“Passing” and “passing” stories have been a great topic in literature and in the movie scene since the beginning of the 20th century. That does not mean that “passing” has not been a topic in life before, but the literary interest in it began much later.
There are stories and movies about race “passing”, class “passing” and gender “passing”, but class passing does not seem to be too interesting, as there are millions of people pretending to be richer or better than they actually are; it is almost a normal thing in society today. It does not make you suffer hard when you’re not as rich or famous as you would like to be, although it makes you suffer in other ways when you are really poor. But this is not the main topic of class “passing” anyway, the suffering of the poor.
Race and gender “passing” are much more interesting, but not because the people suffer in those stories, but because it takes a great and strong character to race- or gender-“pass”. Race and gender “passing” are much harder to perform than class “passing”.
Contents
1. Introduction to the topic
1.1 Why did I choose it?
2. Duncan Tucker’s “Transamerica”
3. Langston Hughes’ “Passing”
4. How “passing” is depicted in the movie
5. How “passing” is depicted in the text
6. Comparison of “Transamerica” and “Passing”
6.1 How has the people’s reaction changed from the 20th to the 21st century?
1. Introduction to the topic
“Passing” and “passing” stories have been a great topic in literature and in the movie scene since the beginning of the 20th century. That does not mean that “passing” has not been a topic in life before, but the literary interest in it began much later.
There are stories and movies about race “passing”, class “passing” and gender “passing”, but class passing does not seem to be too interesting, as there are millions of people pretending to be richer or better than they actually are; it is almost a normal thing in society today. It does not make you suffer hard when you’re not as rich or famous as you would like to be, although it makes you suffer in other ways when you are really poor. But this is not the main topic of class “passing” anyway, the suffering of the poor.
Race and gender “passing” are much more interesting, but not because the people suffer in those stories, but because it takes a great and strong character to race- or gender-“pass”. Race and gender “passing” are much harder to perform than class “passing”.
1.1 Why did I choose it?
These thoughts brought to me the idea to take a text and a movie, a race and a gender “passing” story and compare them. I will show similarities and differences of gender and race “passing” stories and show how people have dealt and deal with those in the 20th and 21st century. The text “Passing” by Langston Hughes is about race “passing” and is situated in the 1930’s and the movie “Transamerica” by Duncan Tucker is about gender “passing” in 2005.
Both text and movie are written/acted from an inner perspective, the text in form of a letter and the movie in a way like a diary. This made it so interesting for me to take them because I think the reader/viewer is given a deeper insight into both stories.
Throughout my paper I will try to show that both stories are very different from each other but at the same time so closely connected that they are worth a comparison. Different are the types of “passing” and its motivations and connected are the narrators’ feelings and strong characters.
2. Duncan Tucker’s “Transamerica”
The movie “Transamerica” by Duncan Tucker is from 2005 and is about a transgender woman who is only one step away from her final surgery when she finds out she, that means he, has a 17-year-old son named Toby. Sabrina Claire Osbourne, called Bree, was born as Stanley Schupek and has always felt that s/he is a woman inside.
The movie begins with Bree sitting in her house, training her vocal chords. During that process, she gets a phone call from the New York state prison that Stanley Schupek has a son there who needs to be picked up. Bree immediately sees her therapist and tells her that Stanley has a son from the only time in his life he had sex with a woman. Her therapist tells her not to talk about Stanley in third person and that Bree has to accept Stanley’s life and past as her own life and past. She also tells her to pick up her son and take him with her to Los Angeles, for she will not get the permission for the surgery if she does not. Bree takes Toby with her, but doesn’t tell him who she really is. Both have different aims; Toby wants to find his father Stanley and Bree wants to finally leave Stanley behind.
Due to some accidents it seems that Bree will not be able to get the surgery done, but in the end everything gets in the right order for her and she even is able to build up a sort of connection to her son, who will always remind her of what she was in her earlier life.
3. Langston Hughes’ “Passing”
The text “Passing” by Langston Hughes is a short story from the 1930’s. It is written in form of a letter from a man to his mother. The man, Jack, is black and passing for white. He met his mother on the street the day before. She didn’t show that she was his mother and Jack wants to thank her for that and also wants to explain to her why he is passing and why he will not return to his old life. He talks about difficulties and advantages in his new life.
Jack begins to thank his mother for the day before and that she did not talk to him because he had his girlfriend with him. He tells about his job as a white man and how he sees how black people are treated from a “white perspective”. Jack goes on apologizing for not being able to stick to his family and that he wonders how he was the only child of her being light enough to “pass”. He also says that he will fight and do anything for his new “white” life, even to say his children are not his own when they are born dark. In the end, Jack asks his mother if they can still write to each other when they’re not able to meet.
4. How “passing” is depicted in the movie
At the beginning of the movie, Bree is shown as an ugly person. Her ears are too big, her artificial fingernails are pink and too big even for her big hands, her hair looks also artificial and her clothes are all pink and violet. The viewer can see that she is actually a man (although the actress is a woman), but within a few minutes, one does not see a man or a woman anymore but just Bree. She goes to a psychologist for she needs his signature for her final surgery that will make her an entire woman. This psychologist asks her several questions about her feelings and support of friends and tells her that the American Psychiatric Association sees gender dysphoria as a very serious mental disorder.
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- Quote paper
- Jennifer Koss (Author), 2007, “Passing” Stories in Literature and Film in the 20th and 21st Century. Duncan Tucker’s "Transamerica" and Langston Hughes’ "Passing", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/148933
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