Will & Harper totally deserve the 99% fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating!
My absolute favourite scene was in the Cafe when Harper was looking totally like a woman (her hair, especially, was extremely womanly, as were her clothes, which really made her look petite and extremely womanly..... I'd go so far as to say, that day, she looked even more like a woman than other days when she really really looked almost effortlessly like a woman)... Anyway, the terrible waitress, a middle aged cis-gender-female who clearly had not worked all her life serving others, and probably did not deserve her $5.60 an hour, or even a job, because she was obviously blind,( most likely deliberately) misgendered Harper, which I was not shocked about because most middle aged chest feeders are estranged from reality, and don't even know what a woman is! I mean she must have been 110% blind to not see Harper's beautiful drop earings....Harper simply cannot be more womanly than that!
Harper handled it so bravely! She immediately corrected the bigot by stating, very kindly (just as women do), "Maam!!!!".
So generous of Harper to be so kind and giving the uterus having Nazi the benefit of the doubt. Well it put the post bleeder TERF right in her place and she apologised profusely but most likely only because she was being filmed. I got the decided impression she was LARPing as a waitress.
Harper didn't shame that far right hate spreader at all, even when she put on a beautiful, womanly smile and expressed, so rightly, to Will, that it's extremely painful to be misgendered. Almost murderous it's that painful. No, she didn't scowl at all. She was absolutely pleasant to that overpaid fear-filled birthing person that clearly had zero knowledge of biology, because she was blind and can't read. Harper could not have been more pleasant to that fake waitress.
It's so fantastic that Netflix, with the help of Will Ferrel (who, did absolutely not do this for the money, and is not throwing anyone under any buses) can share how ghastly some transphobic waiting staff can be, to the entire world.
That was the main takeaway I got from this 5 star totally real documentary.
The vast majority of men who transition later in life are heterosexual (attracted to women) and have a sexual paraphilia called autogynephilia. Many are compelled to start cross dressing due to certain porn genres (hypno sissy - Andrea Long Chu has written about this experience).
So you didn't see the film, Hobo? Or have you embraced this notion ("female trans is really mostly a sexual paraphilia") so tightly that it now dominates any thoughts or observations or statements ("nothing about their misogynistic fetish is charming") you can make about trans females? That's kinda sad, dude.
You stole the word 'woman,' and I am not going to sit idly by as you authoritarian cretins obfuscate the word 'female' too. I realize you want to make it impossible to even discuss these issues honestly, but Steele is a biological male - and that has a lot to do with the issue.
Because biological males, regardless of their gender identity, commit about 98% of all sexual offenses and comprise about the same percentage of those with dangerous sexual paraphilias.
But you know what? I appreciate that you didn't try to deny the existence of AGP here. You think it's a reductionist label, but I find it accurate and oh so telling about what these males think being a 'woman' is all about.
Clothes. Makeup. Regressive stereotypes. I'm not spending money to watch two males mock women and pretend that we are but an inconvenient costume.
I stole the word "woman?" Married straight dude here, actually. And no, I'm not denying the existence of APG. I don't think it's "reductionist" either -- it just seems clear it's dominating your perspective. As a male, it makes sense to me that APG probably plays a role in at least SOME of those cases. As an "authoritarian cretin" I have no idea what percentage -- surely not ALL -- and I don't really see how that negates the entire category.
You might like the film more than you think (although I wouldn't necessarily bet on it). I didn't see any "mocking of women" or pretending that women "are but an inconvenient costume." It's really a film about a longtime friendship, and taking a road trip with a super famous person and camera crew in tow.
Oh I can tell you're a man with no stakes in the matter, don't worry. That's crystal clear.
The vast, overwhelming majority of adult trans women are AGP. And since they aren't threatening your safety, privacy, dignity, and security as a 'straight dude,' it doesn't surprise me that you feel you can get away with thinking about this topic lazily.
And I have no interest in watching Steele's movie. This is clearly a very unlikeable person who likes to gripe that 'America doesn't love me' when in fact people just don't care for his shit personality. It's much easier for Steele to pretend that all his woes in the world stem from other people simply not accepting him, instead of from the obvious fact that Steele can't stand himself for good reason.
So, you jumped in here why? To complain that Hobo's thoughts are dominated by her attitude about an ever growing population of men (women's number 1 predator) who have been granted the legal right to her previously safe spaces? Or to call her Dude?
It doesn't sound like you watched the advertisement either. Either that, or you are completely naive about the issue or, and this is most likely the reason... have so little interest in women and the things that effect our lives that you checked your critical thinking skills at the door.
Honestly, and I am seriously not joking, I feel sorry for your wife. Pay more attention....Dude.
First, regarding the poll for how to handle guest posts, do whatever makes it easier for you. Your articles make me laugh and think and I don’t care if it shows up in my inbox as from “if you read this, you’re an idiot”. When I see “I Might Be Wrong” in my inbox I smile on the subway ride to work.
Second, I have no desire to see this movie (more so now) because, while it appears to be an endearing, personal journey, it’s probably exactly that and not entertainment. It focuses on the journey of one trans person, which is probably not representative of 95% of other trans people taking their own journey. I’d be more into a documentary interviewing many trans people across the country. And, while I love Will Ferrell, I’m not sure why he felt the need to produce a film on what was supposed to be a personal journey to better understand his close friend.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! The homogeneity of the reviews is so annoying. I saw the film. It was fine… but then I started thinking about different aspects of it and I started to get angry. So many holes to poke but no one has the guts to do it. So frustrating.
Well, at least we all now know what it must have felt like to be a 1930s German and have someone ask you for your honest opinion of "Triumph of the Will".
My honest review is: "It's fine -- not outstanding, but worth a watch". Watch it some night when you feel like something a bit more engaging than a King of the Hill rerun that you've already seen four times.
What you should have said is that Andrew Steele is a man and Andrew Steele will always be a man because there is no such thing as "trans." Nobody "transitions" and there is no special category called "transgender" for mentally ill crossdressers who refuse to accept the reality of their sexed body.
Therefore, it is idiotic to refer to men as "her," especially since Andrew is an autogynephile who hates women since womanhood is nothing but a costume to him, and Will Ferrell is too stupid to know what's going on here so he pretends like he's a moral person for facilitating this bullshit.
Furthermore, there are male rapists in women's prisons and children being mutilated as we speak due to this delusional perversion. These men have no moral high ground. Andrew should be in a mental hospital.
I'm a Parks and Rec gal, but maybe when that has run it's course for me. Then again, I get the feeling it's a lot of narcissism on display. Thanks for the honest review though!
Very funny piece, Jeff, although I'm not sure how many commentators here got the joke. My read is (correct me if I'm wrong) -- this is actually a really good film! But it would suck for the reviewer if it wasn't, because he'd have to lie (to avoid the inevitable "MSNBC fatwa"/career suicide). What would he say? The exact same things he's saying here! So can we believe him 100%? Probably not! The public stakes are too high! I really enjoyed the film, as well as the hilarious review.
No, I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. I got that’s it’s ‘meh’, but no one is in a position to be honest when reviewing it, if they value their career.
74/100 on metacritic. Basically a pretty good score. Shows the blind spots of a binary scoring system like rotten tomatoes. Are the brave contrarians on substack perhaps overstating the praise for the film?
Will & Harper totally deserve the 99% fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating!
My absolute favourite scene was in the Cafe when Harper was looking totally like a woman (her hair, especially, was extremely womanly, as were her clothes, which really made her look petite and extremely womanly..... I'd go so far as to say, that day, she looked even more like a woman than other days when she really really looked almost effortlessly like a woman)... Anyway, the terrible waitress, a middle aged cis-gender-female who clearly had not worked all her life serving others, and probably did not deserve her $5.60 an hour, or even a job, because she was obviously blind,( most likely deliberately) misgendered Harper, which I was not shocked about because most middle aged chest feeders are estranged from reality, and don't even know what a woman is! I mean she must have been 110% blind to not see Harper's beautiful drop earings....Harper simply cannot be more womanly than that!
Harper handled it so bravely! She immediately corrected the bigot by stating, very kindly (just as women do), "Maam!!!!".
So generous of Harper to be so kind and giving the uterus having Nazi the benefit of the doubt. Well it put the post bleeder TERF right in her place and she apologised profusely but most likely only because she was being filmed. I got the decided impression she was LARPing as a waitress.
Harper didn't shame that far right hate spreader at all, even when she put on a beautiful, womanly smile and expressed, so rightly, to Will, that it's extremely painful to be misgendered. Almost murderous it's that painful. No, she didn't scowl at all. She was absolutely pleasant to that overpaid fear-filled birthing person that clearly had zero knowledge of biology, because she was blind and can't read. Harper could not have been more pleasant to that fake waitress.
It's so fantastic that Netflix, with the help of Will Ferrel (who, did absolutely not do this for the money, and is not throwing anyone under any buses) can share how ghastly some transphobic waiting staff can be, to the entire world.
That was the main takeaway I got from this 5 star totally real documentary.
This gives me the courage to change my view from “I’ve no desire to see this” to “I’ve no desire to see this”
I really loved this review. Thanks for your courage in writing it.
The autogynephiles are on the march. Nothing about their misogynistic fetish is in any way "charming".
But now that the poking fun is becoming more mainstream, things be looking up!
English translation please?
The vast majority of men who transition later in life are heterosexual (attracted to women) and have a sexual paraphilia called autogynephilia. Many are compelled to start cross dressing due to certain porn genres (hypno sissy - Andrea Long Chu has written about this experience).
Read this and you'll understand the comment above: https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/january-2020/sissy-porn-and-trans-dirty-laundry/
So you didn't see the film, Hobo? Or have you embraced this notion ("female trans is really mostly a sexual paraphilia") so tightly that it now dominates any thoughts or observations or statements ("nothing about their misogynistic fetish is charming") you can make about trans females? That's kinda sad, dude.
You stole the word 'woman,' and I am not going to sit idly by as you authoritarian cretins obfuscate the word 'female' too. I realize you want to make it impossible to even discuss these issues honestly, but Steele is a biological male - and that has a lot to do with the issue.
Because biological males, regardless of their gender identity, commit about 98% of all sexual offenses and comprise about the same percentage of those with dangerous sexual paraphilias.
But you know what? I appreciate that you didn't try to deny the existence of AGP here. You think it's a reductionist label, but I find it accurate and oh so telling about what these males think being a 'woman' is all about.
Clothes. Makeup. Regressive stereotypes. I'm not spending money to watch two males mock women and pretend that we are but an inconvenient costume.
I stole the word "woman?" Married straight dude here, actually. And no, I'm not denying the existence of APG. I don't think it's "reductionist" either -- it just seems clear it's dominating your perspective. As a male, it makes sense to me that APG probably plays a role in at least SOME of those cases. As an "authoritarian cretin" I have no idea what percentage -- surely not ALL -- and I don't really see how that negates the entire category.
You might like the film more than you think (although I wouldn't necessarily bet on it). I didn't see any "mocking of women" or pretending that women "are but an inconvenient costume." It's really a film about a longtime friendship, and taking a road trip with a super famous person and camera crew in tow.
"straight dude here, actually"
Oh I can tell you're a man with no stakes in the matter, don't worry. That's crystal clear.
The vast, overwhelming majority of adult trans women are AGP. And since they aren't threatening your safety, privacy, dignity, and security as a 'straight dude,' it doesn't surprise me that you feel you can get away with thinking about this topic lazily.
And I have no interest in watching Steele's movie. This is clearly a very unlikeable person who likes to gripe that 'America doesn't love me' when in fact people just don't care for his shit personality. It's much easier for Steele to pretend that all his woes in the world stem from other people simply not accepting him, instead of from the obvious fact that Steele can't stand himself for good reason.
So, you jumped in here why? To complain that Hobo's thoughts are dominated by her attitude about an ever growing population of men (women's number 1 predator) who have been granted the legal right to her previously safe spaces? Or to call her Dude?
It doesn't sound like you watched the advertisement either. Either that, or you are completely naive about the issue or, and this is most likely the reason... have so little interest in women and the things that effect our lives that you checked your critical thinking skills at the door.
Honestly, and I am seriously not joking, I feel sorry for your wife. Pay more attention....Dude.
The word "female" is generally used in reference to sex, not gender. A "trans female" would hence be a trans man, rather than a trans woman.
First, regarding the poll for how to handle guest posts, do whatever makes it easier for you. Your articles make me laugh and think and I don’t care if it shows up in my inbox as from “if you read this, you’re an idiot”. When I see “I Might Be Wrong” in my inbox I smile on the subway ride to work.
Second, I have no desire to see this movie (more so now) because, while it appears to be an endearing, personal journey, it’s probably exactly that and not entertainment. It focuses on the journey of one trans person, which is probably not representative of 95% of other trans people taking their own journey. I’d be more into a documentary interviewing many trans people across the country. And, while I love Will Ferrell, I’m not sure why he felt the need to produce a film on what was supposed to be a personal journey to better understand his close friend.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! The homogeneity of the reviews is so annoying. I saw the film. It was fine… but then I started thinking about different aspects of it and I started to get angry. So many holes to poke but no one has the guts to do it. So frustrating.
Spiritual successor to https://theonion.com/negative-review-of-a-wrinkle-in-time-peppered-with-cr-1823656342/
Well, at least we all now know what it must have felt like to be a 1930s German and have someone ask you for your honest opinion of "Triumph of the Will".
Triumph of the Will was less offensive, and it was made by a much better filmmaker.
If this is a joke, it's not a good one. If this is how you really feel...yikes.
I dunno, I thought that was a pretty interesting documentary - especially 40 years after the fact, when I first saw it.
This is very funny, Jeff.
Love it
Sad state of affairs that I am 100% confident I'm not getting a good reading on this movie from the critics.
I don't plan to see it, so I'll never find out.
My honest review is: "It's fine -- not outstanding, but worth a watch". Watch it some night when you feel like something a bit more engaging than a King of the Hill rerun that you've already seen four times.
Wait, did you hack my Hulu account?
What you should have said is that Andrew Steele is a man and Andrew Steele will always be a man because there is no such thing as "trans." Nobody "transitions" and there is no special category called "transgender" for mentally ill crossdressers who refuse to accept the reality of their sexed body.
Therefore, it is idiotic to refer to men as "her," especially since Andrew is an autogynephile who hates women since womanhood is nothing but a costume to him, and Will Ferrell is too stupid to know what's going on here so he pretends like he's a moral person for facilitating this bullshit.
Furthermore, there are male rapists in women's prisons and children being mutilated as we speak due to this delusional perversion. These men have no moral high ground. Andrew should be in a mental hospital.
That's what you should have said.
I'm a Parks and Rec gal, but maybe when that has run it's course for me. Then again, I get the feeling it's a lot of narcissism on display. Thanks for the honest review though!
I’m really beginning to doubt Jeff’s commitment to entertaining freeloaders like me. I mean, fake columnists can’t even get their own byline now?
I can't wait for Jeff to make fun of you and the other freeloaders on next Monday's "paid subscribers only" podcast! It's going to be juicy!
Very funny piece, Jeff, although I'm not sure how many commentators here got the joke. My read is (correct me if I'm wrong) -- this is actually a really good film! But it would suck for the reviewer if it wasn't, because he'd have to lie (to avoid the inevitable "MSNBC fatwa"/career suicide). What would he say? The exact same things he's saying here! So can we believe him 100%? Probably not! The public stakes are too high! I really enjoyed the film, as well as the hilarious review.
No, I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. I got that’s it’s ‘meh’, but no one is in a position to be honest when reviewing it, if they value their career.
Interesting — the tomato is half delicious/rotten.
Indeed. I think it’s written in such a way that you can take what you like from it. This way, it leaves the author free from criticism.
Gold.
74/100 on metacritic. Basically a pretty good score. Shows the blind spots of a binary scoring system like rotten tomatoes. Are the brave contrarians on substack perhaps overstating the praise for the film?
I’d trade a six pack of Will & Harpers for a third Anchorman.
Not having and never will seen (see) it. I totally agree with your review and all of the comments lavishly praising it. It’s a movie, right?