I know this may sound like the stupidest question ever, but was Lola gay? There's one scene where he discusses w/ a coworker about how you can still like women and "wear a frock", and mentions that women like men with feminine qualities, but even after rewinding the scene several times, i can't get whether he's talking about himself, or trying to convince the other guy why it's ok for men to wear women's clothing. Anyone know?
shareI think the beautiful thing is that it doesn't matter what Lola's sexuality is. I know a few transgendered people who are still "figuring it out" on whether they are gay or straight, or what that means for someone who is trans. Bravo to the filmmakers for giving Lola enough character without feeling the need to "explain" her sexuality.
shareMy theory is that "Whatever Lola wants.... Lola gets."
Yes! Nice Peggy Lee referance there, she's a goddess.
shareActually Della Reece sang 'whatever Lola wants' first so it's her song!
shareYou're joking, right? 'Whatever Lola Wants' was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross for the musical Damn Yankees. Singing a song doesn't make it anyone's.
shareAdler and Ross did such great work, even though it ended all too soon. It's their song, of course, but I think they'd agree it also 'belongs' to Gwen Verdon, who of course, sang it both on Broadway and in the movie of DAMN YANKEES. (I did recently see an interview with Mitzi Gaynor, where she seemed to be claiming that the role and song were written for her, which seemed very suspect to me, as she was talking about how they tried to get her for Gwen's role in the movie, but her studio wouldn't allow her a release to do it. If it was the movie they wanted her for, how could the role have been written for her? I'd be interested to see what she would have done with it, but am VERY glad Gwen did the movie.)
Multiplex: 100+ shows a day, NONE worth watching. John Sayles' latest: NO distribution. SAD.
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actually transgender means someone who's changing their sex parts. in the movie lola was a transvestite AND a drag queen. a transvestite is simply a man that wears womens clothes, a drag queen is a man (usually gay but not always)who puts on fabulous outfits and performs an act. transvestites are actually usually heterosexual... if you don't believe me check out one of eddie izzards DVDs.
"Happiness is a warm gun." The Beatles
"No touching guns." River~ Serenity
I was going to mention Eddie Izzard too. :)
shareJust so you know, transgender is not someone who's getting a sex-change op, that's transexual. Transgender means someone who completely and totally identifies with the oposite sex, and a lot of the time they do get the operation, but not always.
Other than that, you're right.
Just clarifying :)
~No Day But Today~
Actually, transgendered does not mean someone who alters themselves physically. Someone who undergoes physical sexual reassignment is called a TRANSEXUAL. A transgendered individual assumes the gender of the opposite sex (i.e. a man who assumes a feminine gender without genital alteration). Take social cultural anthropology at the University of Toronto for further clarification.
shareMore often, I've heard "transgendered" used to refer to anyone who lives to some degree between genders, and Lola would definitely qualify, particularly since her female persona carries beyond the stage. "Transsexual," as several people here have pointed out, means someone who lives permanently in the gender opposite the one they were assigned at birth -- although they may not choose to do either hormones or surgery.
shareI don't think your question is stupid at all. I think its interesting that the movie did not clarify that point. It suggests that it doesn't really matter what Lola is - she could be gay, she could be straight with a fetish for women's clothing/shoes, or something in between. I think the point of the movie is that it is ok to walk outside the lines that society has drawn for us. That is what Lola does -- quite literally.
shareI think Lola was gay because as soon as Charlie waked up in Lola's dressing room for the first time, Lola is near Charlie's crotch and Lola says something along the lines of "Don't flatter yourself" meaning to me that he likes men but not Charlie.
shareI got the feeling that Lola had the hots for Charlie, making Colin gay.
shareI didn't get that feeling at all. BTW - who is Colin?
sharecolin is the name of the actor who played lola/simon
i was waiting for lola and don to hit it off.....might of been stupid of me..but...
The worst day is the one in which we have not laughed.
The actor who played Lola/Simon was Chiwetel Ejiofor. Lola's sexual orientation seemed to be purposely left slightly ambiguous, but there is a strong suggestion that s/he was heterosexual and actually took a special liking to Lauren. The scene where they dance slowly together causes Charlie to feel a twinge of jealousy. This may have been Lola's intention, as he/she displays considerable nobility of character in his/her manner and sentiments, his considerate and wise interaction with Don, etc., and he understood that Lauren and Charlie were a natural match. Later, when Charlie and Lauren finally embrace at the fashion show, a hint of wistfulness accents the happiness in Lola's expression.
share
I dont think so. there was a scene at the factory where lola was speaking with one of the workers. The worker (dont remember name, just red shirt but not Don) asked why go through all the trouble if youre not interested in men?
I had to rewind the part, because that stunned me, but yes, Lola liked to dress up but still liked women.
90%+ of crossdressers (transvestites) are hetero, just like the general population. They just like wearing women's clothes. About 10% of them are gay
Drag Queens are usually gay men who dress as women to perform. They don't have the same set of compulsions that the primarily straight CD population has.
Transexuals feel that they are in the body of the worng sex.
Transgendered is a term that lumps TV/TS/TG/CD all into one confused family.
Never sure on the Lauren thing. Maybe Lola liked a little of both? Who the hell knows.
shareThere's also a scene where Lola is talking to Lauren about Charlie and says something about how he's easy to love. Or did I misunderstand that? At any rate, I agree with what someone said earlier about how this movie just shows that it's okay to step outside the lines every now and then.
Why settle with words what you can settle with a flamethrower?
I got the impression that Lola liked Charlie, and was a bit let down when Lauren embraced Charlie at the show. That's what I got. Also, Lola calls herself a drag queen, which is almost always, percentage wise, gay men.
shareActualy this question is answerd.
Lola and some guy are at the Shoe press and he clearly says:
"I dont understand, if you wana get it off with a girl why do you wear a frock?"
This means Lola was straight, a transvestite.
perhaps she was bisexual?
full moon is on the sky and he's not a man anymoreshare
Yet again I see a brilliant film or piece of tele pulled to ribbons by people concentrating on the sexuality of one of the characters!
This world is unbelievable, although to add my two cents to the conversation the whole area of sexuality and gender are two distinct things.
I think Lola is attracted to women and is so comfortable in their sexuality as to toy with people making them think that they mioght be bi. It's part of the character of Lola. They are in the entertainment business and just love to make people smile whilst making others squirm.
Now, let's clear up the whole TV/CD/TS/TG thing. I used to believe there were 2 types of people - men and women. However, my view has changed due to my own experiences. I now believe there to be 5 types of people - women, men, trans men, trans women and intersex.
Women and trans women are women, they think like women, act like women, have womanly urges and desires. It just so happens that trans women are always sterile.
Men and trans men are men, they think like men, act like men, have manly urges and desires. It just so happens that trans men are always sterile.
Intersex (also known as hermaphrodites) have both male and female characteristics and consider themselves neither male nor female. In this category are those who have been born with XXY chromosones, but who consider themselves not to be either male nor female.
Your gender has nothing to do with the clothes you wear. It is what is inside us that determines it. It is one of three things:
- Male
- Female
- Both of the the above
Sorry this has been a long post, I just felt that I should try to clear up a few things.
Gender could also be neither. The male-female thing is all part of the gender binary.
And for the record, a transsexual goes from one sex to the other, though either hormone therapy, surgical methods or both. A transgendered person is someone who identifies as a gender other then the one they were born as. Could be male, female, both, neither, any other title.
Also, just to clarify, gender is NOT the same thing as sex. Not at all.
"Don't flatter yourself" meaning to me that he likes men but not Charlie"
I thnk he said that because, when Lola was about to touch him, Charlie hesitated, so she just teased him by making that remark.
As for the original question, it really is left open to interpretation but there are a few hints that suggest he liked women. some of them were already mentioned. i suppose it's one of the beauty of the film that they cleverly did not stress on whether he's this or that because it simply did not matter.
Upside Down does not equal Downside Up
I don't think they made Lola's sexuality clear in the movie. I know for sure that Lola identifies himself as a man when he's not working, but finds himself liking heels and dresses. It's common to find transvestites who are straight...like Eddie Izzard. He could also be bisexual too.
shareI thought she was, since she referred (I think...) to herself and other performers as drag queens. Otherwise they would be female impersonators who would be any male, straight or gay. And a transvestite, by the way, is anyone who cross-dresses, male or female, gay or straight or undecided, as she said.
Great film, wonderfully acted and written. No wonder a hit Broadway play came out of it.