goingrampant: Freaky (2020)So. Um. This is my new favorite film, pushing past Let the Right One
goingrampant: Freaky (2020)So. Um. This is my new favorite film, pushing past Let the Right One In. It’s a transgender body-swap horror-comedy with zero transphobic content. I am like the most sensitive person ever when it comes to transphobia, but this is probably the most trans-friendly film ever. They even reference the trans pride flag in the credits with a pink and white striped makeup pad set against a blue tablecloth. So, like, I’m pretty sure the (gay) director made it with a nod to the trans community. Also, the gay sidekick (Josh) is played by a non-binary actor, and he has great prominence in the plot, giving it an authentic queer aesthetic.It is bizarrely feminist, with great respect offered to both the Butcher and Millie characters in both of their bodies. The Nyla sidekick character is amusing as an annoying feminist without crossing the line into actually making the plot condemn her for it, a very tricky balance they somehow manage. Nyla and Josh bounce off of each other as straight feminist and outrageous twink in a greatly entertaining way.Similar to Lisa Simpson, by starting off with Nyla as annoying, she is allowed to influence how the plot is interpreted without it coming across as didactic. She points out that gender labels don’t apply, and this makes sense, so we just go with it unquestioningly. She bugs love interest Booker to use the right pronouns; he expresses annoyance, but, hey, the scene’s gotta keep moving, so he accepts the pronoun schema she puts forward, and the plot just accepts the Butcher in Millie’s body is a man (he/him) and Millie in the Butcher’s body is a girl (she/her). And then it’s very trans-friendly.The plot explores gender, sexism, and the forms of power attainable by men and women in a way both intriguing from a feminist perspective and accessible to a mainstream audience. Millie is a pushover in a stereotypically feminine way; the Butcher is a bully in a stereotypically masculine way; they switch bodies, hilarity ensues. Millie learns to use the strength available to her in the Butcher’s body, the physical power of a macho man, and he fumbles his way into figuring out how to be powerful in a girl’s body, a mix of emotional manipulation and unyielding ferocity. Booker tells Millie that true strength is in the heart and mind, and the film makes a solid case for this being true, with the Butcher succeeding to be absolutely terrifying even in a girl’s body, and Millie figuring out how to overpower him once they switch back.One of the best scenes is when the good guys tie up and gag the Butcher while he’s in a girl’s body. You would think that this character would be completely disempowered with no ability to affect the scene until he gets free, but… no. He has such a strong presence in the scene, being able to effectively communicate with intense glares, grunts, emotionally manipulative whimpers, and evil laughter. He’s almost more powerful than the characters who can speak and move around. It challenges gendered assumptions about power, is in theme, and is also incredibly funny.On a deeper level, I feel like they might have played the Butcher as genderfluid and bisexual. He adapts really well to a girl’s body. What most concerns him is the lack of physical strength, and he finds ways around that. When he gets ready to hunt students, he dismisses Millie’s usual nerdy wardrobe and, having a chance to dress himself, avoids any kind of butch aesthetic and goes for the badass femme Baby Terminatrix look instead. He specifically strives for a hot dominant woman look, seemingly trying to make everyone attracted to him, and appears sexually sadistic as he stalks different genders. Also, for all he complains about Millie’s body being weak, he resists switching back because being mean to Millie is more important to him than having his own body, even laughing hysterically when he thinks he stopped her for good. It’s both scary and really queer-friendly.The one issue I have with it is that it’s not great on race. Josh is introduced as outrageously gay by embarrassing a black guy with a black dachshund by calling out, “I love your black wiener!” Now, it was not necessary to bring race into that. They could have just as easily went with “I love your long, skinny wiener!” or similar. The plot device is also a cringy evil Aztec weapon with Spanish writing for some reason. That wasn’t necessary. So, not perfect, but generally this is a top-notch feminist slasher film with strong queer elements and very entertaining. -- source link