Becoming Chaz (2011)

A Masterpiece!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

From where I was sitting, I found 'Becoming Chaz' to be an utterly shameless, self-indulgent, biased, vanity production.Its most memorable and priceless moment came about following the film's closing credits when Chaz (aka. Chastity) and his/her mother, mega-star, Cher, finally meet face-to-face outside the theatre where the premiere of Burlesque was just letting out.Of course, on the surface, it was all bright, happy smiles and light, cheery talk between mother and son/daughter. But, regardless of these appearances, this viewer could easily sense the underlying tension, animosity and, yes, hatred that clearly exists between these two celebrity-egos.If you ask me, I'd say that Chaz and Cher absolutely loathe each other right to the very core of their being. There's no doubt about it.From my perspective, I think that Chaz made for a really terrible, dull and uninspiring example of "manhood". There was absolutely nothing likable, nor interesting, nor dynamic about him at all. If he had honestly strove to be proud of his appearance, then that would have definitely been to his credit. But, on the contrary, Chaz was nothing more than a fat, goofy slob (obviously with an eating disorder) who had a really irksome habit of interlocking his chubby fingers together and twiddling his thumbs, non-stop.Since Chaz is now officially/legally a man, that, of course, cancels out him previously being a lesbian, so it makes no sense to me why he continues to have connections with the gay community. He's not a gay woman anymore.And his alcoholic girlfriend (the nagging, easily-brought-to-tears, Jennifer Elia) is now no longer a lesbian anymore, either, since Chaz is now totally recognized as being a bona-fide man.I found it quite odd that Chaz (with his frequent testosterone rages) actually voiced his disapproval about gay men doing his mother in drag.When it comes right down to it, this production (which was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey) is just pure gay propaganda and Chaz Bono (who's so proud of his hairy ass) is just a conniving, little publicity seeker, who's ruthlessly cashing in on his famous mother's name as a means to bring his trans-gender surgery into the limelight.And, finally - I thought it was very, very strange, indeed, that no mention was ever made about where all of the money was coming from for Chaz to pay, not only the many doctors' bills, but, also for all of his other living expenses, as well.Chaz never talked about having a job or his source of income. But, I think I can guess who's forking out all the dough to support Chaz and his self-centred indulgence. It's his estranged mother, Cher, of course.

Chaz Bono, formerly Chastity, is the sole child of 70's TV stars Sonny and Cher. In 1995 she publicly announced she was gay after having been outed in the tabloids, and I don't think anyone was surprised by this news. This film, produced by Chaz Bono himself and financed by Oprah Winfrey and other entertainment power brokers, documents her physical and psychological transformation from female to male, culminating in gender reassignment surgery in 2010. The production value is quite good, the subject not so much, which I will get back to. Gender transition is arguably a topic most people know little to nothing about. The steps one must take to invert his or her gender, legally, financially, socially, and psychologically, speak to the need for this transition, not the want. The film does a good job to inform the viewer that yes there are those of us who never fit into the gender in which they were born and that this phenomena is quite real. Chaz was one of the lucky few to have the means and support by which to surgically alter herself into a man, at least as close to a man as current medical techniques can confer. We are given intimate insight into how this transition, from hormone therapy to scalpel, impacts relationships for better or worse. Chaz's mother, Cher, lends the lone dissenting voice to her daughter's decision to switch. I was actually surprised to see her agree to be interviewed in this film and her narrative was unmistakably vague and evasive. Otherwise the film is crafted to showcase Chaz as both a heroic and tragic figure, even something as a victim of cultural indifference to her struggle for acceptance both socially and personally. But I just wasn't buying it. Chaz ostensibly made this film to lend a voice to the LGBT community as well as PSA for transgender equality. I suppose his celebrity status was supposed to propel that message. Yet I found him boring, uninteresting, untalented, and something of an attention vampire. I really struggled to like Chaz. What I felt was here is this person, with this problem, and without the last name would be a forgettable nobody, who creates a film for himself and demands we celebrate him. While I do not dismiss the struggle in the abstract, the film did not compel my sympathy for a privileged "famous for nothing" person suffering from internal identity issues. The world has real problems and Chaz Bono does not deserve 90 self- congratulatory minutes of veneration.

I must say this right away: boy was I glad that this documentary was NOT about Cher or Chaz's Relationship with his mother. I believe the point was to inform the audience about trans-gender issues. The only necessary mother-daughter aspect that was important for the audience was the process of accepting the modification in her daughter's gender. Therefore, the director has succeeded in making this a very good documentary.The focus of this documentary is to make us aware that being a trans-gender is not a disease or an illness, and that it is more common than we may think. It can also definitely be used to raise people's awareness, but also to show trans-gender children and teenagers (and even adults) that there is hope and that concrete means can be undertaken to modify their gender.Two thumbs up! 8 very shiny stars out of 10!

Interesting documentary about Chastity Bono's sex change to become Chaz Bono. It deals well with the complexities of life for both the trans-gendered, and for the children of very famous people. Quite touching and informative, it makes the still uneasy and confusing (for many) subject of sex re-assignment far more human, and understandable on both a technical (how does it work?) and - more important – emotional level. It also doesn't shy away from the hard parts (e.g. the difficult personality changes brought on in Chaz by his intense hormone therapy). Chaz is allowed to look self-centered, and even like a jerk at times, without it impeding on our sympathy or identification. He's just a person, like all of us, which is the whole point. While the film-making itself can be uneven, this is the kind of film that helps people open their hearts and minds to those who seem 'different'. And that is always a worthwhile thing.