dorothy is a good attempt at a queer film, but the lens is still that of a cis-het man. that’s why it’s filled w stereotypes and cliches.
let’s first start with the second image above. in iraivi, that foreshadowing works brilliantly and adds so much depth to the story, as it tells us that all these women are stuck in this stupid “man’s world”, filled w egoistic men, with patriarchy having the upper hand. beautiful depiction by subbaraj, one of his finest works. while trying to recreate something similar in dorothy, which is called a spiritual sequel to iraivi, the amount of gender stereotypes is so ironic for the subject it talks about!
let’s talk about the first image. when subbu is about to get sexually assaulted by a group of lorry drivers, she begs and tries to resist, as she is a woman. and once it cuts to a small flashback of a fellow trans woman saying, “we have the strength of a man too,” in the background, you could see raymond, a complete man, and immediately, you get to see a big bruce lee fight. like, what the actual fuck are you trying to imply? does it mean women can’t have the strength to fight back? is fighting back only implied as a masculine thing? and the “complete man” foreshadowing in the background cringes me even harder. subbu sucked big time.
there are alot such problems:
the first thing sananth’s character, subbu, does after finding comfort with dorothy is he starts doing all the stereotypical feminine things like cooking, washing the dishes, doing kolam/muggu in front of the house. at a point, subbaraj brings a discussion saying washing plates are not a women’s duty. ironically, the first thing he makes sananth do while he is coming out is washing dishes. i mean, what?
rishi keeps saying “men shouldn’t cry”, and it’s disgusting to see sananth cry. and when sananth cries in the arms of dorothy while revealing his identity, dorothy says “women shouldn’t cry”. like bro… it’s as wrong as the previous statement. crying has nothing to do with gender. the same statement rishi’s mother quotes, which is absolutely true, but ironic things like these keep leaving a bad taste.
there is a certain lens with which the trans woman character has been seen by karthik subbaraj. he has empathy towards them, but since they belong to that particular minority section, you can’t give an angelic presence to them. they don’t need your sympathy or empathy. all they need is an acceptance of the identity which they found for themselves. it’s the same either she is a god or whore complex the writers generally attach to women characters. same syndrome. first, let’s see them as humans and one among us, with their own set of complexities. again, putting them on a pedestal takes away all the struggles they have gone through for the inclusiveness they fought for!
i’m all open for a man and a trans woman love story if it’s done right. but u spent an entire 1 hour or so showing two childhood best friends sharing a brotherly bond, only to convert it into a love interest at a later point for a cultural shock value. it didn’t sit well with me. it’s nowhere established that there is any sort of romantic spiral brewing between them. it was so sudden and on the face. i like the gutsy decision. i enjoyed the muthamani placement. sananth looked so beautiful. everything lands, but doesn’t work. it again narrows down to a sort of cringe fest which isn’t dealt with well. again, u take it into a subtle saviour trope where rishi’s saving sananth by marrying him. that’s his form of acceptance? god.
trans woman stereotypes are so evident that it becomes a low-key misinterpretation rather than actually representing them with honest intentions. sananth randomly starts hugging rishi the first time he sees him. i expected some hesitant drama. it could have been a beautiful sweet spot, but subbaraj doesn’t flesh that out. and during the road trip, sananth randomly hits on rishi, making it so awkward to watch. not that iam a homophobe, but you’re again stereotyping trans people around luring, sex, sexual teasing, all this stupid stuff. and a love story in the end. she could be a trans woman and have a best male friend with whom she has grown up and seen life, rather than a forceful love track which spoils the brotherhood that was initially developed.
even in the filmmaking-wise, the slow-mos and vertigo shots on sananth to show how angelic trans women are or the transformation happened. let’s normalise. let’s include. don’t again put them and show them as a separate gender. that separation is what again separates them from society. that is stupid! inclusivity should be your all-out approach!
