The Approach of Ma Vie en Rose

After watching Ma Vie en Rose, I couldn't help but wonder how the overall effect of the movie would have differed if the issue of transgender were presented within a documentary format as opposed to a movie (which as far as I could tell was not based on a true story). I enjoyed the movie, but I firmly believe that issues such as this, that are not widely accepted and understood, would be better presented within a more factual storyline based on true events. As has already been noted, movies such as Mrs. Doubtfire and countless others in which individuals crossdress are meant purely to entertain. The documentary, on the other hand, is by its very nature a medium that portrays raw emotions and events. There is no need for additional material of mere entertainment value.
I felt that certain parts of the movie were so bizarre that they took away form the overall impact that the movie had on me (i.e. the fantasmal scenes with Pam and Ben, the notion of Ludo's other X chromosome landing in the trash).
I watched a similar movie in Health last year called Normal (I think), in which a grown and married man believes himself to truly be a woman. While this movie, like Ma Vie en Rose, confronts the important issue of trangender and transexuality, it was not done very well. I saw it in a huge lecture hall and, though I am sure some people got a lot out of it, most of the audience just thought it was really funny. This is why I think it is important to present transgender in such a way that it cannot be merely laughed off or taken as a joke (as Ludo is when he makes his grand entrance).
I have seen a couple documentaries about this issue that have impacted my views on transgender and corrected some of my misconceptions. And I strongly advocate this medium to pave the path within a society that has not yet come to terms with this issue.

I also found the title, translated My Life in Pink, to be interesting. Pink here is "obviously" associated with girls, whereas blue would be the male equivalent. These color stereotypes for female and male are ingrained within our culture from birth (pink balloons for a girl, blue for a boy), and they are perpetually enforced. The gender-specific connotations of these discrete color categories has always confounded me (especially pink, which is stereotypically linked to homosexuality in males). Its a funny coincidence that both color and gender exist on spectrums yet we categorize them into discrete units. In this case binary units that are deeply intertwined.