"Drunktown's Finest" by Sydney Freeland
For one scene that impressed me I would choose photo shooting for Navajo women calendar. Felixia’s former classmate Cara who used to know her before transition shares with her a drink with a virility drug in it, and it causes erection while Felixia is on the stage posing in her swimming suit. As a transsexual F. has put a lot of effort into her appearance in order to be accepted and appreciated as a woman. For her being selected as a model for such a calendar is almost a validation of her life, however instead of a well-deserved triumph she receives humiliation.
What questions about gender arise for you in this film? Give at least two examples from the film.
The first gender question concerns the reasons behind Cara’s behavior. Even though both women were chosen for the calendar and did not have to compete anymore, she chose to disclose Felixia’s secret in an extremely inhuman manner. The director does not reveal Cara’s character in detail, probably she is transphobic, and that is why when she finds out Felixia’s Achilles' heel, she hurts her. From the other side, this would not have happened if transsexual women were eligible for the audition.
The second question came to my mind during the scene in the truck, where Nizhoni was talking to clean-up workers. She asked for a signature from one of them for her community service papers for the college. They were genuinely surprised to hear that she was getting higher education and suggested that she’d become a receptionist. She told them that she likes to travel and to help people, therefore wants to become a missionary. They burst out laughing at her dream as if it was nonsense, she was disappointed. Seeing risky and self-confident behavior of male characters in the movie it is hard to imagine that somebody would dare to laugh at their plans (nobody laughed at Sick Boy’s plan to join the …
