Wild Side, Androgyny and Freedom

In the film Wild Side, by Sébastien Lifshit there is one character that we all seem instantly drawn to: formerly known as Pierre and currently, Stephanie. This character is visually androgynous and a very gendered body in the entirety of the film. In the beginning of the film, the scene of a man singing “boy or girl?” to a room full of transsexuals clearly defines the films fluidity of gender and the utter androgyny. Stephanie is then seen prostituting herself to only men and having “straight” sex with them, as if trying to pass as a woman. Stephanie attempts to display a certain displacement everywhere she is.
Some of the scenes that caught my attention very the scenes of the child running in the field being a child. It kind of feels as if Stephanie is looking for a certain freedom she hasn’t felt since she was a child, perhaps the comfort that many lucky children get to experience throughout their childhood. Stability in the home that she hasn’t been able to get back since she became a woman. However, even as a child, when Pierre is in front of the mirror doing his hair and doing his best to be like a girl. When her mother mentions that she is glad her father wasn’t around to see what she became, it seemed very heartbreaking but true in many families. She did not fit into her home which might have been one of the many reasons she left, but the security there, the liberty she had there as a child seems something she is trying to get back (as it is mentioned and shown throughout the entirety of the film).
Also, the sex scenes in the film were very interesting in that they defied boundaries in the film in terms of what is considered taboo. There was sex through prostitution and even threesomes and even a sex scene in which Stephanie was with an older man and she is on top, which is not the typical position for the “woman.” She is pushing back what most typical women define as strange or not normative. Also, when one engages oneself in sex, they are bound to that person. The contrast in the film of the sex scenes and the field are very black and white; one shows freedom and liberty and another shows two people bound together through sex. However, in the field and as children, we are free to be who we are: have fun, run around and live.
The French neoliberal nation-state displays certain coldness to people pushed aside by sexuality and gender. Transsexuals in particular are invalidated when it comes to living the way they are. The fact that they have to prostitute themselves in order to make a living pushes them away from society. They are colored bodies that are brought down to something that doesn’t clearly make them feel too wanted in society. Space in the film is also deployed by (as I mentioned above) Stephanie can’t seem to find her place in society. The fact that she is transsexual makes her unwanted in her family home and even in society in which she is pushed away from living a normal life without prostitution or a relationship involving three people. However, I will put a disclaimer her in that she might enjoy this way of living as well. I am not judging this certain lifestyle; I am merely saying that society pushes people of color away from society because they are not fitting into the norms.
This film was a godsend for me, I enjoyed it very much and it opened my eyes to some things we rarely talk about and are so crucial for others.

I have placed a link to a clip of a film, Hedwig and the Angry Itch. It is one of my favorite movies of all time and it has many themes in the movie that are also in Wild Side. I think you will thoroughly enjoy it!! So without further adue: ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tgy9ODhwNI