I suppose it’s a bit late for this considering when Hedwig was released, but I’m curious as to what y’all think.
This is in regards to Hedwig and the Angry Inch (the movie version, which is the only one I’ve seen… if anyone has any insights into the play, I’d be interested to hear them); what do you think Hedwig was? Gay, transexual, N/A?
The movie was rather ambiguous as to what Hedwig him (or her)self was; at first he seemed like a regular gay male, but after his/her operation, went to being female “full-time” as TS would put it, etc., I wasn’t sure exactly where the movie was trying to go. While I understand that the film was trying to make a statement with the whole “finding my other half” bit, I wasn’t sure what sort of gender statement it was trying to make. Hedwig didn’t seem to show any overtly feminine characteristics or have any wishes at all to have a female body, so what exactly was going on?
In regards to the response of the TS community, I heard there was actually quite a bit of backlash because they thought that the film would confuse the general public, which for the most part already has a distorted view of what it means to be TS/TG. Any thoughts on this as well?
I thought it was a beautiful story, and trying to fit Hedwig into some “group identity” is missing the point IMHO.
Hedwig was Hedwig: not male, not female. Not gay, not straight, just Hedwig.
I know next to nothing about Harry Potter, though I’ve seen both movies. ^^;;
<b>grendel72</b>: I did get that idea, but I was curious as to how exactly it (the film) was trying to portray him/her at various parts. My assumption was that Hedwig either didn’t really care and was just floating along genderlessly, or that at the very end is when he/she realizes what he/she really is (whatever that may be).
That, and I wonder if the LGBT community sees it the same way, or if they do but still worry about the movie spreading misconceptions…
I felt like Hedwig was simply gay. I don’t think he was transgendered but had the operation so he could leave East Germany. After the relationship broke up, he was simply trying to make the best of a bad situation. I think the ending, with him giving up the wig was a sign that he was male with an Angy Inch.
I can see why it would annoy TS groups, although I’d have to see it to tell if it annoyed me or not. And I’m not really all that likely to see it, since the premise and plot don’t really appeal to me that much.
Kelly, I thought the same thing until I decided to see it. IMHO it’s absolutely worth the rental and hey, if you hate it you can always shut it off, right?
Heh, I just came back from seeing DEBBIE DOES DALLAS at the Jane St. Theater, where I had the pleasure of seeing the original musical 7 or 8 times. My fave was Michael Cerveris. And West Village tonight=cold.
My take is this–gay male who adopted an entirely new persona when she moved to America, a persona which happened to be female for the purpose of getting out of Germany and which stuck. She (the Hedheads always refer to Hedwig as ‘she’, although technically, having no hormone treatments, counseling, or work on her–upper structure–he’s more of a, uhm, male amputee) did not seem to show any desire to be female or TG before she met Luther, and didn’t change her anatomy any further in America. In fact, in the stage climax she strips down to a tight leather black brief and takes off all her wigs (and Michael Cerveris ended up bald. And hunky!) and smashes the tomato ‘breasts’ against her chest. Hedwig is going to be him or herself from now on, whatever that means, and she frees Yitzhak at the same time.
Damn, I have to buy the movie and see it again. The stage show is fantastic and takes a few different directions from the movie, of course.
And IMO Hedwig is sui generis. S/he has become whole, integrating the male and female within herself. Half the show is about disguises and acceptance. The female persona definitely started out as a disguise, but it obviously turned into something more. Onstage, BTW, Hedwig used her most masculine voice tones when she was yelling at the band and Yitzhak. (My fave Yitzhak: Miriam Shor, of course, but Lisa Datz was terrific too.)