Game Face
- Director: Michiel Thomas
- Writer: David Chang; Yuhei Ogawa
- Producer: Yuhei Ogawa; Mark Schoen
CGiii Comment
LGBT athletes...their trials and tribulations.
Basically, if you are going to make your sexuality an issue - as so many people do - it will become an issue...whether you're an athlete or not!
Now...the issues concerning sexuality and transexuality are more complex, more controversial and - most definitely - divisive.
You would be forgiven in assuming that every trans*person has made some kind of film...well, you wouldn't be wrong! Moreover...their stories are all so similar it's like watching repeat after repeat after repeat.
Anyway...transgender atheles have distinct advantages and disadvantages...
It's the battle of the sexes all over again...no matter how you look at it...Fallon Fox, cage-fighter, and a proud, black, lesbian trans*woman does have an [unfair] advantage over her female competitors. Look...as long as her competitors know and they give their consent to fight...so, what's the problem?
Look...
Watching women fight, watching men fight...as distasteful as both are, it's not exactly for the intellectually inclined...of course there's going to be discrimination...of course there's going to be contention...what do you expect from these people?
As a film, it's way, way too long...endless babbling, littered with irrelevance...how many basketball scenes can you cram into a film?!?!
Okay, admittedly, we have focused on the trans issue...because? The gay basketball story is...for want of a better word, dreary. The poor-me story really does become rather exhausting.
So...the film addressed the issue of trans*rights in sport...it could have been more balanced if there had been a trans*man competing in the male arena! Whatever, there is no (and, quite possibly, will never be) a clear-cut answer to the trans*issue in sport.
We left the film asking ourselves: How relevant are the Gay Games when LGBT athletes want to compete in the mainstream? Should the Gay Games allow non-LGBT athletes compete?
In this world of doped-up, cheating athletes...does it really matter what pill you're popping or, who you are bonking or, what you're stuffing into your bra or pants!
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
GAME FACE shows the quest to self-realization of LGBTQ athletes and the acceptance in society. This documentary tells the parallel story of Fallon Fox, MMA's first transgender pro fighter, and Terrence Clemens, a college basketball player in Oklahoma who happens to be gay. The film follows both athletes during their coming out process, and sheds light on the obstacles LGBTQ sports players deal with throughout their career. Former NBA star Jason Collins shines as a mentor for Terrence in this inspiring documentary.
Cast & Characters
Terrence Clemens as Himself;
Fallon Fox as Herself