MovieChat Forums > By Hook or by Crook (2001) Discussion > Only flaw...........

Only flaw...........

posted 19 years ago by gurlsruleboysdrool
2 replies | jump to latest

I really love how the fact that Harry is definately gender bending and it's just incidental. We love Harry for Harry, not whether he is a girl or a boy.

My problem arises when we take it to the fact that Harry is mentally ill. It almost takes us to "ohhhhhhh well he/she is mentally ill" as if a gender bender, and excuse my lack of correct term here since they never went into exactly Harry's anatomy, couldn't be "normal", which just destroyed what I loved most about it.

Overall, I love this film - and thank you for showing a wide range of lesbians, instead of running to the old standard "butch" only lesbian. However this was it's only flaw and I felt a big flaw.

[–] salvodaze 19 years ago

You know I kind of thought of Valentine as a sweet person. just kind and sweet and harmless, so I wouldnt really wanna call her/him ill. if a person's head works in a different direction and if he/she is adorably kind and sweet I don't think bordering it to mental illness makes any sense. But I get your point. Yet I really think any nice audience wouldn't fall for a shallow view like that, cos it's not what was intended anyway. But I'm sure there are people who'll get it that way cos we're living in an era in which in order to supply political correctness, you have to sacrifice some stuff (weirdness, feelings, other "controversial" issues along with gender or sexuality stuff. cos that confuses people. and if your character is gay & weird, for example, we're forced to suspect the intentions of the writer. )in your art. But the intentions are mostly visible to the not-so-shallow eye, so no worries I guess.

Btw, if I ever have a child, I guess I'm gonna name her/him valentine (or more likely valentin, to make it more like turkish :) )

Salvo Daze

[–] goldengirlfanatic 18 years ago

I definitely think that some people might come to the [erroneous] conclusion that gender-bending equals mental illness, but, given who made the film and their probably intent, that was most certainly not the message they came across. I watched one of the interviews on the DVD, and liked how big they were on the movie not focusing on the gay/gender-bend aspect. It's a story of friendship, etc., oh, and, incidentally, the characters are like this. The way life really is :). So I think it really ties in with the idea that people are who they are, and characters aren't one-dimension. In a lot of "controversial" subject matter, we seem to get really worried if the person in question isn't a pure saint, as if it invalidates them completely.

I feel a bit like I'm rambling, but main point: nobody's trying to equate mental illness to gender issues. Harry (Valentine) just happens to have both. And, actually, I'd be more inclined to believe being put in a mental institution as a child for gender-bending was what messed her up in the first place!