Queer Cinema

In my dissertation I will show the representation of transsexual FtM (female to male) characters and the response of the audiences who identify as non-cisgender. I will show that representation in media is important, therefore I will underline the obstacles that appear in queer cinema. Moreover, I will explore the idea of the character’s identity and relatability to the film viewers. I will focus on the issues that are present in films that could be labelled as “trans’ or “queer”. By explaining these terms, I will link the issues that queer cinema has to deal with, underlining the importance of choosing queer cast for queer films.

My focus will also be on the differences and similarities that can be observed in transsexual characters and

He is a 10-years-old French kid playing football with boys and having a crush on a girl. Although he is young, he is aware of his body, for example he packs his boxers before going swimming and looks at his body while experiencing body dysphoria. At the end his big secret is revealed and he has to give up and carry on living as a girl following his parents’ wishes. The sad nature of films’ end is another story with an unhappy ending, however important due to the young age of the main character. Boys Don’t Cry (1999) shows Brandon Teena, a teenager who presents himself as a teenage boy, is attracted to girls, has fights with the boys and manages to pass, however his happiness is brutally faced with society’s expectations, which results in the film’s unhappy ending. Nevertheless, it is a film that focuses on the positive representation of a trans character in his teenage years and is one of the first films that deal with FtM characters in such humane and sympathetic manner. It remains, however, a violent film that does not carry the message of hope. In Romeos (2011) we are presented with the twenty-year-old trans man not willing to tell his environment he is trans. An important document shows a young man in transphobic Germany where homosexuality and bisexuality seems to be accepted by everyone, yet transsexuality is a big taboo. It leaves us