Ok, let's begin from the easy part: Alicia Vikander as Gerda is the real main character in this movie, she's an amazing actress and her performance is really really good. And even though I really appreciate her performance, I think that point of view contributed to cheapen the movie's message.
Eddie Redmayme, well, I'm quite puzzled, because I loved him on "The Theory of Everything" and on "The Pillars of Earth" but here.. I was positive he would perform this character without falling into an offensive representation of transgender woman, I really hoped it, but at the end overcome clichés, stereotypes on "transvestites of 30s", on femininity, and women. I found it offensive because it's like the representation of a representation of what a man sees about women's way of move, act and think.
I really am disappointed by this movie because I find it dangerous: it does can be misunderstood and manipulated. I would have liked a better representation of context, because that would explain much: to society on 30s women's role was to procreate, to love a man and get married, to be quite shallow; this woman stuck inside a man's body tries to get accepted as woman, adapting to the common vision of that role, but eventually stops being herself, changes her way to move (copying other women), doing what she loves, and loving her wife instead of "bring outside" her true self.
On this movie gender identity and sexuality are mixed up and messed up...! No words! Shame! Shame! Shame!
Contextualization helps understanding and empathizing how confusing should have been being a transgender person those years, with no information, or scientific studies, and no psychological support on that path. The true feelings, and the story, are displayed by little and minimal clues and lines (and unaware people can miss them). Many elements and inattentions switched a prospective good movie to a dangerous message, which can be used by anti-LGBTQ+, transophobes, and populists, because the message passed can be that Einar was a man with some psicological issues and dissociative disorder (because starting a new life of course is talking on 3° person, getting rid of every passion, act litterally different, and switch your sexual orientation, is it?) who had this whim to fight for change his genitalia and died.
A woman is not a vagina, and a woman is not "less woman" if she is bisexual or lesbian, and being a transgender person doesn't mean that every problem is solved with an operation, there is an important and huge path made of self-acceptance, analysis, support, and operations (for those who decide to get it) is just the last step (and actually not really the last). Simplicism isn't always good, sensitive issues can't being tackled like this, expecially during periods in which it is still necessary educating people to awareness and respect. Making a movie in a superficial and approximate way "because this is the right time, it's the fashion" it's dangerous.
Really, the only reason for watching this movie is having the complete portrait of it, understanding critics and create a debate. And Alicia Vikander, I really love her acting, and she is beautiful; Gerda is a strong, independent woman, who loved her husband for who he really was and not for his body, and still continues - despite the difficulties to accept it - when he comes out as a transgender woman.
You love someone for who she is, not for her gender.loading replies
You do know this film is -based- on a novel that was -loosely- inspired by true events, right?
I can't see how this movie is dangerous to the transgender community since it's only telling a story of love and understanding. It only offends you because you want to be offended, clichés and stereotypes can be harmul, yes, but that doesn't mean they don't exist or that they're all wrong. I'm going to quote the amazing Jordan Gavaris here: "You cannot collectively as a society decide that you are only going to represent one part of a minority. It’s like saying you’ve represented black people on television because you air an episode of The Cosbys. That is not true. Just like you cannot put an episode of Modern Family on and say that you’ve represented the LGBT community. That’s unfair. It’s exclusionary. And it’s irresponsible."
