Gender Identity In The Film Tomboy And Drôle De Philippe

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Analysis Essay To “other” someone is to “view or treat (a person or group of people) as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself” [Oxford Dictionary]. When one “others” a person or group of people they mentally set themself up as the default or the one who is normal, while thinking of everyone else as being strange, or even wrong. The films Tomboy and Drôle de Félix explore the lives of two who have been “othered” and how they navigate their lives and their relationships with their families and friends. Tomboy is a film that follows Mikaël, a child who moves with their family to a new area and tries to fit in with a new group of friends. What sets Tomboy apart from many other movies is that the child in question was assigned female at birth but is now identifying as a boy. Mikaël’s identity is not clear from the beginning of the film. Rather, Mikaël’s identity is gradually revealed throughout the film. …show more content…

Aside from causing their internal conflict, their gender identity is what causes them to have to constantly hide their true self. It is what causes their mother to become angry when she discovers how they have been presenting themselves and it is what causes them to be ostracized when their friends discover it. Félix’s otherness causes some conflict as well, such as when he is the witness of a racist crime and is too intimidated to report it as he had originally planned and when someone verbally attacks him for his sexuality. However, Félix’s otherness also brings him together with his peers. It is his status as an other that drives his adventure and it is his status as an other that enables him to meet his new “family” en route to his biological father. His new “family” consists of complete strangers who he just happens to meet. The people in the family are generally aware of his otherness and accept him just the same, thus giving more to him than his biological father ever would have been

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