"Contemplating the people and places that had defined their school years, McCarthy, now 28, dived into a catalogue of "Y2K nostalgia", bingeing the high school movies they were raised on: , Clueless, Superbad, She's The Man. This period of popcorn cinema-flanked solitude sparked an ingenious thought: "It dovetailed so serendipitously into the genesis of an idea that felt like, 'God, I wish I had had one of the movies that I grew up on when I was a little baby that was about trans folks.""
"The peppy comedy sees high school seniors Alex (comedian Nico Carney) and Ethan ( Survival of the Thickest star Misha Osherovich) pretending to be trans women in order to sneak into the women's bathroom, convince their peers that they're not gay, and for Alex to make moves on his crush, the school's diva Sasha ( Pretty Little Liars' Malia Pyles). Along the way on their madcap mission, Ethan realises that hey, maybe she actually is trans. There's profound, coming-of-age sweet stuff in among the screwball comedy."
"In the wrong hands, She's The He could have taken such a problematic, MAGA left turn that Trump would have put it on his Letterboxd four. In the hands of McCarthy though, it's a witty and sharp send up of the ridiculousness of anti-trans bathroom laws, at a time where such laws are being parroted as the solution to all gender-based violence."
Siobhan McCarthy returned to Santa Barbara in 2020 and revisited childhood streets while bingeing Y2K high school movies. A longing for representation inspired the creation of a trans-centered teen comedy. McCarthy wrote and directed She's The He, collaborating with trans friend Will Geare as editor. The film follows seniors Alex and Ethan as they pretend to be trans women to access the girls' bathroom, navigate sexuality, and pursue romantic interests, while Ethan begins to recognise genuine trans identity. The film blends screwball comedy with tender coming-of-age moments and satirises anti-trans bathroom laws amid ongoing political debate.
Read at PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news
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