Randy De Troit Says: Gun Hill Road Review-A Parents Hard Learned Lesson

Gun Hill Road

Saw the flick today at the screening and was interested in its content because I had been doing some prior research on the subject. Sometimes we perceive things differently and when we are more set in our ways, it takes more time to open ones self up to other possibilities. So in my own personal life I can attest that it took me a while to ‘come around’ so-to-speak especially easing up on my ignorant homophobic stance from the get-go.

I too, like Michael, had a father who’s job it was to instill a sense of masculine sexuality in his three sons having been a bomber pilot in WWII and forever wearing it on his sleeve. This role he cast for us in steel could have set up a lifetime of aversion and negative influence if not properly treated. A polarity had been set up for and anyone who didn’t adhere to this strict sense of identity in which he firmly believed.

We learn from birth about the roles we play first as children then later as adults. Most of these behavior patterns of ‘boys with trucks and girls with dolls’ are engrained into our psyche and hard to move or change. It’s when one is confronted with ‘being different’ that we really get our backs up against the wall.

Michael had grown away from his father’s stern upbringing and black and white outlook on life. His father Enrique is seen in this macho man tough guy role model that owns up to its image: fierce, strong, aggressive, violent, and straight and narrow where black is black and white is white. And never shall the twain meet. No gray areas are allowed. He knows that to get respect in his present situation: incarceration, he must fight and uphold his tough image to survive in a total buck head to head environment. It’s the only way he knows how to survive and it works for him.

So he declares war on a fellow inmate to make a statement and to set a perimeter of understanding with a line drawn in the sand that is not negotiable. Not yet anyway.

The story has him being released from prison but he soon finds that life has not been on a three-year hiatus. His immediate family of wife and son has gone through some changes that he wasn’t there to experience and couldn’t possibly have imagined. He’s the odd man out. But even though he’s been away for three years, he wants his life back the way it was, everything back to normal. But what is normal for his son? And has his wife’s patience and celibacy run out, her sense of faithfulness stretched to the limits?

He keeps referring to Michael as his son, but he didn’t bargain for his behavior and cannot accept it because of how he was brought up and lived his whole life up until now. His outlook of an ideal man is one way only. He doesn’t see clearly when his son explores his feminine side and rejects most other earlier acceptable behavior patterns. In fact he sees red and is angered by this type of behavior in his son mostly because of how it reflects back on him. How will society judge him now when his only son is a turncoat adopting another perspective on his sexuality, namely transsexual which is so different than his own.

Michael wears his hair differently, seeks out hormone therapy to enhance and change and make his appearance more feminine and acceptable to a male suitor. He puts on makeup, jewelry, studies female behavior, softens his voice. He dresses as a girl every chance he gets but hides his alter ego deep inside a “Davy Jones's Locker.” He can only fully ‘come out’ at non-judgmental poetry readings, nightclubs, and at gatherings of his closest peers who swear allegiance to his secret.

He succeeds in his appeal to the opposite sex in his transition and finds temporary comfort in a sexual relationship that has no basis in love or respect. It is no different than any man lusting after a female for the conquest alone and nothing more. But Michael settles for what he can get for now until the stark realization dawns on him that this will never be anything else and he lashes out in despair.

Who will love him unconditionally and accept him for who he is now, other than his mother and God? His father shows only an unreasoning desire to avoid that which displeases, annoys, & offends him personally.

Society dictates that a transsexual who is passable has sexual value to be realized in the selling of sexual favors or in the case of the entertainment factor as is evidenced by a common practice of the rise in the popularity of transsexual pornography. Healthy relationships are reliant on understanding accepting individuals.

Since this behavior is the path of least resistance to financial independence for those transgender individuals who otherwise cannot admit to anyone in their immediate environment as to whom they really are, find gainful employment in their transition, some more passable transgender adopt this otherwise seemingly last option. Escorting has become popular as well as evidenced by the advertisements in websites such as Backpage.com and Craigslist.

Michael has found himself trapped in a man’s body and considers the options of hormone therapy and (transgender or transsexual women) undergoing sex reassignment surgery by doing research. His body parts don’t match what he feels is his true sexuality. But he doesn’t want the transition to become too obvious to those he can’t trust especially his father.

Everything Enrique remembered about his son was masculine in nature; baseball, football, interest in girls, walking with a swagger, talking in a deeper voice. He feels he can rescue him by forcing expected manly behavior patterns of yesterday to the extent of subjecting him to a female prostitute and physically cutting his hair. But it won’t change what has already transpired in Michael’s head and heart.

Michael is fortunate in that he does have a small support group made up of his contemporaries from school. But at the same time he is ridiculed and hassled by ignorant haters in the locker room. Conversely he is determined to live by what his heart and head dictates going as far as using the girl’s bathroom in school.

And on the political front:
And I quote:

‘LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2011–Despite pressure from anti-LGBT extremists, Governor Jerry Brown stood up for truth and accuracy in education by signing into law Senator Mark Leno’s Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act. The passage of FAIR Act (SB48) means that California schools must no longer exclude the historic contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
In response to this important victory, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean issued the following statement:

“We’ve seen it over and over; too many LGBT youth are harassed and bullied in schools at the hands of those whose fear and hate stems from ignorance about LGBT people.
It’s vital that all students learn about the great LGBT trailblazers who went before them—many of whom have been inexcusably closeted by our history books. When all students learn about the work and lives of such notable figures as Barbara Jordan, Bayard Rustin, Alexander the Great, Tennessee Williams, Walt Whitman, Billie Jean King and so many others, they should understand the historical context of their accomplishments, including how their sexual orientation or gender identity informed their work and shaped their character.
Right-wing extremists will crow that teaching children that LGBT people exist, and always have, is some type of ‘indoctrination’, but in fact it just means they’re learning the truth. And that is what education is all about. Governor Brown, thank you for standing up for all of our state’s young people by ensuring they are given accurate information, and not an incomplete version of history that erases the contributions of LGBT people.
The Center is working with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to make our public schools safe and welcoming for today’s young LGBT people. Giving students accurate, fairly presented information about LGBT people who have shaped history is another important part of making their lives better.”
Last month, the Center and LAUSD held a summit to develop a plan of action for fighting LGBT youth suicide and reducing homophobia in the nation’s second-largest school district. The initiative, called Project SPIN (Suicide Prevention Intervention Now), is also supported by many community partners.

Unquote”

So there is progress as we watch Michael’s transition and sympathize with his plight. Will it ever get better? Will he continue to be persecuted by his own blood? How will he finally fit in? His father finally gets struck by lightning when his wife reads him the riot act. ‘Find my son or else’. She means it with every breath she takes and fiber in her body. A house had to fall on him for him to finally get it. But is it too late?

He makes the ultimate sacrifice to find Michael above all else; even forgoing a do or die check in with his probation officer. He succeeds in finding Michael and finally begins to accept him for what he has become. But it is too late. He fought the law and the law won. He is tracked down and caught up by the same kind of belligerence and disregard for the law that got him locked up in the first place.

We see the pain, suffering and complete breakdown of communication that parents go through with their children. They can be lazy, non-productive, rebellious, and uncooperative. But when all is said and done, a middle ground must be achieved if any kind of order can be attained in the parenting process. The relationship between child and parent is an ebb and flow tide. The age difference, each’s perspective, the responsibility of the parent, not always seeing eye to eye. The parent must make hard choices and keep the child safe at all costs, doing what is in the best interest of the child.

But Michael’s relationship with his parents is different and not to be perceived as negative, getting into trouble, stealing, truancy, etc.
Michael otherwise is an intelligent wisdom seeking child, doing well in school and showing interest in growing up and just being a kid.

This film addresses many of the breakdowns in the family relationship but solutions must be attained in each individual case study. We must see this motivating movie as a positive learning experience. Let’s hope it aids in the understanding of this phenomenon in today’s society for the individuals who need it the most and not just for entertainment purposes.

This is just another story in the naked city.

Opens August 5th