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Documentary Review: 'Little Girl'

French documentary Little Girl gets at the heart of being a transgender child.

By Sean PatrickPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Little Girl is a heart-rending documentary about the struggles of a little girl who was born a boy. Sasha was born a boy but by a very early age, she began to express to her mother that she was really a boy. Sasha’s parents, at first, dismissed their child’s gender questions but, eventually, they were forced to come around. Now, they are tangling with schools, and bullies and Russian ballet coaches who keep working to make Sasha’s life far more difficult than it should be.

Little Girl opens on a very frank and moving conversation between Sasha’ mother and a psychiatrist. Sasha’s mother is wrestling with the notion that Sasha’s gender issues stem from something she did wrong. She tells the psychiatrist that when she was pregnant with Sasha, she was hoping and praying that Sasha would be a girl. She wonders if these hopes and prayers might have had some physical effect on Sasha in the womb.

Many will dismiss this idea but it’s not so simple for a mother. She’s not a doctor, she doesn’t necessarily believe that just hoping and praying could have such an effect, she’s just expressing anxiety over how she handled her pregnancy. The doctor assures her that hoping and praying did not cause Sasha to have gender dysphoria. Doctor’s do not know what causes gender dysphoria yet but they have ruled out hoping and praying as a cause.

From this powerful scene, we move into the meat of Little Girl, Sasha’s parents' battle with the ignorant and thoughtless French school system. We all assume that France, being European, would automatically be more progressive than the United States has proven to be. Your assumption is incorrect, bigots are everywhere. The school is enforcing a dress code that will not allow Sasha to dress as a girl and it will take a strong effort by Sasha’s parents to get the school district to make a change.

The school requests that Sasha undergo an examination by a doctor who can then issue a diagnosis that would perhaps cause the school district to allow Sasha to be who she is. It’s a painful process but, thankfully, the doctor is incredibly kind and takes to the side of Sasha and her parents right away. She provides a note indicating that Sasha does have gender dysphoria and should be allowed to present as her gender and the drama of Little Girl turns on waiting for the school to decide what to do.

Little Girl was directed by Sebastian Lifshitz and is an incredibly intimate portrait of a young life. Lifshitz is in the room when Sasha’s mother talks to her own psychiatrist and has that very difficult conversation. And, Lifshitz is there when the kindly doctor interviews Sasha and becomes a champion of her cause. All the while the camera remains close to Sasha and her mother, pushing you into their space, almost uncomfortably so.

The goal of this intimacy is so that you never miss a look on Sasha’s face. The goal is for you to fully see this young girl and understand that this is no confusion, this is who Sasha is. So many bigots are dismissive of Trans people, they call it a choice or a disorder or some other nonsense. Seeing being trans in the story of someone as young as Sasha is a strong rebuke of bigots, it forces you to confront the fact that gender fluidity isn’t a choice, it’s something that people are born with.

You cannot accuse Sasha of being caught up in a trend or some other such bigoted nonsense. Sasha is genuine and while she may not be old enough to make many decisions for herself, this isn’t something that gets decided, it’s something that just is. A movie like Little Girl is essential viewing for those who think that Trans people just want attention or some other such wrong answers. It’s time for bigots to face facts, transgender people are born, not bred.

Little Girl is in limited theatrical release as of September 17th and will soon be released for on-demand rental services. Keep an eye out for it.

Identity
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About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

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