Her Story

I think with us only now having access to the camera and the ability to show our lives on screen and speak for ourselves, trans cinema is kinda in its Lumiere period if I can narrow our perspective for a bit. We have our Melies and Alice Blanche of course, those who is doing more with the medium itself and its potential to tell our stories but I think as a whole we’re still just trying to capture what’s in front of us authenticity and when it works, thats the beauty of works like Her Story. This is the equivalent to the train arriving at the station shocking unsuspecting audiences because they think the train is real, the difference here is this is real and you won’t leave this shocked but reassured. There’s a lot of promise here, potential of more that could be said, more that can be expressed, the film knows its limitations but its answer to those desires is not only that our stories can be, but that it should and will be explored. 


God what I can I say about something this short yet significant. I’ll say while the film’s scope and intentions are very direct to the point that at times this can feel like a slide show addressing different issues in our community then a unique specific experience of individuals on a whole it still resonates precisely because these issues are unfortunately something that happens to every trans person and also thanks to the chemistry of the cast, this manages to by pass its structure and becoming something still organically emotionally compelling. It’s just very relatable especially as a girl who for a good year let herself be exploited by men online while knowing secretly that I actually love being with women. Yeah I’ll admit a lot of why I let that happen was because of my insecurities and dysphoria, i love myself and I thought I deserve love and that seem like the only way especially in a world where as this showcase acceptance of trans woman as lesbians are still muddled and sometimes so cruel especially where I live. Once you hear enough people ask “oh do you have a boyfriend?” Or “so you’re gay” you start to feel wrong, that you should like men cause that’s what they say, I don’t wanna be perceive as abnormal in my womanhood. But then to have to tolerate how they talk and demand of me only to be able to say “I have a boyfriend”, it never meant anything except to those people. 


There’s a monologue near the end that like almost every scene here made me cry because it says everything that I needed to hear. This speaks more then show and sometimes thats better especially when we’ve been so over blown and heard so little by media and society. While clearly I did relate more to the first plotline, there’s an element in the second that has also cause me to contemplate. You all know am proud and open about who I am, many who are so kind and thoughtful have warned me about this, that I’ll be pushing my chances and opportunities back by letting the fact that I am trans be out in the open. I appreciate them, truly, the fact of the matter is for almost a year ever since I came out I could not go pass a week without receiving some nasty messages in my DMs even emails. I mean who would go so far as to find my email just to tell me to die because “I am not a woman”, “I’m just pretending to get with women and get clout”


And you know what, I look at those messages and I laugh. I used to care about them quite a bit but then I just realized it didn’t mean anything to me. I know that I am in a privileged position in that I do not live in the States and I know that me moving there will put me in greater strain, I will have to meet these people, I’ll have to stand up for myself, my laughter could turn into screams, I still wish sometimes that how I became a woman wouldn’t be the only thing on others’ mind. I’ll probably have a day where I’ll regret I wrote this instead of just writing “wow cute movie, I love woman lol” but i can’t write something like that, it just isn’t me and this, what I have, who I am, my abilities to not just share but be strong enough to keep experiencing things, this means something to me more then them, I want people to accept me fully then just a half of me, I used to let that happen and for me personally I just wasn’t living. Her Story for much it may touch on our characters past is about the present, who they are now instead of then many times we need to be reminded of that yet it also celebrates how we got here in the first place. We are women, our path are just different but no less valid as it is to accept us as just women. 


I’m so thankful that this was made, truly. It’s something else especially compared to years ago where i can watch a movie and repeated “I’ve been there” over and over not just at the painful and difficult emotions but at the happy and joyous moments too. Tears my buddy watching this along with me. I’m curious to see how Her Story will be look back on in wherever the future lies, when this becomes a historical record. Studied and sighted, would this seem like old news or would it still reassure the next generations of trans and queer spirits. What stories could we tell then? Would we be in our silent film era? Golden age? Who knows but just that potential, that dream and hope, I don’t know why but theres something to that thought thats beautiful to me, am uncertain about it as much as my own life and my future but yet, that uncertainty is why I see it, I see myself as I am, Mia, just there always there, I’m glad I could actually see it. Just a little glimpse, Her Story is that, we hear so we can see, relate as to believe, existence is survival, love is everything.

I think with us only now having access to the camera and the ability to show our lives on screen and speak for ourselves, trans cinema is kinda in its Lumiere period if I can narrow our perspective for a bit. We have our Melies and Alice Blanche of course, those who is doing more with the medium itself and its potential to tell our stories but I think as a whole we’re still just trying to capture what’s in front of us authenticity and when it works, thats the beauty of works like Her Story. This is the equivalent to the train arriving at the station shocking unsuspecting audiences because they think the train is real, the difference here is this is real and you won’t leave this shocked but reassured. There’s a lot of promise here, potential of more that could be said, more that can be expressed, the film knows its limitations but its answer to those desires is not only that our stories can be, but that it should and will be explored. 


God what I can I say about something this short yet significant. I’ll say while the film’s scope and intentions are very direct to the point that at times this can feel like a slide show addressing different issues in our community then a unique specific experience of individuals on a whole it still resonates precisely because these issues are unfortunately something that happens to every trans person and also thanks to the chemistry of the cast, this manages to by pass its structure and becoming something still organically emotionally compelling. It’s just very relatable especially as a girl who for a good year let herself be exploited by men online while knowing secretly that I actually love being with women. Yeah I’ll admit a lot of why I let that happen was because of my insecurities and dysphoria, i love myself and I thought I deserve love and that seem like the only way especially in a world where as this showcase acceptance of trans woman as lesbians are still muddled and sometimes so cruel especially where I live. Once you hear enough people ask “oh do you have a boyfriend?” Or “so you’re gay” you start to feel wrong, that you should like men cause that’s what they say, I don’t wanna be perceive as abnormal in my womanhood. But then to have to tolerate how they talk and demand of me only to be able to say “I have a boyfriend”, it never meant anything except to those people. 


There’s a monologue near the end that like almost every scene here made me cry because it says everything that I needed to hear. This speaks more then show and sometimes thats better especially when we’ve been so over blown and heard so little by media and society. While clearly I did relate more to the first plotline, there’s an element in the second that has also cause me to contemplate. You all know am proud and open about who I am, many who are so kind and thoughtful have warned me about this, that I’ll be pushing my chances and opportunities back by letting the fact that I am trans be out in the open. I appreciate them, truly, the fact of the matter is for almost a year ever since I came out I could not go pass a week without receiving some nasty messages in my DMs even emails. I mean who would go so far as to find my email just to tell me to die because “I am not a woman”, “I’m just pretending to get with women and get clout”


And you know what, I look at those messages and I laugh. I used to care about them quite a bit but then I just realized it didn’t mean anything to me. I know that I am in a privileged position in that I do not live in the States and I know that me moving there will put me in greater strain, I will have to meet these people, I’ll have to stand up for myself, my laughter could turn into screams, I still wish sometimes that how I became a woman wouldn’t be the only thing on others’ mind. I’ll probably have a day where I’ll regret I wrote this instead of just writing “wow cute movie, I love woman lol” but i can’t write something like that, it just isn’t me and this, what I have, who I am, my abilities to not just share but be strong enough to keep experiencing things, this means something to me more then them, I want people to accept me fully then just a half of me, I used to let that happen and for me personally I just wasn’t living. Her Story for much it may touch on our characters past is about the present, who they are now instead of then many times we need to be reminded of that yet it also celebrates how we got here in the first place. We are women, our path are just different but no less valid as it is to accept us as just women. 


I’m so thankful that this was made, truly. It’s something else especially compared to years ago where i can watch a movie and repeated “I’ve been there” over and over not just at the painful and difficult emotions but at the happy and joyous moments too. Tears my buddy watching this along with me. I’m curious to see how Her Story will be look back on in wherever the future lies, when this becomes a historical record. Studied and sighted, would this seem like old news or would it still reassure the next generations of trans and queer spirits. What stories could we tell then? Would we be in our silent film era? Golden age? Who knows but just that potential, that dream and hope, I don’t know why but theres something to that thought thats beautiful to me, am uncertain about it as much as my own life and my future but yet, that uncertainty is why I see it, I see myself as I am, Mia, just there always there, I’m glad I could actually see it. Just a little glimpse, Her Story is that, we hear so we can see, relate as to believe, existence is survival, love is everything.

I think with us only now having access to the camera and the ability to show our lives on screen and speak for ourselves, trans cinema is kinda in its Lumiere period if I can narrow our perspective for a bit. We have our Melies and Alice Blanche of course, those who is doing more with the medium itself and its potential to tell our stories but I think as a whole we’re still just trying to capture what’s in front of us authenticity and when it works, thats the beauty of works like Her Story. This is the equivalent to the train arriving at the station shocking unsuspecting audiences because they think the train is real, the difference here is this is real and you won’t leave this shocked but reassured. There’s a lot of promise here, potential of more that could be said, more that can be expressed, the film knows its limitations but its answer to those desires is not only that our stories can be, but that it should and will be explored. 


God what I can I say about something this short yet significant. I’ll say while the film’s scope and intentions are very direct to the point that at times this can feel like a slide show addressing different issues in our community then a unique specific experience of individuals on a whole it still resonates precisely because these issues are unfortunately something that happens to every trans person and also thanks to the chemistry of the cast, this manages to by pass its structure and becoming something still organically emotionally compelling. It’s just very relatable especially as a girl who for a good year let herself be exploited by men online while knowing secretly that I actually love being with women. Yeah I’ll admit a lot of why I let that happen was because of my insecurities and dysphoria, i love myself and I thought I deserve love and that seem like the only way especially in a world where as this showcase acceptance of trans woman as lesbians are still muddled and sometimes so cruel especially where I live. Once you hear enough people ask “oh do you have a boyfriend?” Or “so you’re gay” you start to feel wrong, that you should like men cause that’s what they say, I don’t wanna be perceive as abnormal in my womanhood. But then to have to tolerate how they talk and demand of me only to be able to say “I have a boyfriend”, it never meant anything except to those people. 


There’s a monologue near the end that like almost every scene here made me cry because it says everything that I needed to hear. This speaks more then show and sometimes thats better especially when we’ve been so over blown and heard so little by media and society. While clearly I did relate more to the first plotline, there’s an element in the second that has also cause me to contemplate. You all know am proud and open about who I am, many who are so kind and thoughtful have warned me about this, that I’ll be pushing my chances and opportunities back by letting the fact that I am trans be out in the open. I appreciate them, truly, the fact of the matter is for almost a year ever since I came out I could not go pass a week without receiving some nasty messages in my DMs even emails. I mean who would go so far as to find my email just to tell me to die because “I am not a woman”, “I’m just pretending to get with women and get clout”


And you know what, I look at those messages and I laugh. I used to care about them quite a bit but then I just realized it didn’t mean anything to me. I know that I am in a privileged position in that I do not live in the States and I know that me moving there will put me in greater strain, I will have to meet these people, I’ll have to stand up for myself, my laughter could turn into screams, I still wish sometimes that how I became a woman wouldn’t be the only thing on others’ mind. I’ll probably have a day where I’ll regret I wrote this instead of just writing “wow cute movie, I love woman lol” but i can’t write something like that, it just isn’t me and this, what I have, who I am, my abilities to not just share but be strong enough to keep experiencing things, this means something to me more then them, I want people to accept me fully then just a half of me, I used to let that happen and for me personally I just wasn’t living. Her Story for much it may touch on our characters past is about the present, who they are now instead of then many times we need to be reminded of that yet it also celebrates how we got here in the first place. We are women, our path are just different but no less valid as it is to accept us as just women. 


I’m so thankful that this was made, truly. It’s something else especially compared to years ago where i can watch a movie and repeated “I’ve been there” over and over not just at the painful and difficult emotions but at the happy and joyous moments too. Tears my buddy watching this along with me. I’m curious to see how Her Story will be look back on in wherever the future lies, when this becomes a historical record. Studied and sighted, would this seem like old news or would it still reassure the next generations of trans and queer spirits. What stories could we tell then? Would we be in our silent film era? Golden age? Who knows but just that potential, that dream and hope, I don’t know why but theres something to that thought thats beautiful to me, am uncertain about it as much as my own life and my future but yet, that uncertainty is why I see it, I see myself as I am, Mia, just there always there, I’m glad I could actually see it. Just a little glimpse, Her Story is that, we hear so we can see, relate as to believe, existence is survival, love is everything.

I think with us only now having access to the camera and the ability to show our lives on screen and speak for ourselves, trans cinema is kinda in its Lumiere period if I can narrow our perspective for a bit. We have our Melies and Alice Blanche of course, those who is doing more with the medium itself and its potential to tell our stories but I think as a whole we’re still just trying to capture what’s in front of us authenticity and when it works, thats the beauty of works like Her Story. This is the equivalent to the train arriving at the station shocking unsuspecting audiences because they think the train is real, the difference here is this is real and you won’t leave this shocked but reassured. There’s a lot of promise here, potential of more that could be said, more that can be expressed, the film knows its limitations but its answer to those desires is not only that our stories can be, but that it should and will be explored. 


God what I can I say about something this short yet significant. I’ll say while the film’s scope and intentions are very direct to the point that at times this can feel like a slide show addressing different issues in our community then a unique specific experience of individuals on a whole it still resonates precisely because these issues are unfortunately something that happens to every trans person and also thanks to the chemistry of the cast, this manages to by pass its structure and becoming something still organically emotionally compelling. It’s just very relatable especially as a girl who for a good year let herself be exploited by men online while knowing secretly that I actually love being with women. Yeah I’ll admit a lot of why I let that happen was because of my insecurities and dysphoria, i love myself and I thought I deserve love and that seem like the only way especially in a world where as this showcase acceptance of trans woman as lesbians are still muddled and sometimes so cruel especially where I live. Once you hear enough people ask “oh do you have a boyfriend?” Or “so you’re gay” you start to feel wrong, that you should like men cause that’s what they say, I don’t wanna be perceive as abnormal in my womanhood. But then to have to tolerate how they talk and demand of me only to be able to say “I have a boyfriend”, it never meant anything except to those people. 


There’s a monologue near the end that like almost every scene here made me cry because it says everything that I needed to hear. This speaks more then show and sometimes thats better especially when we’ve been so over blown and heard so little by media and society. While clearly I did relate more to the first plotline, there’s an element in the second that has also cause me to contemplate. You all know am proud and open about who I am, many who are so kind and thoughtful have warned me about this, that I’ll be pushing my chances and opportunities back by letting the fact that I am trans be out in the open. I appreciate them, truly, the fact of the matter is for almost a year ever since I came out I could not go pass a week without receiving some nasty messages in my DMs even emails. I mean who would go so far as to find my email just to tell me to die because “I am not a woman”, “I’m just pretending to get with women and get clout”


And you know what, I look at those messages and I laugh. I used to care about them quite a bit but then I just realized it didn’t mean anything to me. I know that I am in a privileged position in that I do not live in the States and I know that me moving there will put me in greater strain, I will have to meet these people, I’ll have to stand up for myself, my laughter could turn into screams, I still wish sometimes that how I became a woman wouldn’t be the only thing on others’ mind. I’ll probably have a day where I’ll regret I wrote this instead of just writing “wow cute movie, I love woman lol” but i can’t write something like that, it just isn’t me and this, what I have, who I am, my abilities to not just share but be strong enough to keep experiencing things, this means something to me more then them, I want people to accept me fully then just a half of me, I used to let that happen and for me personally I just wasn’t living. Her Story for much it may touch on our characters past is about the present, who they are now instead of then many times we need to be reminded of that yet it also celebrates how we got here in the first place. We are women, our path are just different but no less valid as it is to accept us as just women. 


I’m so thankful that this was made, truly. It’s something else especially compared to years ago where i can watch a movie and repeated “I’ve been there” over and over not just at the painful and difficult emotions but at the happy and joyous moments too. Tears my buddy watching this along with me. I’m curious to see how Her Story will be look back on in wherever the future lies, when this becomes a historical record. Studied and sighted, would this seem like old news or would it still reassure the next generations of trans and queer spirits. What stories could we tell then? Would we be in our silent film era? Golden age? Who knows but just that potential, that dream and hope, I don’t know why but theres something to that thought thats beautiful to me, am uncertain about it as much as my own life and my future but yet, that uncertainty is why I see it, I see myself as I am, Mia, just there always there, I’m glad I could actually see it. Just a little glimpse, Her Story is that, we hear so we can see, relate as to believe, existence is survival, love is everything.

Shoutout trans people!!!!!!!!! I’m glad this was made I’m glad something like this gets made and more things like this continue to get made. I will take some cliche dialogue here and there if it means more this. Something so relatable and like AAAAHHRRGHGGGG at points, but in a good effective way. Pretty much brillianttt!!! And very effective. Not at all perfect, many flaws but wtf so good. 

“Hey do you mind if we stop on this coffee shop I’m freezing my balls off-,,,, oh my god. I am so sorry I didn’t mean it like that” PLEASE IM FUCKINGGG DYINGGGGGGGGG

Also it’s fifty minutes long split into six episodes around eight minutes each so it was a breeeeeeezeeeeeee.

Shoutout trans people!!!!!!!!! I’m glad this was made I’m glad something like this gets made and more things like this continue to get made. I will take some cliche dialogue here and there if it means more this. Something so relatable and like AAAAHHRRGHGGGG at points, but in a good effective way. Pretty much brillianttt!!! And very effective. Not at all perfect, many flaws but wtf so good. 

“Hey do you mind if we stop on this coffee shop I’m freezing my balls off-,,,, oh my god. I am so sorry I didn’t mean it like that” PLEASE IM FUCKINGGG DYINGGGGGGGGG

Also it’s fifty minutes long split into six episodes around eight minutes each so it was a breeeeeeezeeeeeee.

I can’t speak from personal experience on the trans woman representation in this so let me just link Sally’s beautiful review on this mini series/film. I will say however that I thought it was really well done and I loved the little romance!!

The TERF stuff took me way off-guard though, so be warned that this contains abuse and transphobia from the villain characters. It’s obviously not condoned, but it’s hard to watch. 

I feel like you can really tell that this was made my trans women/queer women and I loved it. Check it out on Youtube for free! It’s only 54 minutes and well worth your time. 

pride 2021 watchlist (3/25)

I can’t speak from personal experience on the trans woman representation in this so let me just link Sally’s beautiful review on this mini series/film. I will say however that I thought it was really well done and I loved the little romance!!

The TERF stuff took me way off-guard though, so be warned that this contains abuse and transphobia from the villain characters. It’s obviously not condoned, but it’s hard to watch. 

I feel like you can really tell that this was made my trans women/queer women and I loved it. Check it out on Youtube for free! It’s only 54 minutes and well worth your time. 

pride 2021 watchlist (3/25)