Danish Girl is a film released in 2015, based on a novel that features the life story of the Danish painter, Lili Elbe. The story is notable because the Elbe is one of the first publicly known transsexual women and one of the first participants in the history of surgical transition. The film starts Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe (born Einar Wagner) and Alicia Vikander as his wife Gerda Wegener. Both actors received wide recognition for their performance, which brought the film several critical awards, despite controversial interpretations of historical events in the film.
The film supports ideological views of bio-essentialism in gender identity through the film’s plot, which focuses on the main character’s lifelong emotional journey of self-awareness. Specifically, the Danish girl movie was selected for examination is explained by the impact the film caused on the population in the discussion of transgender visibility and acceptance in society. Although the film was not the first mainstream media project focused on transgender identity, it raised awareness on the topic of transgender visibility among the straight audience that the film targeted.
The main characters and events of the film are based on real-life persons, and a majority of the film reflects the life of Elbe. However, due to several inconsistencies with reals life, the film could not be acknowledged as autobiographical. In the 1920s, the main character, a Danish illustrator, starts posing as a female model for his painter’s wife. The posing process unleashes his inner female identity, and both decide to move to Paris, where Lili can live freely as a woman (Danish Girl). Later in the film, Lili decides to undergo a transitional to-part surgery and dies from the second one.
The movie received appraisal from movie critics; however, the reception by the public was marked with mixed opinions. The film’s production was long in talks before the final release, and many other actors were initially cast for the leading role. Despite the long preparations, the film was released only when transgender visibility was already an actual topic in society. 2015 marked a significant year in the history of transgender visibility with a trans-focused drama, Transparent, winning two Golden Globe awards and a highly publicized coming-out act of Caitlyn Jenner. Although the film sparked many discussions for being a revolutionary project focused on the transgender theme, the film was massively criticized for ignoring current issues experienced by the trans community.
The film caused some controversies in the film industry and the trans community. Casting Eddie Redmayne, a cis-gendered straight actor for the leading role, identified the lack of trans talents in Hollywood and promoted opportunities for further career development for trans actors. In the trans community, the movie was criticized for exaggerating the role of transitional surgery for the main character. Even though Elbe died from complications of one of her multiple transitional surgeries in real life, the main character dies from two-part surgery in the film. Again, the broad public could not approve of the movie because it was more of a fictional work that lacks connections with the current situation in the trans community.
In conclusion, Danish Girl had the potential to convey the ideological views of bio-essentialism in gender identity to the broad public. However, emphasizing the importance of transitional operation for the main character and lack of connection with current issues in the trans community resulted in the film having more of a fictional character in the story. Despite its flaws, the film positively impacted society as it accentuated the lack of trans talents in the filming industry and raised awareness of trans visibility.
Work Cited
Danish Girl. Directed by Tom Hooper, performance by Eddie Redmayne, Focus Features, 2015.