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2004 was a banner year for transgendered issues at the movies. In "Shrek 2", Pinnochio was caught wearing panties.
The Wayan brothers discovered how tough it is to look gorgeous in "White Chicks". And in M. Night Shyamalan's
"The Village", we follow the attendees and happenings at last year's Paradise in the Poconos convention.
Seriously, there are lessons for crossdressers in movies that don't obviously feature transgendered characters.
For instance, "Spider Man 2" has not one, but two important messages. My wife pointed out the first one.
As Peter Parker decided to stop being a super hero, he threw his tights away. My wife said, "Oh, someone ought to tell
him that purging just doesn't work."
She's right. Throwing away clothes isn't going to change who you are inside. And more likely than not, someday,
you're going to wish you had all that spandex back.
Not to ruin the movie for you, but Peter does decide to keep the super-hero gig. However, he's got another dilemma:
should he tell the people he loves about his secret identity? This is the lesson to pay attention to, kiddies.
Peter's inclination is to keep his wall crawling a secret; it could come back to hurt those he loves. He argues
that if a super-villain were to find out Spider Man is the nephew of Aunt May, said villain could hurt May to get to
Spidey.
He would like to tell the love of his life, Mary Jane Watson, about his arachnid abilities, but he's afraid that will
end any chance of a normal life with her. After all, who would want to marry a freak who can climb walls, shoot web
from his wrists and has a sixth sense about oncoming danger?
Secrets are rarely good for a relationship, as Parker finds out. Mary Jane knows Peter is holding something back, and
feels like she can't trust him. Never mind the romance, their friendship suffers as a result.
All kinds of bad things could happen if Mary Jane knows about Peter's other identity: she could decide to leave him.
She could laugh at him, and reveal his secret to the world. But once she does know, she doesn't. She loves him. And if
you truly love someone, you won't do anything to hurt them.
That includes keeping secrets.
Had Mary Jane and Peter hooked up without her knowing about his nocturnal activities, wouldn't she at least have
the right to know? Doesn't she deserve the choice as to whether she should stay or go? Of course she does. To deny
someone a choice about their life, in order to preserve your life is selfish. And if Mary Jane does decide to leave
Peter, then they weren't meant to be together in the first place.
Their lives together are going to be tough. She's always going to worry about him, and he's going to worry about her.
That's life. That's marriage. But the advantage is, they have each other, and they're open and honest, and can face
challenges together.
Transgendered feelings, like superpowers, are either a curse or a gift. How you deal with them is up to you. 'Nuff sed.
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