In “Every Body,” an activist named Alicia Roth Weigel sits on her couch, swiping through profiles on a dating app and explaining to the camera — and a public who’ve likely never had the opportunity or occasion to think about such things — how challenging it is to find a match. Weigel was born with both male and female biological traits, which a doctor immediately sought to correct via surgery (Weigel describes the loss of her testes as “castration”) so the child would conform to society’s idea of female. But Weigel is not female; she/they are intersex, and her/their story is one America needs to hear.
Why? Well, for starters, in the past six months, an estimated 560 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 49 states. Trans and intersex are not the same thing, representing two entirely different letters in the catch-all Lgbtqia+ label. Still, acknowledging the existence of intersex individuals — “whatever that is,...
Why? Well, for starters, in the past six months, an estimated 560 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 49 states. Trans and intersex are not the same thing, representing two entirely different letters in the catch-all Lgbtqia+ label. Still, acknowledging the existence of intersex individuals — “whatever that is,...
- 7/1/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
“Every Body” is a beautiful and cathartic celebration of intersexuality — and should be mandatory viewing for people of all genders.
Directed by Julie Cohen (co-director of the Oscar-nominated “Rbg”), the documentary opens with a montage of increasingly ridiculous gender reveals. The gender reveals set up the crux of the film, which showcases the irrelevance and — frankly — the stupidity of trying to define people based on their bodies.
“Every Body” follows three intersex adults — actor and screenwriter River Gallo (they/them), political consultant Alicia Roth Weigel (she/they), and Ph.D. student Sean Saifa Wall (he/him) — who are leading figures in intersex awareness advocacy. Being intersex is defined as “any variation within a person’s sex traits with which they’re either born with or develop naturally during puberty,” according to documentary specialist Katharine Dalke, M.D. who works at the Sexual & Gender Minority Research Group of National Institutes of...
Directed by Julie Cohen (co-director of the Oscar-nominated “Rbg”), the documentary opens with a montage of increasingly ridiculous gender reveals. The gender reveals set up the crux of the film, which showcases the irrelevance and — frankly — the stupidity of trying to define people based on their bodies.
“Every Body” follows three intersex adults — actor and screenwriter River Gallo (they/them), political consultant Alicia Roth Weigel (she/they), and Ph.D. student Sean Saifa Wall (he/him) — who are leading figures in intersex awareness advocacy. Being intersex is defined as “any variation within a person’s sex traits with which they’re either born with or develop naturally during puberty,” according to documentary specialist Katharine Dalke, M.D. who works at the Sexual & Gender Minority Research Group of National Institutes of...
- 6/26/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Julie Cohen’s intimate and engaging documentary Every Body is guided by a single question: In a world of binaries, where do intersex people fit? The answer — perhaps we should abolish categories altogether — isn’t very complicated, but creating that reality will be a struggle.
It’s smart that Cohen, who co-directed Rbg and My Name is Pauli Murray, opens her most recent film with a montage of gender reveal parties. The popularity of this practice, in which expectant parents plan an elaborate celebration around the predicted and subsequently disclosed sex of their unborn baby, shows how committed society is to the idea of two genders. Videos of couples staging ornate (and often dangerous) special effects, bursting into tears at the sight of pink confetti or blue fireworks, are haunting. These parties assume that children will play into normative behaviors based on their sex. They are less about the kid...
It’s smart that Cohen, who co-directed Rbg and My Name is Pauli Murray, opens her most recent film with a montage of gender reveal parties. The popularity of this practice, in which expectant parents plan an elaborate celebration around the predicted and subsequently disclosed sex of their unborn baby, shows how committed society is to the idea of two genders. Videos of couples staging ornate (and often dangerous) special effects, bursting into tears at the sight of pink confetti or blue fireworks, are haunting. These parties assume that children will play into normative behaviors based on their sex. They are less about the kid...
- 6/21/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For half a century, the FBI director waged war on homosexuals, black people and communists. Now, a controversial film by Clint Eastwood is set to reveal some of the explosive truth about him. Here, his biographer Anthony Summers tells all
J Edgar Hoover was a phenomenon. The first Director of the FBI, he remained in office for 48 years, from his appointment after the First World War to his death in 1972, achieving fame and extraordinary power. For public consumption when he died, President Richard Nixon eulogised him as: "One of the giants… a national symbol of courage, patriotism and granite-like honesty and integrity." He ordered flags to fly at half-mast and that Hoover's body lie in state in the Capitol.
In private, on hearing that he had died, Nixon had responded merely: "Jesus Christ! That old cocksucker!" Months earlier, closeted with key advisers, he had held forth on the need to...
J Edgar Hoover was a phenomenon. The first Director of the FBI, he remained in office for 48 years, from his appointment after the First World War to his death in 1972, achieving fame and extraordinary power. For public consumption when he died, President Richard Nixon eulogised him as: "One of the giants… a national symbol of courage, patriotism and granite-like honesty and integrity." He ordered flags to fly at half-mast and that Hoover's body lie in state in the Capitol.
In private, on hearing that he had died, Nixon had responded merely: "Jesus Christ! That old cocksucker!" Months earlier, closeted with key advisers, he had held forth on the need to...
- 1/3/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
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