thank you for providing a piece of trans commentary on this movie. if i have to read another cis person paving over the trans experience by abstracting this experience to "queerness" or "identity" im gonna put my head through a fuckin tv. id much rather cis people hate this movie than talk about it the way some of positive reviews are. the point that maddie may have been owen's imagination in the second act was really interesting. i hadn't considered that, but that reading really resonates with the horrific theme of despair and lack of autonomy in competition. i found that i really related to owen's experience (with regards to repression), and the desire for someone to reach out and force me to transition was extremely real. i think this reading is especially compelling because once i realized i could do it myself, all of my insecurity and repression faded rapidly. if owen had transitioned just because maddie told them to, it would not have been a very responsible telling of the trans experience. instead the movie shows you that you have to make that decision yourself, and the longer you wait, the more horrifying that moment will be, let alone that you threw away years or decades of your life.

As a twenty-nine year old egg, this movie fucking HIT. It grabbed me by the collar to the point that I can’t really concieve of a critique of it, so this was cool to watch.

as a trans person who's known for years without actually tangibly transitioning in any meaningful way, this movie was a painful reflection of myself in the worst most unflattering way possible... and so i found it really difficult to focus and pick up on most of the other themes and story elements even on a second watch. so i'm really happy to hear yall's discussion of it outside of the trans allegory without being weird about it like most of the reviews by cis people ive seen. i loved hearing yall's takes, tand i feel like i have a better understanding of the film now. thanks for doing what you do!

This movie made me so so grateful that I made that leap and started medically transitioning

Sorry, double comment! I also noticed when Maddie draws the tattoo on his neck, it read as very romantic to me. Maddie even sleeps next to Owen, after saying she likes girls. And it rips me apart.

On the topic of Hackers, have yall see a 4k copy of that movie? I love it and have been watching it since i was young but never saw it in theaters, i was blown away by the detail of some of the "inside the computer" imagery(turns out it was all model work they filmed so there's a ton of detail in there), as well as the overall world they made. There is SO MUCH going on in the background of this 90's cyber punk NYC. Highly recommend checking it out. (and yes, I have like 3 versions of that movie)

My difficulty with these kinds of videos is that like, we queer people are only going to be the ones who ever get to interact with queer text in good INSIDER faith. Like on a level cis people get to engage with these movies as queer tourism and publish glowing 'a triumph!' reviews, but I always wind up feeling a bit bummed out because when I read actual queer input on these, I can feel the tension in the discussion of 'are we being too nice to media produced by people like us', and that in turn makes me listen for that tension in queer crit. I always become suspicious of these reviews because i feel like I'M now not listening to the critique in good faith and i'm trying to pre-emptively shield myself from those darn blasted Film Critters Telling Me My Interaction With The Movie Was Ontologically Wrong!! Grr!! Like this is a good review, and a good discussion, but i'm sitting here doing analysis on the analysis. oh hey let me just post a reply to my own reply real quick: 🙄

Woah cool intro. Film critters in space

My experience watching this four times in the theater: First time: loved the ambiguity, felt deflated by the bar scene as it felt like it just collapsed all the possible interpretations down to one, watched the rest of the movie in vague curiosity, was startled by the ending Second time: Noticed more Easter eggs, caught lines of dialogue I missed the first time, was kind of bored throughout the middle, still dreaded the ending Third time: Tried to see it through the trans lens, saw Owen as more of a trans woman, but general mellowing of my emotions throughout Fourth time: Biggest crowd, didn't have much new experience, tried to at least focus more on the flashbacks to Owen trying on the dress Ultimately, I think I may be tiring of it, but I do think it's a good thought-provoking film. I just wish there was more of an openness to interpretation without feeling like I'm encroaching on the trans metaphor.

I also think Owen’s experience is a good allegory for the autistic experience. I feel like both Maddie and Owen are autistic

Glad someone else thought of the FF7 house

. is TV glow. just the matrix tho

hi love the chat. i wont to like the movie its well made and has a good sound and vibe but... just having a hard time getting past the "end yourself to become a cis in the real world" message. well that's how i interpreted it.