Pronouns (2016) Reviews

• Deliberately doesn't ram it down your throat, so you have to work it through yourself

  bob the moo2017-03-29

  This short film sees an African-American trans-gender character using a slam-poetry even to come out to his peers, and, as the character discovers, a guest they did not know would be there. There is a lot of space within this film; it takes its time to get to the key scene at the poetry event, and when it does then it is only a few minutes long. This space is important, and although the film doesn't have a lot of incident in the first half, it is still well paced and doesn't feel padded or slow. The point of the film is to bring you close to the struggle of a transgender person; it does this explicitly through the expression of the poetry, but then makes it more personal again by sitting us with the character's father in the final scene. It is this proximity to the person and their pain. This it does very well, with the lead performance being particularly important in ensuring the film can deliver – and the performance is strong; natural, engaging, and convincing. The space and proximity combine to allow the viewer to think. For me personally, I dislike those who are quick to be offended (for themselves or, more often, on behalf of others), but at the same time I recognize that there are those who think like me but who then go out of their way to refuse to be considerate to others. The film suggests a challenge to these people, before then making it expressly at the end. It challenged me to think why it matters how I refer to someone – if they do not want to be called he or she then why is that something I would object to? I would not object if someone corrected me for shortening their name, and would then use the one they prefer – so why would gender pronouns be different? My habit is not to think of such things (indeed I had to correct the various times I used "he" by default when referring to the lead performer – not because I am insensitive, but just due to habit) and this film forced me 1-to-1 with a character and made me think to be more respectful to the individual, more considerate to their struggle. I still know I would struggle to fully do this by default, but the film challenged me and made me think, which is the point in the end.

• It's something I can relate to; being different.

  Hellmant2016-09-13

  'PRONOUNS': Four Stars (Out of Five) A 10-minute dramatic short film, directed by Michael Paulucci. It's about an African American teenager, that becomes inspired to reveal their true transgender identity, at a spoken word performance; and their father shows up during the art piece. The film stars Patrick Blanton and Harold Dennis; and it was written by Paulucci, Grayson Johnson and Eric Williams. I found it to be a very moving film. It's something I can relate to; being different, and trying to gain acceptance from others close to me for it. I think this short does a very good job, expressing that feeling. It's well acted, and directed, and I think it was one of the better dramatic short films, at the Portland Film Festival this year. Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJwjSDWrIEM