacked in intersectional, specifically racial and ethnic representation. The films explored romantic dynamics in queer and heterosexual relationships, the binary and non-binary aspects of these relationships, and the diverse spectrum of sexuality.

The first short film in this series, The Tragic Fall of Valerie Mallory Finkerstein, was about what society considers to be queer. The leading woman could not be present at the moment or listen to her friends when they tried to provide her with advice. It was clear to the audience that Valerie was desperate for her best friend to love her, which is an interesting approach to lesbian relationships. I liked that there was an emphasis on Valerie being unsure of herself, but knowing that she wanted her friend, Ava, to love her. This film expands on the point of being unsure about yourself, and unsure about what we desire sexually and romantically, but having a good idea of who we want. Valerie knows she loves Ava and also requires social abundance and distractions. Her character was very interesting, and I enjoyed how fixed she was on displaying her affection to Ava at her birthday party. The images in the film were beautiful; the setting in the park was magnificent. I enjoyed the plot too, and the narrative of complex sexual feelings, especially when it comes to your friends. I think the situation between Valerie and Ava happens more often than we think, and this film displayed the narrative so openly that it helped to connect to the characters. The film had a narrative that we see very often in movies – an individual falling in love with their best friend, and having all of the clichés and heteronormative ideas of love. However, this narrative is portrayed frequently through a heteronormative lens, so it was refreshing to see this storyline in the eyes of Valerie.

The second film, Lost Cat, was about Nathalie, who had just gone through a huge conflict, trying to find her self again. She’s fired from her job, and her fiancée was unfaithful and broke her heart. Soon after, she finds a lost cat in her backyard and takes care of it. I think that the cat was a symbol of Nathalie needing to find herself to get through this rough patch. She needed to be reminded of who she was. She is also coming to peace with how hard it is for her to make connections with others and with herself. I think that the cat idea narrative of finding yourself and understanding yourself after something traumatic happens is important to understand. She is going through something that many people go through, regardless of their orientation. She was cheated on, and through this cat, she finds peace with herself. This film is not focused on her being queer but was about the struggles in her life. Her relationship was displayed subtly but was a big part of her narrative. The film explored Nathalie’s entire life at that moment, and how everything interconnects to create her situation.

A significant criticism that I have for all of the films is the lack of racial, religious, and ethnic representation within them. The film festival was supposed to be diverse and representative, and it was not. All of the leads, except one, were white. In Lost Cat, a black woman was playing the woman who cheated on Nathalie, which is racialization because it imposed a specific negative identity of her indirectly onto the audience. The few times that the films represent a person of colour, they are used for tokenism (including a person of colour to ensure that the cast is not all white) or portrayed with a negative narrative. Media has been used in the past to promote racial supremacy, so it is important to represent diverse groups in media today in order to promote equality and to destruct the ideas of racial supremacy. As discussed in Races, Racism, and Popular Culture, “Racism is connected integrally to the history of modernity and modern technologies have provided a key means in the establishment of racial supremacy” (Back and Solomos 255).

Additionally, there was little to no representation of a variety of intersectionality. There was no transgender representation or racial representation. I think an important part of the movies was for the authors to ask themselves this question that Peter Kaufman proposes in an article he wrote in 2007; “how do my race, gender, class, and other social positions enable my actions in some instances and constrain them in others” (Kaufman). Portraying the diverse social “intersections” that are not recognized often can only benefit everyone involved by educating them, being inclusive, and resonating with a greater amount of people and affecting them in stronger ways.

The fourth film, Things That Happen in the Bathroom, exploresthe ideas of yearning for love, desperation, and pain through a homonormative lens. It explores the intimacies shared between a young man and an older man within a sexual relationship. It is clear that the younger man wants more than sex; he is interested in being intimate in other ways. He asks to have sleepovers and is persistent in other ways to have other forms of intimacy. The movie explores this dynamic, which I appreciate because it is very common, but we do not see it portrayed in popular culture and the media very often. The dynamic between these two was uncomfortable at some times, but that challenged me, and I enjoyed it. I was forced to confront the things that happen to a young gay man in one of the most intimate, private spots: the bathroom. This film was not only about being intimate with someone else; it was about being intimate with yourself. One term addressed in the film subtly is “binary,” defined in the course glossary as “a binary model of categorizing people into two distinct groups of gender based on the sex they were assigned at birth.  Gender and sex almost overlap in this essentialist model. Gender expression and sexual orientation are expected to be in congruence, and certain gender roles, usually in contrast to each other, are ascribed.” This film explored the young man not following binary roles associated with his gender. He wears makeup and expresses himself contrary to the social norms of the male identity.

Word Count: 1,101

References

Back, Les and John Solomos. “Race and Racialization: Essential Readings.” Races, Racism, and Popular Culture. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 2007. 255.

Kaufman, Peter. Intersectionality for Beginners. 23 April 2018. <https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/04/intersectionality-for-beginners.html#more&gt;.

As a history fanatic, the movie that piqued my interest was Sex, Sin and 69. The documentary is in an interview styled format where the audience hears the perspective of a group of Canadians who have  experienced the aftermath of the changing Canadian law regarding homosexuality. The film detailed the oppression and suffering that the LGBTQ community has faced around the world. When measuring it against today’s society, tolerance and equality has come a long way in Canada. The title of the movie pays tribute to how in the year 1969, the Canadian Bill C-150 was passed which was a steppingstone to the decriminalization of homosexuality. Overall, the film did a good job delivering the facts and perspectives of the legalization and acceptance of homosexuality but failed in having more representation and maintaining audience attention.  

For the audience to enjoy a documentary, the facts must be presented in a way that is captivating. This documentary was very artistic but felt a bit repetitive. The delivery of facts was very uniform; it was on a clear and concise timeline, but more videos and animation could have been included. I found myself bored at sometimes because the film felt like it was constantly people, I chairs answering various questions. The film was made in a more serious and professional manner which could explain why it was very uniform.  

One of the highlights of the documentary was listening to the history which was depicted through people’s experience and testimonies about that time in their life. They had an animated timeline which was narrated and highlighted with the use of newspaper and magazine articles. This was an interesting medium to deliver the facts and had historical meaning because it showed how pop culture viewed the “controversial” topic.  In the chapter about popular culture in the book, Race and Racialization Essential Readings,  the author defines propaganda as “the transmission of ideas and values from dominant groups who control the means of communication, with the intention of influencing the receivers’ attitudes and thus enhancing and maintaining their position and interests” (Solomos & Back, 2007:247). Some of the headlines were demonstrative of the hate that the homosexual community faced. This hate could be perceived as propaganda as the papers tried to advertise homosexuality as a medical illness. This definition connects to the film because the dominant group, the heterosexuals, alienated the homosexual community through means of mass communication. After they showed the timeline, there were clips from various interviews which were conducted. These interviews including some Canadian people, including a priest who officiated the first gay marriage in Canada, various human rights lawyers, a gender studies professor and a couple of people who directly experienced these societal changes themselves.  

A major criticism I have for the film is that there is a lack of sexuality, gender, and racial representation. The film did an excellent job of representing gay men, but only had two women speakers, one who spoke about being lesbian before 1969 in Quebec and one who is a gender studies professor. Having a lack of women speak was disappointing because I believe that they share a different perspective with regards to this history and current issues regarding the LGBTQ+ community. Being that this was a film about gay rights, I believe that they should have shown equal parts gay oppression of men and women, while also highlighting the different ways this is experiencing by utilizing an intersectional lens. The queer film festival is promoted a sa positive, inclusive space. It was disappointing to see the lack of representation of these marginalized groups within this space. In addition to women, there was also no representation of the transgender community or the two-spirit community. They showed clips discussing two-spirit people and drag queens, but they did not have individuals with lived experience speak and share their own perspective. Not only was there a lack of diverse genders and sexualities represented, but there was also barely any racial diversity. Intersectionality is a very important concept and it would be nice for someone to have had spoken from experience. As mentioned in “intersectionality for beginners” by Peter Kaufman, “Because the intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in which Black women are subordinated”(Kaufman, 2018). Intersectionality is a lens where we can knowledge that every person has their ow story and their own perspective. These perspectives and experiences occur through their intersectional les, which is why I wish that they would have shown a more diverse group with unique experiences. This will encourage and include marginalized groups into the discourse surrounding LGBTQ+ issues, which does not happen enough within mainstream media. The bigger picture is about human rights as a whole and societies stride to achieve acceptance and tolerance for everyone. Intersectionality is the key to understanding how society works and it would have been nice to see more representation because of it.  

Overall, the film Sex, Sin, 69 was a good documentary outlining the historical evolution LGBTQ + rights and acceptance in Canada. This movie was produced in 2019 which is 50 years after bill C-150 was passed, and a lot has changed since then. In society today, people are more accepting and respectful of the LGBTQ+ community because of the empowering, inclusive and encouraging actions of those in 1969.  

Word count: 901 

References:

Back, Les and John Solomos. “Race and Racialization: Essential Readings.” Races, Racism, and Popular Culture. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 2007. 247. 

Kaufman, Peter. Intersectionality for Beginners. 23 April 2018. https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/04/intersectionality-for-beginners.html#more&gt;.