NO TRAILER CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
WATCH THE FILM HERE with all proceeds going to the filmmakers!
First, the Recap:
Individuality, originality, distinctiveness. It would be far too easy to try and just blend into the “norm” (or, at least what this world attempts to define as such), not stand out, not make waves, but just flow along with everyone else so as NOT to draw attention. Yet, how lifeless can this be? Instead, what about taking a chance to BE noticeable, making a splash, impacting other people’s lives including your own? Would that not be more fulfilling for your identity? Max (Max Kutschenreuter) has chosen to take such a journey by bringing up that most controversial, debated, disputed, and contested of notions thanks to this society’s paradigms when it comes to those of a certain gender–what is it to BE a man?
Next, my Mind:
There’s compelling, persuasive context delivered that speaks weightily about strength and confidence on your own terms rather than others’, like expressing oneself via drag for example, when not acutally wanting to BE a woman, an experience which turned out to be a definitively confusing one as taken on by director Kutschenreuter and co-director Marlena von Wedel in this 20-minute documentary short film effort screened at the 2020 Berlin Revolution Film Festival. What he found out by engaging in a deeply personal exploration was nothing short of surprising, yet on many levels, perhaps sadly expected.
People are so often ridiculously shallow. When seeing and coming up against this from a radically different perspective, it became an eye-opening trek that left Kutschenreuter not necessarily wanting to repeat the process, or perhaps at least not without knowing that what he felt while in that female mode wouldn’t be encountered again. It doesn’t become some diatribe against cross-dressers at all, or actual drag queens, but rather a disclosure that once attempting to walk around in the world as such, you quickly realize that being a female is simply NOT easy or even enviable when looked at from his efforts to just dress like one, much less anything else when being out in public.
Basically, it is speaking about masculinity and that even within the acceptance factor found within the gay and drag communities, there still lies the overtly strict, borderline inflexible inequity when it comes to even someone’s appearance, and hence why Kutschenreuter even embarked on his own fitness regimen for the sake of being better, looking better, and seeing how that all fits into the grander concepts he is exposing. Being both effeminate within the gay culture yet then actually trying to go out as a woman via drag, it opens up the comparisons to each while still showcasing that the conclusive conviction to do what he’s doing and being unafraid to do it–is that not a manly way to be?
A wealth of questions, I felt, are then presented out of it all–is it attitude? Is it physical appearance? Is it straight forward gender identity? Is it cultural pressure vs. acceptance? Is it fear vs. being who you are? Is it the perceived “perfection” we believe we need to project vs. just being normal? Is it pure identity and liberation just to be a man? Is it workouts vs. make-up? Does it all just reflect two more and viable sides of manhood? All these are left to further scrutiny and open-ended contemplation, completely on purpose, by the finale of the documentary, and that’s an intelligent and well-executed choice, as it makes you as the viewer have to ponder it all, regardless of what you believe about anything depicted. It’s a HUMAN tale, laying bare vainness and imperfection, and then how damaging it all can be.
I give full measure of credit to Kutschenreuter for being willing to put his own life and experimentation out there as he does here, because truthfully, that alone is certainly a bold statement and illustrates a level of self-confidence that should unquestionably speak “that’s a man”. So, while some of the overall themes here aren’t personal favorites of mine as I have consistently stated over the years, “To Be A Man” in total is actually a necessary peice of reality that anyone and everyone should see, again no matter where you stand in regard to the communities in play. At minimum, it paints that portrait of unyielding vanity that really needs to find a way to be put out of our mindsets, rather to adapt the more loving air we so desperately need in this world.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
