Parents' Guide to

Laerte-Se

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Docu about transgender artist has nudity, cursing.

Movie NR 2017 100 minutes
Laerte-Se Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Laerte-Se Movie: Scene #1
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What's the Story?

LAERTE-SE tells the story of Laerte Coutinho, now 65 and a famed Brazilian cartoonist who came out as a cross dresser and later transitioned from man to woman at around age 60. For a time, she lived in both genders, and many of her cartoons reflect the dichotomy between two halves of one gender-fluid person, one named Hugo and the other named Muriel. She downplays the drama of her transition, stating that she was never mocked or shunned, that she made her change in an era of relative tolerance, that she didn't have to fear rejection from her understanding family and that she didn't have to worry about getting fired from her job because she makes a good living as a successful self-employed artist. Nude pictures of Laerte are shown, and she appears nude walking through her studio with a nude model. The male genitals of both are seen, as well as the model's breast implants. Laerte is not weighed down by financial concerns or worried about how people see her. She seems exceptionally comfortable in her skin. She observes that in her youth she was fearful of her homosexual feelings and she now believes that she thought that, given her attraction to men, it would just be easier to be a woman. She is comfortable with living as a woman without having her genitals surgically removed: "It is possible to be a woman with my genitals." Laerte wants people to be happy regardless of gender and wishes that people could exist just as they are. She regrets the "limits" of labels. "LGBT…. It responds to a historical need to defend these identities, but these identities can also work as dividers."

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This documentary provides an unusually frank, if sometimes wandering, slice-of-life look at the transition from man to woman of a celebrity artist in Brazil. The interviewer and co-director, Eliane Brum, asks intimate and intelligent questions and Laerte proves a game subject, willing to ramble on philosophically about life and love and transgender surgery options.

However, perhaps the translation from Brazilian into the English subtitles is sometimes inaccurate, or maybe there are other reasons that Laerte-se sometimes feels confusing. People pop up who are not introduced. Laerte describes a close relationship with her mother, who accepted Laerte's change gracefully. Home movies of Laerte's childhood are shown, the mother included. Later, Laerte is seen socializing with family and an older woman is seen but never identified as the mother. A general familiarity with Brazilian politics might also be helpful for American viewers. Many little foggy bits like that detract from the movie's overall potential impact. Some of her cartoons are shown, with English translations, but not all seem especially insightful or witty, leaving a viewer to feel that, given Laerte's reported fame, much is lost in the translation. But viewers will come away with a sense of Laerte's intelligence and humanity, especially when she says, "There are no men and no women. We have tendencies and conventions and possibilities."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how it might feel to have doubts about one's gender. Do you think it would take courage to come out and live as the opposite gender? Do you think the movie explains the situation well?

  • Why do you think people might criticize or ostracize people who believe they were born to the wrong gender? Apart from one's body, what else do you think makes someone a man or a woman?

  • Who is the intended audience for this documentary? Do you think others besides the intended audience might enjoy it?

Movie Details

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