Laerte-se, Paloma

Lygia Barbosa da Silva and Eliane Brum, Marcelo Gomes, 2017, 2022 True Lab, Carnaval Films, Brazil.

Introduction

What anthropological reflections can be derived from the way in which two cinematic narratives depict transgender women, particularly with regard to how they manage to survive in a social context in which the heterosexual pattern predominates and which is often adverse to them? This text critically reviews two Brazilian films, the documentary Laerte-se (Barbosa da Silva and Brum, 2017) and the feature film Paloma (Gomes, 2022). Both films are about adult transgender women, that is, human beings who were born as men and have assumed a female identity. Although both are Brazilian, each portrays a context and situations that are practically antipodes of the other. Laerte Coutinho, protagonist of Laerte-seLaerte is an artist and cartoonist who lives in Sao Paulo, a clearly urban environment; while Paloma is a farm worker who lives in a rural village in Sertao, a region in northeastern Brazil. However, both Laerte and Paloma, although of different personalities -as we shall see-, not only live their transgenderism with clarity, but enjoy full acceptance among those around them in their work, home and neighborhood. In other words: they are simply someone to these close others, no more. In a way, they have constructed specific interpersonal and intersocial orders that allow each one to be herself, without further questioning and - what is very important in the case of transgender people - without violence, such as criticism, rejection or physical aggression. This text examines some of the sociocultural factors that contribute to this, as well as the ways in which both Laerte and Paloma interact with broader environments, where they do not necessarily enjoy the same acceptance.

In contemporary societies, the recognition of the diversity of sexual identities has become a frontier issue that is bursting more clearly into the public and collective scenario, despite being, as a collective issue in dispute, certainly very old. The hegemonic pattern, which Judith Butler (2020) appropriately calls the heterosexual imperative, tends to feel challenged by this diversity of sex-gender identities grouped under the acronym "heterosexual". lgbttiq+. Thus, the hegemonic pattern usually responds with all kinds of discriminatory attitudes: from prejudice and mockery to violence and defamation. Hence, the construction of interpersonal interaction spheres by people lgbttiq+, as those described above, is key not only to their survival and peace of mind, but also as an expression of tolerant and peaceful ways of life, which can be seen to proactively dissipate the negative climate they might face. Here then is a discussion of how these two transgender women, one urbanite and one rural, construct such environments and how each confronts the dominant heterosexual imperative. In their own way, each film presents a vision of that boundary and, by the same token, allows us to reflect on the challenges facing the issue of the eventual recognition of the relationship of alternate sex-gender identities in the larger society.

Now, if the term trans cinema groups together works in which a character of a certain gender permanently or temporarily assumes the identity of another gender, then this aspect of film is relatively ancient.1 and would include situations such as a man impersonating a woman (or the other way around). In fact, the way trans is presented in cinema has evolved. At first, it was treated as a caricature and the actor or actress was not trans (Borrull, 2023). Already by the end of the century xxstraight actors or actresses portrayed transgender people.2 and, in recent decades, it is rather trans actors or actresses who portray trans characters, often in stories that seek to make the audience empathize with the story of the character in question (which is the case in both Laerte-se as of Paloma).

In Latin America, trans cinema has an antecedent in The place without limits by Arturo Ripstein (1978) (Cinema 23n.d.), but perhaps the most important tour de force in the matter causes it A fantastic woman by Chilean Sebastián Lelio (2017) with trans actress Daniela Vega, a film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Trans films are currently being made in the different countries of the region.3 and there are series and films with trans issues present in the different commercial distribution and exhibition channels.4 Among the latter, there are specific niches dedicated to gender issues, such as the Playa del Carmen International Queer Film Festival.

It is worthwhile now to raise the ideas that guide the present discussion. First of all, each film is understood as a type of story that tells a story (Bruner, 2003) through a plot and a mise-en-scène. As a story, a film is a historical-cultural product that, although inspired by realities, also has an impact on reality, contributing to reflect on values and behaviors (Bruner, 2003). In other words, it can fulfill, in a broad and problematizing sense, a pedagogical role (Sánchez Álvarez, 2023). As the plots of Laertes-se and Paloma are marked by the tension between two paradigms (a term that I will explain in a moment): the heterosexual imperative and the diversity of sex-generic identities, then we can say that we are facing a social drama, according to Victor Turner's theory of symbolic action (1974). According to Turner, a social actor guides his actions by a metaphor about what he considers to be living well, establishing it in a series of norms and behaviors (which constitute a paradigm), which he seeks to embody by constructing and interacting in different spheres or fields -home, work, neighborhood, celebration-. In this case, these fields of personal interaction are located at a micro-social level (Bronfenbrenner, 1987); while, due to its hegemony, the heterosexual imperative is located at a macro-social level (Bronfenbrenner, 1987). Fields can be understood, then, as relational and symbolic sociocultural orders through which we organize the world and by which we incorporate and interact in it, as part of what could be called a homeostatic strategy (Douglas 1970, 1992).5 Let's move on to the heart of the matter.

Laerte-se: the encounter with oneself, in spite of the doubts

According to the documentary, Laerte Coutinho was a married man with children, as well as a well-known artist and cartoonist, whose parents were still alive when he decided to opt for a female identity. It was not an easy transition, with many doubts, and that in the present still shows traces of his previous masculine identity. His parents, both professionals, did not easily accept the change. The mother, who is a biologist, put forward a well-known argument in the field of gender studies: her son was born a man and is simply a man. Without being told how or why, something has made her change. The fact is that, for example, at the wedding of Laerte's daughter, where she gives her away together with the girl's mother (that is: two women give away the bride), Laerte's parents look happy and affectionate with her. Returning to Laerte's masculine-to-feminine transition, it happens that her son Rafael keeps calling her daddy, and Rafael's son treats Laerte as a grandfather, not a grandmother, because the boy has several grandmothers, but no other grandfathers. And none of this is problematic or conflicting.

For Laerte, the ambiguity of her identity is also revealed in the way she herself confronts what seems to be a continuous process of personal transformation (particularly physically), and also in her practice as an artist and caricaturist. In one of several interviews with journalist and co-director of the documentary, Eliane Brum, Laerte recounts the dilemma that the desire to have breast implants causes her. Although she is not entirely sure she wants to undertake the procedure, we see her visit a specialist's office, not to ask her doubts, but almost to schedule the intervention. This visit reveals an aspect of how Laerte assumes her sex-generic transformative process: with doubts about the next step, as if the Turnerian state of liminality were something persistent. And it is on the professional artistic level that she expresses, in the form of an unfolding, both certainties and uncertainties.

In a passage of the story we see Laerte outlining, first with pencil and then with black paint, a transgender woman, very similar to herself, which can be understood as an act of reaffirmation. At other moments, the documentary presents us with a caricature made by Laerte referring precisely to a transgender woman who dreams of having breast implants and proceeds accordingly; but it happens that, by neglecting medical indications, the breasts suddenly and comically explode like a pair of bombs. Ambivalence seems to accompany Laerte's feelings and actions, but she assumes it without guilt or remorse, as something inherent to herself and therefore as part of the process that is the construction of her personal and sex-gender identity.

However, when Laerte appears on the public stage, her identity doubts remain in parentheses, as if they were hers alone. We see her in a pride parade lgbttiq+ strutting with the rest of the participants, dressed in a shiny golden blouse and a mini-skirt; or presenting, with much honor and joy, a well-attended exhibition of drawings and paintings in which she signs autographs and allows herself to be photographed in selfies and strangers. In addition, she participates in a television program in which she expresses that one of her concerns is how trans people treat each other. As if undergoing surgery - that is, transitioning from transgender to transsexual - were, pardon the redundancy, the only legitimate transition.

It must be said that the ambiguous tone vanishes entirely when Laerte is seen in her daily life, interacting with her son and/or grandson, as well as with neighbors and workers who are repairing her house, in addition to her daughter's marriage. In all these micro-social settings she is seen relaxed, calm and comfortable. It is clear that she enjoys full acceptance, although, on the other hand, several of the relationships that structure these fields - such as the one she has with her son, daughter and grandson, and possibly with colleagues - date from before the transition and, therefore, have endured and strengthened over time. In other words: for Laerte, not everything is defined by her sex-gender identity, however important it may be.

PalomaThe certainty of the bubble

We move on to Paloma's case, starting with a sort of self-portrait:

My name is Paloma. I live and work here in Saloá as a farmer and sometimes as a hairdresser. I live [...] with my husband Zé. With him I raise my daughter Jennifer, the greatest gift God has given me. I was born a man, but I am a woman.
I have made many mistakes, but after meeting Zé I live a decent and dignified life like any other woman. I consider myself a failure of God, like any other person.
Now what I have to do is to make my biggest dream come true [...] which is to get married in church.

This self-description, which allows us to approach both the character and the initiative she undertakes and which governs the plot of the film, comes from a letter Paloma dictates to a friend, addressed to the pope, in which she asks him to authorize her marriage to Zé, her companion. Evidently, this request, if carried out, would constitute a religious as well as an ethical transgression. Catholicism - in matters of sexogenic identity - only recognizes the male/female distinction, which it considers the natural order of things and, therefore, in matters of matrimonial alliance only promotes and consecrates the heterosexual pattern, but also as an indissoluble bond. A position that, despite the separation between the religious and the state in secular societies such as Brazil, has influenced the civil recognition and establishment of the heterosexual pattern for such a long time. This position, in turn, has meant that it is common for citizens to see this pattern not only as normal, but also as the only possible one.

However, as the letter to the pope states, Paloma lives with her male partner, who, as mother and father, respectively, raise a daughter, Jennifer; in other words, she lives as a family. This situation occurs in full view of the people in Saloá, without anyone saying anything, just as they do not say anything in the agricultural company where Paloma works as a day laborer, harvesting fruit, as part of a group of women day laborers. Paloma has built a different and alternative order to the prevailing pattern in terms of gender identity, couple relationship, family organization, neighborhood and work coexistence. An order that, apparently, has been accepted and normalized by the different people with whom she interacts in these different areas, only that she, as a fervent believer, wants to go one step further in terms of recognition and rights: that this order, built from her transgender identity, be recognized by the highest authority of all: God through His Church. If she succeeds, she will achieve existential and social fulfillment.

Very soon, the film warns us that Paloma's order has hints of a bubble. It is Zé, her partner, who, upon learning of this longing, comments to her that it is foolish, although he never openly opposes the idea of getting married. Then, during a brief vacation at a seaside resort, Paloma and her family are discriminated against by a mother, who seems to consider them riffraff (i.e., exercising a classist exclusion) and forbids her daughter to play with Jennifer in the pool.

But Paloma, perhaps convinced of the goodness of her intentions (and of the world), goes ahead with her venture. As she continues, the bubble reveals other weaknesses. One is, in a way, Paloma herself, who, on a visit to a shrine where she is going to fulfill a promise, gives in to the attentions of the driver who has taken her and a group of friends. In other words: her sacralizing attitude towards the bond with Zé (which she professes in the letter) can be said to have its pitfalls. Another weak point is Zé, who simply goes along with Paloma even though he disagrees with the idea of getting married.

The official answer from the Vatican arrives and, of course, it is a no. The local priest conveys the decision arguing that there is a natural order from biology. The local priest conveys the decision, arguing that there is a natural order based on biology. But, paradoxically, he also lets her know that there is a former Catholic priest who has founded a new church, and that he could marry her. Neither foolish nor lazy, led by a reluctant Zé, Paloma goes to this priest, who agrees without any problem and the ceremony takes place in Saloá, both bride and groom dressed up, but only in the presence of Paloma's friends. The event, however, is amplified when a videographer records the celebration and the video appears on regional television news. The bubble has burst: what was once an acceptable situation in the eyes of others is no longer acceptable. After having suffered the opprobrium of his mother over the phone, Zé abandons the relationship in the middle of the honeymoon. Paloma, upon returning to Saloá, leaves her job and her home, temporarily places Jennifer with the woman with whom she procreated the child and looks for a new life outside the town.

Closing

What concerns do we have about Laerte-se and Paloma? The most obvious one, which is a good point for discussion, is that the construction of a dignified life by a transgender woman is still at a micro-social level, that is, in personal spheres and interactions; while at the macro-social level this possibility, at best, is ambiguous, as is the case with Laerte. As clearly shown by PalomaThe dignification of transgender people at the macro-social level implies much more than processes and actions of acceptance (although these are indispensable). The heterosexual imperative is deeply embedded in the culture of societies such as Brazil and Latin America, in general, from religion - for many it stands as the great judge of the world - to the nomenclature of bathrooms, continuing through the universe of gender representations that are faced on a daily basis: in omnipresent advertising and in the curricula of the educational system, for example. It is important to note that in contemporary societies, ostensible, physical and symbolic violence is still exercised against trans people, a particularly serious situation in the case of Brazil (which serves as the setting for both films), the country where more trans people are killed in the world (Ribeiro, Neves Riani and Antunes-Rocha, 2019).6 This panorama indicates that the issue of acceptance of the diversity of sex-gender identities has a long road ahead of it, not an easy one, with a lot of questioning, discussion, reflection and resilience. In other words: an uncertain path.

It is to this great forum that films such as Laerte-se and Paloma contribute their grain of sand. By placing themselves on the frontiers to address an apparently peculiar human issue, they underline the everydayness and normality of their characters and their immediate world. With this proposal they seek to win our empathy. It is, yes, very suggestive that Laerte is shown as flesh and blood, full of doubts and ambiguities (and therefore of personal, interpersonal and social flexibilities and negotiations); while Paloma is portrayed with a lot of pride and stubbornness, full of confidence, which seems to derive in an excess of confidence. When, on the other hand, as both projections show, the society in which they move, on the contrary, tends to view the emergence of these new identities with a certain distrust -and also violence-.

Bibliography

Barbosa da Silva, Lygia y Eliane Brum (2017). Laerte-se. Singapur, Netflix.

Borrull, Mariona (2023). “Las 30 mejores películas sobre personas trans de la historia del cine”, Fotogramas. (https://www.fotogramas.es/famosos-celebrities/g8053979/la-transexualidad-en-10-peliculas/ Consultado el 25 y 29 de noviembre de 2024.

Bronfenbrenner, Urie (1987). La ecología del desarrollo humano. Buenos Aires: Paidós.

Bruner, Jerome (2003). La fábrica de sueños. Derecho, literatura, vida. Buenos Aires: fce.

Butler, Judith (2020). Sin miedo. México: Random House.

Cinema 23 (s.f.) “La diversidad sexual en el cine iberoamericano”, Cinema 23. https://cinema23.com/en/blog/foco/la-diversidad-sexual-en-el-cine-iberoamericano/ Consultado el 29 de noviembre de 2024.

Douglas, Mary (1975). La naturaleza de las cosas. Barcelona: Anagrama.

— (1992). Risk and Blame. Londres: Routledge.

Gomes, Marcelo (2022). Paloma. Brasil-Portugal, Carnaval Filmes, Misti Filmes, Ukbar Filmes.

Radiónica (2023). “Más allá de las etiquetas: explorando la vida trans en América Latina”. https://www.radionica.rocks/cine/mas-alla-de-las-etiquetas-explorando-la-vida-trans-en-america-latina Consultado el 29 de noviembre de 2024.

Ribeiro, Luiz Paulo, Sergio Rosa Neves Riani y María Isabel Antunes Rocha (2019). “Representaciones sociales de personas transgénero (transexuales y travestis) de la violencia”, Revista de Psicología. Lima, vol. 37, núm. 2 http://www.scielo.org.pe/scielo.php?pid=S0254-92472019000200007&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en

Sánchez Álvarez, Mauricio (2023) “Producción audiovisual y pedagogía social intercultural: el caso de la serie Historias de San Francisco”, en Irving Samadhi Aguilar Rocha y María Guadalupe Huerta Rocha (coords.). Interculturalidad: diversidad de diversidades. México: Universidad Autónoma de Morelos, pp. 105-124.

Turner, Victor (1974). Dramas, Fields and Metaphors. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Mauricio Sánchez Álvarez is a Colombian-Mexican anthropologist, photographer and translator. D. in Anthropology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. For more than 40 years he has researched in the fields of human-environmental studies, intercultural education and audiovisual anthropology, of which he has both publications and didactic and aesthetic projections. He has taught at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Unidad Iztapalapa, the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He has worked as a consultant for the Secretaría de Educación Pública, coordinator of the Laboratorio Audiovisual del ciesas and translator of texts by American political scientist Jonathan Fox (ucsc and American University) and the Violence Policy Center. She is currently developing projects related to the teaching of audiovisual production in anthropology. She is a member of the Academy of Social Sciences and Humanities of the State of Morelos, Red de Estudios Sociales sobre el Medio Ambiente (ream) and the Audiovisual Research Network of the ciesas (riav).