Buzz
05-28-2007, 12:51 PM
Here's a tip for everybody: after seeing a very entertaining performance last night by Kate Bornstein at the Transgender Film Festival Amsterdam 2007 (http://www.transgenderfilmfestival.com/about/) last night, I'd like to recommend seeing her live if you ever get a chance.
I had heard of her before but didn't quite know what to expect. Now I'm very glad that I went. She was very witty and had us all either laughing or listening in attentive silence to her stories. The venue was sold out and it was nice to see so many transgendered people from various countries around the world together for this event.
She describes herself as a "Queer and Pleasant Danger" and doesn't strive to have a pure female identity, but rather wants to be something else, just herself, an amalgam of the qualities she thinks are best in a human being. If you think you're already open-minded, she will open your mind even more.
She not only read and talked about her life, but she performed too, such as playing the role of her mother when she came out to her, which was not only moving but hilarious because of the way she could mimic her jewish mother.
At the end of the show we all got a "Get out of hell free" card from her which says if we're not mean but somehow end up in hell for some other reason, then she volunteered to serve our time in hell for us.
She had a lot of provocative things to say about society, religion, and sex, and she didn't care if she offended anyone, even other transgendered people. Imagine a post-op Lenny Bruce and you'll know what I mean. She got a long standing ovation at the end.
The performance was the close of the Transgender Film Festival Amsterdam, which was being held for the 4th year. Every year it gets bigger, and this year it was very successful according to the organizers. Consider their program (http://www.transgenderfilmfestival.com/programme/) a list of films to see if you get the chance. Many of the people featured in the films attended the festival too.
There are links to interviews, books and recorded performances by Bornstein on her Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bornstein) page.
Kate Bornstein:
http://www.eros-zine.com/articles/2007-03-06/kate_bornstein0306/kate_bornstein0306-06.jpg
I had heard of her before but didn't quite know what to expect. Now I'm very glad that I went. She was very witty and had us all either laughing or listening in attentive silence to her stories. The venue was sold out and it was nice to see so many transgendered people from various countries around the world together for this event.
She describes herself as a "Queer and Pleasant Danger" and doesn't strive to have a pure female identity, but rather wants to be something else, just herself, an amalgam of the qualities she thinks are best in a human being. If you think you're already open-minded, she will open your mind even more.
She not only read and talked about her life, but she performed too, such as playing the role of her mother when she came out to her, which was not only moving but hilarious because of the way she could mimic her jewish mother.
At the end of the show we all got a "Get out of hell free" card from her which says if we're not mean but somehow end up in hell for some other reason, then she volunteered to serve our time in hell for us.
She had a lot of provocative things to say about society, religion, and sex, and she didn't care if she offended anyone, even other transgendered people. Imagine a post-op Lenny Bruce and you'll know what I mean. She got a long standing ovation at the end.
The performance was the close of the Transgender Film Festival Amsterdam, which was being held for the 4th year. Every year it gets bigger, and this year it was very successful according to the organizers. Consider their program (http://www.transgenderfilmfestival.com/programme/) a list of films to see if you get the chance. Many of the people featured in the films attended the festival too.
There are links to interviews, books and recorded performances by Bornstein on her Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bornstein) page.
Kate Bornstein:
http://www.eros-zine.com/articles/2007-03-06/kate_bornstein0306/kate_bornstein0306-06.jpg