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Well, we received a screener for new trans comedy She’s the He. Yes, you read that right. I’ve got my finger on the pulse of what is cool, and I know that She’s the He is high on most Outposters’ watch lists. So when Boba Phil asked for a tribute volunteer to review it, my response was immediate.
I mean…it’s hardly a controversial subject, is it? What could possibly go wrong?
I will be going into spoilers, but you don’t care about that, so let’s go.
Gender Shenanigans
She’s the He features high school friends Alex (Nico Carney) and Ethan (Misha Osherovich), who can’t shake off rumours that they are gay. Alex likes a girl called Sasha (Malia Pyles) and wants her to notice him. His solution is for him and Ethan to pretend to be trans so they can hang out in the girls’ locker room, attend female-only parties and get close to Sasha.
It’s a foolproof plan. Alex correctly states that nobody can question them without being transphobic. Checkmate, ladies!
The girls immediately accept Alex and Ethan as trans because they are stupid teenage girls. Sasha treats Ethan like a novelty doll, dressing him up and putting make-up on him. It’s almost as if her acceptance of his new identity is all about her.
Another girl called Forest (Tatiana Ringsby) is non-binary, but also a lesbian. Even though she doesn’t consider herself a woman, she can still be a lesbian. Those are the rules. I’m not judging, I’m just letting you know. It’s relevant.
So when Ethan declares that he too is a woman, Forest suddenly likes him her, because he’s not a him anymore. He, sorry, she likes Forest too because he she is also a lesbian. Wait, what?
Twists galore
To confuse me further, She’s the He also features Davis (Mark Indelicato), a gay man who shagged a girl, so everyone hates him for lying about his sexuality. Later on, it transpires that he is definitely gay, and his reasoning is that the ‘girl’ he shagged was trans (but nobody else knew she was trans, somehow).
Wait, what? If shagging a trans girl means you’re gay, does that mean…a trans girl isn’t a girl!? I’m not making any statements here, I’m just working through the movie’s logic.
But if that’s the case, why does Forest like Ethan?
My head hurts. This is worse than a Christopher Nolan movie. He should definitely tackle this subject. Except he could add time travel or something. It would be the mind fuck of all mind fucks.
Hang on, I’m sure I’ve already watched a movie about a time-travelling trans person. Never mind.
Anyway, the twist in She’s the He is that Ethan likes dressing up as a girl so much he comes to realise that he actually is trans. But Alex is about to ruin everything by outing them both as…boys. The horror!
After Alex gets close to Sasha at a party, Sasha says, ‘This would be so hot if I could be into you.’ However, she can’t be into him because she’s not into girls, and Alex is a girl. Simple solution: Alex switches teams again and reveals that he is a boy playing pretend.
Everyone seems surprised by this, but I’m not sure why. He hasn’t even shaved.
Enter the Jocks
Alex is ostracised, and the only people who like him now are the ‘jock’ gym bro types who think he’s a legend. The jocks then test trans ideology to destruction by literally putting on dresses and invading the girls’ locker room.
It’s a strange sequence, but fun in an anarchic way. The girls barricade themselves in an office, and the jocks are trying to break in. But what are they going to do exactly? Attack the girls? Do they think they can get away with it if they say they are trans? What point are they making here? It might not be the one they think they are making.
Here’s where She’s the He could have benefitted from taking a left turn by making the jocks zombies or something. Make it allegorical.
Anyway, they have a big fight, and the girls win by throwing used sanitary products at the boys, which freaks them out. Of course it does. It’s kryptonite for men. Fucking gross. Alex helps the girls, which is known as a redemption arc.
You might think the moral of this movie is that allowing a man to put on a dress and enter a women’s locker room based on nothing more than a sudden self-declaration of womanhood is a bad idea.
But no, you bigot! The school’s solution to the events of the movie is to give up and make all the locker rooms gender neutral, which is what the jocks wanted all along. Winning!
And all it took was a little toxic masculinity
The Verdict
I’ve got to give this movie credit for a few things. It’s a solid concept, if a little light with its 1 hour, 20-minute runtime. Alex is funny in a Diet Stiffler kind of way. There’s some cool animation and cartoon doodles that appear on the screen at times (could do with fewer drawings of cocks and tampons though). It makes jokes about one of the most divisive and toxic issues of our time and somehow isn’t overly preachy.
Modern gender ideology is normalised here, which may irk some people. But the fact that it is presented with all its inconsistencies, contradictions and mental gymnastics (intentionally or not) is welcome and unexpected. I guess you can take what you want from it.
The core tale of Ethan finding his place in the world is handled with care. His mother’s reaction to seeing him in a dress seems realistic – she says he makes a good-looking boy but an ugly girl.
Damn, mom’s a savage.
But, like me, the movie seems confused at times. It’s not clear what broader point it is trying to make. I’m not even sure it needs to make one. Just go full throttle, American Pie style, and they could really be onto something and win over the type of audience that usually wouldn’t go within a thousand miles of a movie called She’s the He.
It doesn’t get there, but for a low-budget Indie movie featuring gender ideology, it could have been worse, John. A lot worse.
She’s the He is available now on digital.
Now I’m off to watch a WW2 prisoner of war movie.
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