XXY (2007)

A different way of telling a story

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

There is always one question that comes to our mind when we see a pregnant woman, is it a girl or a boy? It seems like we don't have any other options to be. Because of the heteronomy, we are defined to be only a male or a female depending to our gender identities and our gender roles. Gender role is specified within the society by dressing style, parlance and behaviors. However, gender identity is formed with the help of inheritance and external factors. In instance, how you feel about yourself and your instincts show your gender identity, while your dresses represent your gender role within the society which you live in. According to the gender roles which society give us, we are expected to act normal related to our gender identity. At this point, a question arises: "what is normal?". When we view from heteronomic perspective, there are two norms for the individuals. Either you should be a male and have behaviors for men or you should be a female and act like women. Hence, there are black and white without any different color. Everything in this world is formed to fit in this manner. Despite the fact that we have seen different and unusual occurrences like in the movie. The reason of calling them different and unusual is very obvious after we encounter with heteronomy. Because of the society, we internalize the normality of genders as we born.The idea of having two sexes is very complicated and nonsensical for the today's world and its gender roles. A little while ago, homosexuality were seen as a disorder and doctors were trying to cure that. In other words, they were searching for a way to normalize the person who were homosexual. By the way, we still have societies who believe and agree on that. I observe the same attitude for the people who have both sexes. It appears that we have become more develop some way or another, in this movie, Alex who is hermaphrodite, refuses to be operated to deform herself either a man or a woman. She is a naturally born individual with both genders. Understanding herself and deciding what she wants are vital and it should be only her concern. Her parents want Alex to be a girl, however first she starts to discover herself and her preferences. Although all reactions and attitude from her community, she decides to remain what she is. We should ask ourselves if we have right to choose both. We are stucked in the boundaries between the accepted definitions of male and female that demonstrates homophobia inherent in forcing the "unusual" to be "normal." It's more of an inborn perception that anatomical sex which is defined systemically base sociological gender norms and gender identities, is entirely reversed that a biological difference produces social consequences at our security in the human identity. This unsettling and distressful occurrence has a power to overthrow our presumptions about sex and gender identity. Not only our presumptions, also our beliefs are challenged in such a way. By this opinion, we should critique about our social indoctrinations and associations between external rules and gender.

There's little that hasn't already been said about the portrayal of hermaphroditism and the confusing life of being intersex (and it's worth objectively recognizing these topics which the film addresses as directly and unapologetically as possible), so I'd prefer to highlight some of the film's impressionistic impacts: first off, it may well be an uncomfortable watch. The discomfort stems less from co-experiencing struggles like relationships, sex, social mistreatment, and rape. It's more of an innate recognition that anatomical sex—something definite enough to systemically base sociological gender norms and identities on—is being muddled and entirely overturned, that a biological mishap produces social ramifications that chisel away at our security in the human identity. Much of the distress hints at internal presumptions about sex and gender identity; it is unsettling to have your beliefs revealed or challenged in such a way. By this personal reaction we can judge how well-reinforced our social indoctrinations to sex and gender are, and how deeply we associate external rules on such to define what is and isn't prototypically human.With regard to cinematography, qualities like lighting and color are executed meticulously to achieve yet more subconscious effect. Near overuse of darkness and the color blue paint the movie in dismal tone, while the rare touch of orange—especially during scenes depicting Kraken's unwavering love for Alex or the close friendship she shares with very few other teenagers—adds warmth and feeling to the pervasive numbness.The film's mood haunts the audience throughout as it calls into question the once-solid notions of a clean division between male and female, something played off of for contrast by the film's own language and symbolism, such as Kraken sexing a sea turtle in one of the movie's earliest scenes and the marine study tags turned into necklaces by Alex. XXY pseudo-establishes and later mocks definition of its subject matter; Alex and Álvaro's fathers practice surgery and would normally have their own concrete understandings for sex and gender; Álvaro is revealed to be gay despite his earlier openness toward sex with Alex (whom he had thought to be a girl) only for her to penetrate him.XXY is not a fun watch, nor is it a light or trivial one. It attacks one's own beliefs and presumptions about sex and gender, and its cinematographic direction should not be brushed off as overly-dramatic. While it might not earn everyone's appreciation, it without a doubt demands everyone's attention.

I'm kind of breaking a personal rule by writing a review on a movie I haven't seen a while, but XXY is a memorable enough film that I think I can manage it. XXY is an Argentine film about a person named Alex who was born with both male and female organs. Alex was raised as a girl, but is now reaching adolescence- and sexuality is beginning to be a bit of a problem. Alex takes an interest in an older boy named Álvaro, who she eventually has sex with- with her penis. At this point, the adults conclude their efforts to raise Alex as a girl have failed. Alex's condition becomes known when boys subdue, strip and rape her.XXY is, in its own way, a plea for tolerance in gender matters. As a coming-of-age story, Alex's sexuality is budding, and for being different, she is brutally punished. The nudity featuring Alex, despite the young age of the character, is not sexual but rather truthful and adds to the film. And when Álvaro's father at the end says he thought his son was gay until he took an interest in Alex, it's a real a ha moment- Álvaro's ambiguous sexuality may explain why he's interested in a person of ambiguous sex- and why he liked what Alex did to him. XXY is a competently made drama, a sort of Latin American equivalent of Boys Don't Cry, and it's part of why I'm glad I started watching Latin American movies.

Images, confusion, identity search, fear and seeds of different kind of love. A hermaphrodite and her family. And the others. A doctor and his family. Few days together.Conversation and shadows. And evening of words. A teenager, a girl and the people. Escapes as spider web and the travel to "normality". A poem. About a minority, essence of small lives, parents and children. Few slices about differences as roots of everything. Ines Efron as a strange Alex for who the life is field of obscure country. A question mark. A storm in temple. It is more than a film. It is analysis of desire of happiness. In basic , harsh words. A drama and rolls of silence. Behind definitions.