"I'm a Girl and a Boy" is an Argentine film originally titled "XXY". This is the first feature film of young female director Lucia Puenzo, whose father Luis Puenzo is also a director, and the work "Official Statement" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1985. "I'm a Girl and a Boy" is about the inner struggle of a bi-sex girl Yaris, and the helplessness and powerlessness of parents when they face the pain and hesitation of their children.
Yaris was born with dual gender, a girl and a boy. In order to keep this secret and not to be discriminated against, Yaris has been moving around with her parents since she was a child, constantly changing schools. Every day, Yaris takes female hormones to ensure that no beards grow on her face and her voice does not become muffled. For 15 years, Yaris has appeared in front of everyone as a girl. This was not a big problem at first, after all, there is no real difference between little boys and little girls. But after entering puberty, some things can no longer be fooled. Whether it is physical or psychological, there is a big difference between male and female.
Yaris' father is a biologist who studies gender balance in sea turtles. When Yaris was born, the doctor suggested that a minor operation should be performed immediately, so that there would be no more troubles in the future. But Yaris' father disagreed. He looked at the child's special body and thought it was beautiful and natural. He was unwilling and unable to decide the sex for the child. Because he is a sea turtle expert, the sex of a turtle is not determined by genetics, but by the temperature around which the eggs are developing. Any man-made choices and interventions are actions that disrupt nature and break the balance. He decided to let the child live in the most natural way.
Yaris' mother is a housewife, and her wish is to let her children live happily. She agreed with her husband's decision on the sex of the child, but insisted that the child should not be hurt because of it. As long as someone noticed Yaris' situation, they would move and start a new life in a new place. The child is 15 years old, and the mother no longer has confidence in this way of life. She considers that it may be time for Yaris to undergo surgery, at this age when she is beginning to be curious about sex and love. So she secretly found the most authoritative plastic surgeon without telling her husband and Yaris. The plastic surgeon visits with his wife and son, pretending to be a long-lost friend.
Although they didn't know the purpose of the visit of the plastic surgeon's family, when they heard about his occupation at the dinner table, Yaris and her father immediately guessed their mother's motive. Yaris then throws bad news, she was dropped from school because she beat up her best friend Vando, almost breaking his nose. Vando was the only one who knew Yaris' secret, and he leaked it out. This made Yaris' father very worried, afraid that he would not be able to protect his child well, and that surgery for Yaris would become a top priority. He hasn't figured out the surgery yet.
Alvado, the plastic surgeon's son, was slender and thin, and had just turned sixteen. He is full of envy for his father's professional ability, but he knows that he is far behind. He knew that his father was tired of such minor surgeries as breast augmentation and double eyelid cutting, but he did not know the purpose of the family coming to this seaside town. He doesn't know Yaris' secret yet. But soon he will find out, after he and Yaris explore sexual secrets together, after he is assaulted by Yaris from behind. However, Alvador does not hate this particular way of making love, because his gender identity is also in the stage of hazy exploration, although he is not an intersex person.
Yaris' father actually didn't want the child to undergo surgery, but after inadvertently peeking at the private images of Yaris and Alvado, he began to hesitate. After all, the child has reached adolescence and is curious about sex. And she doesn't just think of herself as a girl. The father secretly collected briefings about the first intersex sex surgery. He secretly visits the woman-turned-man, wondering about life after the operation. The other side told the father that there was no problem after the operation, but the only important thing was not to let the child feel ashamed of his own body.
The most worrying thing finally happened. Several boys in town attack Yaris because they want to see what an intersex body looks like. Although the "former" friend Fando rescued Yaris in time and avoided physical harm, Yaris's heart was still hit. Yaris' father once came to the door of the police station, but he couldn't summon the courage to go in. In the end, he just found the young man and gave them the most solemn warning. Father asked Yaris if she wanted to call the police? After all, only she can decide whether to call the police or not, and only she can decide whether to undergo surgery. Yaris wants to call the police, but she doesn't want surgery, because she doesn't know whether she wants to be a boy or a girl, but she is willing to accept her body calmly.
"I'm a Girl and a Boy" is a relatively simple film. The director uses a relatively objective method to present the difficulties and struggles of being an intersex person, and tries not to criticize or guide. In the short 90-minute film, although the tone is relatively gray and cold, it is not tragic, and the dialogue is short, but not dull. The most talked-about in the content is the scene of Yaris and Alvado having sex, and the scene where Yaris is almost naked. Apart from that, it is subtle and plain.
Although intersex people are inevitably subject to discrimination and injustice, compared with other gender-inverted people, they have more choices and less helplessness. As long as parents can handle it properly and guide their children to have a positive attitude, it is actually a kind of grace from God. After all, most people have no right to choose their gender. Compared with other types of limb variation, dual sex is the most obscure and changeable. Therefore, I think it is wise and appropriate for the director to choose such a subtle and non-provocative shooting method to address the topic of dual gender.
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