It was upsetting to see Ludovic's father try to force him to act more masculine in hopes of quickly fixing his "problem." Ludovic's family and friends avoided the emotions that he felt in hopes of making him "normal." Had his parents by the end of the movie continued to make him hide who he was, I think that Ludovic would have had more problems psychologically as he developed. I wish that the movie had jumped to when Ludovic was mature in order to highlight his acceptance into society and allow viewers to realize it is much easier to accept everyone than condemn them. The only person who truly tried to shed light on the situation was his teacher who wanted all of the students to accept each other despite their differences, since as she said: they were all different. It is idyllic to think that everyone is capable of dealing with and accepting different sexualities and genders, but why can't this be possible?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Ma Vie En Rose
While watching Ma Vie En Rose in the multimedia library I tried not to cry and make too many sniffling noises. The movie was profound and did an amazing job of depicting the life of a young boy who struggled with his identity and sexuality. The readings of the intersex that we read during this class became animated throughout this movie and made a lasting impression on me. Throughout the movie, Ludovic is convinced that he will one day become a girl and be able to marry his best friend. His parents, friends, and entire neighborhood disapprove of his feelings and desire to be a girl. His family is almost completely torn apart until the end of the movie when he is accepted by their new neighborhood. It was hard to watch a young boy not be able to understand why others thought he was wrong, including his parents. His biological condition did not seem abnormal to him until others pointed out that this was the case.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I definitely agree with this post. The movie was as moving as it was eye-opening. It was difficult to watch Ludovic find his identity at such a young age. Most people do such soul searching when they are much older. However, although Ludovic was much younger than most, I feel that he was more sure of who he wanted to be as a person than most other people are.
Adding on to Alice's comment in her last paragraph, I feel like Ludovic's grandmother was also extremely supportive throughout the film. Even though she claimed that she wanted Ludovic to express his desires so that he could get over this "phase", I could not help but feel that this was merely an excuse. I felt as if she knew that regardless of what anyone said or did, Ludovic was going to express himself; rather than trying to restrict him like everybody else did, she knew that supporting him would be the best way to go.
I would have to agree with both Tina and Alice's posts. I thoroughly enjoyed the grandmother's character throughout the entirety of the film. As I mentioned in class, the grandmother was completely open-minded and accepting of her grandson, who was struggling with his identity, despite generational differences. Many times, in our society, we view those from older generations to be more conservative or maybe for that fact less informed. This clearly was not the case in the film. The grandmother was symbolic of both a way of thinking in time and space that was not entirely accepted by even the younger generations. I do not particularly know much about French culture, besides their love of food and wine, but now have a greater understanding through the movie of the way in which the French view ideas of sexuality and sex (however, I do not want to stereotype through this one movie).
Besides the grandmother and Ludovic, I had trouble with the characters and their development in this film. Although the clear split between Ludovic and his parents existed, I wished for more development among some of the younger characters. Ideas surrounding sex, gender, and sexuality are not only judged by adult figures, but by peers as well. Although the children in the film were still young, they were not stupid. I would have been intrigued in learning more about their view of Ludovic's personal and familial conflict. Despite my critiques, I completely enjoyed this film and glad we had the opportunity to watch it.
Post a Comment