Movie Review: Cowboys. Directed by Anna Kerrigan

A sympathetic telling of ftm transgender issues

You can only be one person in life, and God has the game plan.  That is the message of a mother to her trans ftm son.  

This movie is mediocre.  But if you feel trans issues as I do, you will overlook the weaknesses and see it for a welcome discussion of gender issues.  Indeed, it is so rare that we see such things spoken of in mainstream, non-fringe, media, that it is a welcome addition to the debate.

Plot

A young girl reveals to her father that she is a boy, not just a tomboy.  He hears her, accepts her, and doing thus sunders their family.

The mother struggles to accept it.  At first, she refuses to.  The husband gets in an altercation with her brother after her brother’s son calls their trans daughter/son a dyke after seeing her dressed like a boy in a clothes shop.  The altercation results in the wife’s brother getting hurt, and filing a charge against the husband which leads to a short stint in jail.

When he gets out, his wife will no longer welcomes him back, so he is on his own.  The gender issues do not go away, and in the end there is a crisis which leads to the father and son/daughter running away to get to Canada.  Their trip is one of understanding and bonding, which involves the child growing up and taking on a leadership role.

Shortly after, they are caught, the father goes to jail for kidnapping, but finally the mother accepts that her daughter is going to be her son.

I enjoyed it.  

Now I would like to see a movie made about mtf told with the same sympathy. Any takers?