I liked this piece because it gave me a look into the mind of someone that I wouldn't otherwise get to know. I identified with him being an outsider looking in and the feeling of being trapped within a prison (even though he is literally in a prison right now). I wish the piece could have been longer, because I would have liked to heard more about Amy/Justin's story. But what the piece did include was very interesting.
Yet another interesting production from Salt. This brief documentary tells the story of a person, named Amy, who feels s/he is a man trapped in a woman's body. S/he takes the name of "Justin" and lives life, as much as possible, as a man.
The doc is an interesting collection of self-observations, anecdotes, and stories. Most interesting, Amy/Justin doesn't consider him/herself a lesbian and, though painfully passionate about living as a man, isn't interested in sexual reassignment surgery. S/he compares him/herself to others who bear physical deformities or diseases: the feminine physical characteristics are no different than someone born with a misshapen arm or suffering from MS. Amy/Justin is a sincere person and disarmingly honest--and his/her openness is well-captured here.
While the program does a good job of providing an overview of Amy/Justin's life (and the challenges of that life), it doesn’t offer much context. While a listener would find the situation interesting and enlightening, such a straight forward profile doesn't offer enough to keep a busy person's attention for eight minutes--there has to more of a reason to listen. A bit less detail, replaced with a deeper penetration of why Amy/Justin's story is important, would go a long way.
This is actually a piece about an FTM, a female-to-male transsexual, not the "woman trapped in a man's body" the description lists it as. Justin is a really unique subject, a transgender individual living in rural America and negotiating gender. I would have liked to hear more about Justin's experience with the corrections system, because that seems like it would be a stressful place for gender variant people to live, yes, even more than everyone else. I was also disappointed that the producer didn't seem to do any research about FTMs and chose to focus on the idea of a "functining male organ" as the only determinant of gender rather than really thinking about Justin's day to day life. i.e. 99% of the time Justin's penis or lack therof is really not going to make a difference--what is really the issue with him living in rural Maine? That he can't pee standing up or that he can't walk around town without getting strange looks. The individuals to whom your story will really matter, to whom it isn't jsut some novel coffee table conversation, are going to be interested in hearing about what Justin thought about hormone therapy and top surgery and passing and his family. For those people, check out www.ftmi.org
Comments for Justin on the Inside
Produced by Julie A. Shargel
Other pieces by Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
Rating Summary
3 comments
Julie S
Posted on July 10, 2004 at 04:09 PM | Permalink
Review of Justin on the Inside
I liked this piece because it gave me a look into the mind of someone that I wouldn't otherwise get to know. I identified with him being an outsider looking in and the feeling of being trapped within a prison (even though he is literally in a prison right now). I wish the piece could have been longer, because I would have liked to heard more about Amy/Justin's story. But what the piece did include was very interesting.
Eric Nuzum
Posted on June 27, 2004 at 11:15 AM | Permalink
Review of Justin on the Inside
The doc is an interesting collection of self-observations, anecdotes, and stories. Most interesting, Amy/Justin doesn't consider him/herself a lesbian and, though painfully passionate about living as a man, isn't interested in sexual reassignment surgery. S/he compares him/herself to others who bear physical deformities or diseases: the feminine physical characteristics are no different than someone born with a misshapen arm or suffering from MS. Amy/Justin is a sincere person and disarmingly honest--and his/her openness is well-captured here.
While the program does a good job of providing an overview of Amy/Justin's life (and the challenges of that life), it doesn’t offer much context. While a listener would find the situation interesting and enlightening, such a straight forward profile doesn't offer enough to keep a busy person's attention for eight minutes--there has to more of a reason to listen. A bit less detail, replaced with a deeper penetration of why Amy/Justin's story is important, would go a long way.
Tom Leger
Posted on May 27, 2004 at 11:58 AM | Permalink
Review of Justin on the Inside
This is actually a piece about an FTM, a female-to-male transsexual, not the "woman trapped in a man's body" the description lists it as. Justin is a really unique subject, a transgender individual living in rural America and negotiating gender. I would have liked to hear more about Justin's experience with the corrections system, because that seems like it would be a stressful place for gender variant people to live, yes, even more than everyone else. I was also disappointed that the producer didn't seem to do any research about FTMs and chose to focus on the idea of a "functining male organ" as the only determinant of gender rather than really thinking about Justin's day to day life. i.e. 99% of the time Justin's penis or lack therof is really not going to make a difference--what is really the issue with him living in rural Maine? That he can't pee standing up or that he can't walk around town without getting strange looks. The individuals to whom your story will really matter, to whom it isn't jsut some novel coffee table conversation, are going to be interested in hearing about what Justin thought about hormone therapy and top surgery and passing and his family. For those people, check out www.ftmi.org