Transamerican beauty

One of last year's biggest and most controversial films was "Brokeback Mountain," which raised a new bar for the gay community and homosexual themes in mainstream movies. "Transamerica" was just as groundbreaking as "Brokeback" was, but it probably wasn't as talked about because of the light-hearted comedic tone throughout the film. Although the plot and mood were substantially different, "Transamerica" is just as important for the transgendered community as films like "Brokeback Mountain" are for the gay community. \n"Transamerica" follows a pre-op male to female transsexual named Bree, played by Felicity Huffman. Bree saves up a lot of money in order to get her sex change operation, but her plans are interrupted when she finds out she has a son which was conceived during her college days when she was still a man. She takes a plane from LA to New York City to bail her son out of jail, and offers to drive him to his stepfather's home, posing as a Christian missionary. Bree and her son Toby, played by Kevin Zegers, end up driving cross-country back to LA, and they gradually form a strong bond, which is tested towards the end of the film when Toby discovers who Bree really is. \nThrough the course of the film, Toby isn't the only one who is deceived by Bree, and aside from the dark humor, it becomes clear how much of a burden Bree's pre-op gender is to her. The characters around Bree become just as confused as she is, and the film covers a lot of the aspects and terms dealing with transgendered individuals that most people don't really know. Although the film raises social awareness about transgendered individuals, it was more about acceptance in general. Gender roles may define us, but like other factors, i.e. race, religion, etc., they're certainly not barriers.