Welcome to Trans Tuesday! Tillyvision’s gonna getcha in THE UNINTENTIONALLY INTENTIONAL TRANS ALLEGORY OF LISA FRANKENSTEIN, part 6! Finally, transition begins… and it brings with it a whole new set of problems to deal with!
Heed me now or forever be doomed: ye need PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, and even PART 5 before ye be divin’ into this part 6, aye? Avast!
37:07 – She put the guy back into the closet, but the next day… he’s still there. Closeting yourself doesn’t make the truth go away, actually!
Lisa wants to get dressed, and closeted Frank tries to hand her a black dress of Taffy’s. Hey Lisa, transition, I’m right here.
Lisa: “It’s not really my style.” Frank tosses her a hat and the lacy black dress. The hat has a flower on it. Remember Frank giving a flower to a lady in the opening credits animation, and what it stood for? Hmmmmm…
37:45 – Lisa heads to school in the clothes Frank picked for her, and she looks great and it’s very gothy, right? And gothic things are emblematic of death, like we’ve talked about a few times already. Death is synonymous with change. The end of one thing so that something new can begin. She’s never dressed like this before, something. Has. Changed.
She’s the furthest into transition that she’s ever been. And look how suddenly the entire world around her is filled with danger. This is exactly what cis society is like for trans people, especially when we first come out and experience the world as our true selves.
Also the school mascot is the opossum. What are they most well known for? Playing dead. This is society mocking Lisa, mocking trans people, for existing in public as our true selves.
You’re just playing, you’re pretending to be a man, Lisa. We all know you’re “really” a woman.
It’s genius in the film, fucking awful in the real world.
And remember, again, that this school is in Brookview. You’ll never escape the water, and you’ll be surrounded by danger. Congrats on your transition, Lisa!
Everyone stares at her, she seems a bit embarrassed but then tries to own It. Cis people absolutely do this when they can’t instantly decide what gender they think you are, by the way. See STOP STARING AT US (trans people are human beings).
And so she’s uncomfortable, everything’s weird and different, and let’s look at some of those lyrics to “Lips Like Sugar” by Echo and the Bunnymen, which is playing during this segment.
She’ll be my mirror
Reflect what I am
Loser and winner
The king of Siam
And my Siamese twin
Alone in the river
Mirror kisses
Mirror kisses
It’s unfortunate that an offensive term like “Siamese twin” is in the lyrics (the 80s were a mess), but that really does read like dealing with another version of yourself that you’re trying to accept, huh? Huh.
38:11 – The audiobook Janet’s listening to is actually calling her out on everything she’s not, but what she thinks she is. Transphobes don’t hate trans people, they just want us to conform for our own good, you know! Uh huh.
Frank comes down the stairs. He won’t remain closeted.
38:30 – Look at the sheet Janet lifts up. Look at her leotard! Do you, uh, do you see those colors? It matches the walls of house, it’s all dysphoria and gender conformity. This isn’t a welcoming place for Frank.
39:00 – Frank spots the piano and heads for it. Creativity. Create. Self-expression. Make me real. Let me feel.
40:05 – What does Lisa’s true self, her inner man, think of Janet the literal dysphoria mommy? We’re gonna drop a worm in her food.
40:27 – Confirming what I just said about Janet’s audiobook, it says “You will instinctively know when something is off,” as she mixes her cottage cheese without noticing the new… addition. Until it’s in her mouth, and she pulls it out in disgust.
40:49 – The red lockers, the dysphoria, gender conformity, and despair flyers, and the dysphoria backpack. Just starting transition doesn’t make it all go away.
41:00 – Michael drops by to say he cut class, and wants to know if Lisa has any notes. She tries to play it cool like she was also planning to cut class, but has some notes. But her notes are super extensive. She’s not conforming to what other people at the school do, and she’s performing the femininity they expect to see.
This exact metaphor was used in REAL GENIUS, which is also an intentional trans allegory, to show a trans person not conforming to the cheating that society expects of us!
Also look at how Michael’s clothes have changed, and he’s now all dysphoria and danger. Now that Lisa’s dipped her toe into being her true self, something in her is setting off alarm bells about the guy she thought she wanted to be like.
41:15 – The same girl in red passes by… twice. I did not put those screenshots out of order to make it look like she walked by twice, she literally walks between them and the camera twice.
Is this an accident because there were a lot of extras and nobody noticed? Maybe. But it was a choice to use shots that make it appear that she passes by twice when editing. Maybe, juuuuust maybe, it’s Lisa picking up on the heightened danger around her.
41:23 – Michael: “You’re kind of absurd, aren’t you?” This is what the cis think of our false gender performance. Stop playing possum.
41:40 – When Taffy tries to get rid of Michael, “no punks, trenchies, or death clowns,” he replies: “Oscar Wilde said, ‘To definite is to limit.’” Hypocritical cis people drive me bananas. This is something you see in the intentional trans allegory of I SAW THE TV GLOW, and is a real world thing that happens.
We absorb all these aphorisms from society about how we should “be ourselves” and “break out of the box” and “you can be anything you want to be,” until you say “okay, I’m trans!” and then society has a collective shit-fit.
My wife and I actually wrote a very intentional trans allegory about this very phenomena in the Witching Season comic anthology.
42:08/42:17 – The same woman in a green-blue dysphoria outfit is seen over Taffy’s shoulder. First when Taffy asks if Lisa will cover for her when she goes out after cheerleading practice, and then when Taffy talks about how overprotective their dad is, and she lists his controlling behavior of wanting to know where she’s going and when she’ll be back.
Is this, again, because there were too many extras to track? Or do you think, even if the same extra they intentionally clothed in the color that’s their metaphor for gender dysphoria, walked by in two different shots that didn’t line up with how she was walking, they kept it in for a reason?
Could be accident! Could be intentional.
Either way, they chose to keep those shots in the final cut of the movie.
42:49 – Frank wants his body modifications to feel whole, and look at what his hand stump has been covered with? Dysphoria. The missing part of his body is causing dysphoria. And between them, a poster for The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Frank she wants to be, born out of transitioning from dysphoria.
42:57 – Lisa: “I can’t just get you new parts. I mean… you’re a dead man, not a Chrysler LeBaron.” The man inside is dead and not complete with the body he has. Lisa: “I want to help you, but I don’t know how.”
Janet comes home and Frank runs for the closet. Lisa: “Damn it! Janet!” That’s a quote from and reference to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is famously gender-bendy.
Frank barely makes it back in the closet before Janet comes in, dressed in a nurse’s uniform, somewhat reminiscent of Nurse Rached from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a symbol of everything gone wrong with people who abuse their power and corrupt bureaucracies. A pointed reference.
Lisa says she thought Janet was in Milwaukee. Basically, “I thought it was safe to let out my inner man and explore who he is because you were gone and I was alone.”
Janet blames Lisa for the worm in her food. Technically her fault, yes… but not dangerous? An inconvenience that you find gross. Like Agent Smith hating the smell of humans in THE MATRIX and Hathaway hating the smell of popcorn in REAL GENIUS, the way we inconvenience cis people is more important to them than us living authentic lives free of pain.
44:15 – While comparing herself to a literal angel, note that Janet suddenly uses two gendered insults for Lisa, “whore” and “bitch.” There’s nothing wrong with sex workers doing the job by choice, let’s be sex-positive here. But that doesn’t change the way the word and even the association is weaponized against all women… and perceived women. Akin to the way transphobic society often treats trans men as “confused lesbians,” just women who don’t know what they’re doing.
The gendering here is important. Janet’s saying you are a girl, Lisa. One who I will subjugate and oppress. Don’t forget it.
44:30 – Lisa: “I didn’t want to go to a new school my senior year. I didn’t want to leave the town that I lived in my whole life.” But she had to, because her mom reacted so badly to Lisa’s truth. Maybe the whole town did, too. Trans people often have to flee to places that are safer for us (see TRANS KIDS 2: THE INTAKE EXAM AND TRANS FLIGHT). And in the past we were even forced to hide ourselves even after receiving transition care. See TRANSMEDICALISM (and WPATH version 1).
Janet: “You were lucky to get out of there.” Meaning… what? Lisa might’ve been killed for who she was? “I’m sure people were talking.” Oh, Janet’s heard the rumors, it’s why she’s using gendered insults here. “Or maybe you liked being a hot topic.” You’re just doing it for the attention, nobody is really trans. “Maybe it was the first time anyone ever looked at you.” People saw you and hated you, Lisa.
Lisa tells her to shut up, and Janet slaps her. Physical violence for trans people not conforming. A sad reality for many of us. Janet then tells Lisa she’s being admitted to “Serenity Manor,” a name listed as the definition of “irony” in the dictionary.
Mental institutions for trans people, here we are. Again. Janet: “Where a disturbed person like you belongs!”
And then Frank knocks her. The fuck. Out. Her inner dude is not putting up with that.
Except this is a horror movie, so she’s actually dead. And remember that every kill in this movie is a rejection of the type of person Lisa/Frank doesn’t want to be.
This woman, and in fact, all of the ultra-femininity that she represents, have been rejected for good.
45:27 – Look at the sewing machine. A tool usually associated with “women’s work,” covered in gender conformity, dysphoria, and danger. And used to get rid of Janet? Frank drops it. We’re going to reject those things, too.
46:20 – Janet’s got red shoes, is wrapped in a red blanket, in a red wagon, and is dumped into a grave. We’re removing ourselves from that danger, burying it, and it allows us to move closer to our true selves and makes us more whole (as you’ll see in a second).
46:50 – Lisa: “Is it peaceful down there?” Frank shakes his head no. Lisa smiles. Why should our literal tormentors, who abuse us, be allowed more peace than they allow us? Why is it fine for JKR (see TERFS) to be allowed to use her billions to strip our rights away, but the second we say that’s bigoted and awful of her, we are made into the villains? Calling her a transphobe is so much worse than her actual transphobia to soooo many cis people.
And that ain’t right.
47:05 – Lisa sews the ear onto Frank, and look how the light has changed. There’s still danger, but the “eye” windows have turned blue. Which we know is metaphor for despair, but when next to the pink walls, it takes on a new meaning. Transness.
Frank’s new ear has Janet’s earring in it. You can be a gender nonconforming man, she tells herself. But it’s not functional. Lisa: “Maybe it could just be for looks?”
She can wear a packer if it makes her feel more whole, even if it doesn’t have any functionality. (a packer is a prosthetic penis and testicles trans mascs can situate in their undies to possibly lessen their gender dysphoria).
Lisa then relates it to her cousin Carlene who got a boob job (CIS PEOPLE GET GENDER AFFIRMING HEALTHCARE TOO). A breast enhancement is only about looks, fake boobies (which are totally fine if you want them, but no one should be made to feel like they need them) don’t serve any other function.
But hold up. Because “Carlene” derives from “Carl,” which derives from “Charles,” which means… “man.” The perceived man got a boob job, and their name is now the feminine version of “man,” so… “woman.” Sure sounds like Lisa has a cousin who’s a trans woman.
With a drawing of a lightning bolt, Frank tells her he needs electricity to make his body work better. Remember the electric zap the first time Lisa was in the HRT hut? And when the lightning struck and brought Frank to life? He’s asking for hormones!
48: 11 – Lisa takes him to the tanning shed, the path still one of danger, dysphoria, and gender conformity. But perhaps what hurt her before (trying to conform to being a woman) will help her now (trying to conform to being a man).
We already saw her mom’s earring on Frank’s new ear, so we know she’s going to be a gender nonconforming trans man to some degree. But parts of who she really is might also find that what society says men should be is what she wants, and that’s okay too (maybe like having a beard, or a deeper voice… things that gender affirming medical care can give you with HRT!)
Lisa’s wearing a tiara and holding a magic wand. How many trans people have said hormones are literally magic? So many of us.
Also if your body is too low on both estrogen and testosterone, did you know you will have less energy? You feel lethargic and tired all the time.
Even having the wrong hormone in your body can make you feel like shit, ask me how I know. But the right hormone will literally energize you.
48:25 – The tanning bed opens, dysphoria light everywhere. She “awakens” him by tapping him with the magic wand (which is extra funny considering what’s in her closet, the magic wand vibrator). And his new ear works!
49:08 – Lisa comes in, dressed in red and black. A change, a transition, that she loves (when she’s in red, remember, it means love and not danger).
There’s a “25” shadow on the wall behind Lisa, from light from outside coming through above the door, all of the address that can be seen.
Again, meanings vary in metaphor and numerology, but there seems to be a consensus around it meaning things like personal growth, inner wisdom, and major life changes.
HUH.
49:31 – Taffy: “You look deadly.” So transy, Lisa! WHAT HAVE I BEEN TELLING YOU.
“Don’t tell Mom I said this, but it’s actually kind of nice not having her in town.” Yeah, because gender conformity hurts cis people too, even the arch-feminine.
50:15 – Lisa: “What happened to your neck?” Taffy’s got a hickey, but makes excuses. Why is Lisa calling it out here? We already know since we’ve seen the movie, but remember Michael’s shirt from the last time Lisa talked to him? Danger! And dysphoria.
“Head On” by The Jesus and Mary Chain plays. Here’s some lyrics:
As soon as I get my head round you
I come around catching sparks off you
I get an electric change from you
That secondhand living, it just won’t do
And the way I feel tonight
Oh I could die and I wouldn’t mind
And there’s something going on inside
As transition songs go, regardless of the song’s original intent, this one’s screaming “full speed ahead.”
51:17 – Lisa’s leaves a lipstick kiss on a note. Who’s it for? Not who you think. It reads: “Hi… I’ve been thinking about you… a lot. Meet me at Papoose Lake at 4 pm? Yes or No, Love, Lisa S”
So, uh… what is a papoose? It comes from the Narragansett word “papoos,” which means “child.” Buuut it’s also come to be used for the baby carrier some Native Americans use, where the baby is swaddled up inside.
Remember when Lisa wrapped herself up in her bedsheets to look like that? Remember the poster for The Mummy on her bedroom wall? And now Papoose Lake?
This is foreshadowing everything. We’ll refer back to this at the end!
51:24 – Lisa does her nails with white out. If she’s going to conform to gendered expectations, she’ll do it in a way you didn’t think she would.
51:53 – Someone circled Yes on the note, he’ll meet with her. But who?
52:02 – Lisa’s on the bench, alone. The same one we saw Frank on, in the opening credits animation.
51:19 – It’s Doug! (I fucking hate Doug.) What the heck is he doing here?
52:40 – Doug says he’s never heard her talk this much. Lisa: “I suppose I never thought I had much to contribute, but I feel much more extroverted lately.” See CONFIDENCE and CONFIDENCE 2: INTO THE UNKNOWN aka WHAT IS HAPPENING aka A WHOLE NEW WORLD for a direct connection to how this changes with transition!
52:52 – She’s taken Doug to Bachelor’s Grove, the place where her true self was walled off from the world. Her heart. Why would she let this creep in there?
53:15 – Doug: “It’s not Christian for a graveyard to be left like this.” But it’s Christian to force unwanted sexual contact on someone, is it?
53:42 – Lisa: “I want you to touch me exactly the way you touched me at the party.” Doug: “Oh I knew you wanted it.” Barf.
53:54 – Frank pops up from under the leaves to take care of this problem. Lisa knees Doug in the face. (I fucking hate Doug. This is very satisfying.)
54:14 – Frank chops off Doug’s hand, Lisa raises it in triumph. Frank flings the axe and kills Doug. (Bye Doug, we fucking hated you, you won’t be missed.) Remember kills are metaphors for rejection! She will not, she will never, be this kinda dude.
Come back next week as transition progresses further than ever before, and sadly reveals a new level of betrayal from those we love.
Tilly Bridges, end transmission.
tillysbridges@gmail.com