BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“Openness may not disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start” – Jason Collins, The Gay Athlete, Sports Illustrated, 2013
Basically, just too tired on Saturday afternoon to do anything except channel surf, I found myself drawn to this movie, accidently. I thought if I got bored, I shall just change the channel. The preview looked interesting. Before you know it, I had finished this movie. It was pleasantly and surprisingly entertaining. The story involves a love connection between a Black high girl who is trans. Her name is Kelsa (Eva Reign). She has a couple of solid female friends, and her life is relatively easy-going. That is so because of her supportive friends, an incredibly understanding mother, and a school that is tolerant. That does not mean she is not taunted or looked at differently; she is.
The setting of this movie is very interesting. It is in Pittsburgh, a city that I lived in and still love. Pittsburgh does not have a necessarily embracing history of welcoming people who are different. But times, they are a changing. She meets a rather talented painter in her art class as they are paired to paint each other’s portrait. His name is Khal (Abubakr Ali). He is a very handsome boy who hails from Egypt and is Muslim. There is a natural attraction to each other as both are ‘outcasts’ but secure in who they are. Khal researches who Kelsa is and finds she is trans. But that does not matter to him; he is still attracted to her. He can see her for herself, and as an individual. Khal is not naïve to the difficulties of dating an individual who by societal standards is stigmatized – is it he or she? In Khal’s case, it becomes unimportant.
The twist in this movie is that the friendships with Kelsa’s and Khal’s best friend were destroyed by jealousy because of their budding romance. That jealous manifested itself by using the all-too-common homophobic responses and stereotypical reactions to people who are different and to the individuals who might like them.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this movie? While the main actors did a very credible job in portraying their characters, they are not the ones who are the most noteworthy. In this case, it is the supporting cast that ‘steals’ this movie. Let me explain some of who they are:
1. Otis (Grant Reynolds), who is Black, has been Khal’s best friend since childhood. Yet, when he discovers that Khal is dating Kelsa, he cannot wrap his mind around it. He tells Khal while he would be supportive of him being gay, this is just too mind-bending for him to understand. No matter how Khal tries to tell him that he is not gay but is attracted to Kelsa as herself, Otis cannot accept it. He only sees a ‘guy’. An ugly jealousy ensues which breaks their childhood friendship as Otis cannot accept this new reality.
2. Selene (Renee Elise Goldsberry) is the stunning supportive mother of Kelsa who is still torn between allowing her daughter to be herself yet wanting to smother her to shield and protect her from the painful realities that are out there.
3. Em (Courtnee Carter) had been a close supportive friend of Kelsa for a long time. She is a unique and colorful character who succumbs to the ugly side of jealousy. She thinks that Kelsa ‘stole’ the guy she was interested in. The reality is he (Khal) was never interested in her and misunderstood his inept mixed signals.
4. Arwin (Naveen Paddock) is Khal’s brother. His characterization shines like a bright light in this series. He becomes his brother’s true ally by being an incredibly supportive, understanding, and wise brother. Encouraging his brother to be himself and not be afraid. Not only is he astonishing handsome, he gives this character real life and believability.
5. Selda (Miriam Laube) is Khal’s mother. Her characterization of this role is so impressive. Trying to straddle traditions with modern day pressures, she sees the pain in her son and rather than try to conform him to traditions and customs, caresses him and comforts him and tells him to be himself and to like who he likes.
I realize that is a lot of people who make this story have a far greater impact on its meaning if they did not portray their characters in the way they did. They give it meaning, and a connection to giving it human drama on an intimate level.
This is a coming-of-age story. Well written and surprising poignant. It is indeed an intellectual romp through adolescent angst. What does diminish this movie, at least for me, are two things. The protagonists were way too old to pull off being high school individuals. They neither looked like nor acted like high school students no matter how much acting immature was displayed or makeup was applied. And second, the dialogue, while smart, did not ring relatable especially for Pittsburgh. In general, high school students do not talk or interact like that. It needed to be more earthy and raw for this to be seriously meaningful.
But I liked it anyway. It is entertaining and touched on the issues of trans individual in a rom-com kind of way. And for that, it deserves recognition. And frankly its ending was spectacular. I loved it. Kelsa is off to UCLA for higher education while Khal will remain in Pittsburgh going to a trade school. In the end, the question arises, do they try to maintain a long-term relationship? And Kelsa looks at him and wisely says, “No.” It is time to call it quits as both know they will be living in different and separate worlds now which indeed will change them.
They will no doubt always fondly remember their flourishing phase to adulthood, but both recognize their futures are not with each other. I liked this reality. It gave this movie a nice sense of closure that their foray into feelings was more of an infatuation with an awaking of attraction but not trying to guise it as ‘love’.
I am cheating here a bit. This is not a BL movie, but it does touch on the intent of BLs. The complexities of falling for someone who is different, not considered ‘normal’, or perhaps not even accepted by societal norms, is complex. Indeed, it broadens and widens the concept of individual vs gender. It is even more difficult to separate the gender from the person as that is the main reason the individual becomes who he or she is or meant to be.
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