Michael Dodds

Would've given this only 4 stars, but I bumped it up to 5 stars to offset some of the review bombers like Quinn Francis who would rather (1) spew meaningless platitudes about being on "the wrong side of history" and (2) whitewash the fact that kids are actively being encouraged to undergo irreversible genital mutilation and cross-sex hormone treatment. In a way, Quinn's review perfectly encapsulates the kind of people that the documentary targets (btw, yes, it's a documentary... some documentaries have specific points they're trying to argue... see "Bowling for Columbine", "An Inconvenient Truth", and "Farenheit 9/11"). His review has very little substance. His only real criticism of the film is the fact that it does what literally every single other documentary does--cuts up interviews for the sake of time. Apart from that, he just resorts to sweeping criticisms about how the producers are "maladjusted elites" and they're "condoning violence" (they're not). To people like Quinn, it's not about answering the question... it's about letting everyone *know* that they're the good guy and that if you don't agree with them, you're killing [insert marginalized group here]. P.S. The Star Wars shop guy was not purported to be any kind of expert. Walsh even specifically called attention to that fact during the interview. He was included in the film because he was at the center of a fairly high profile incident involving a transwoman in his store. Also, the juxtaposition of an old guy saying whatever the hell he wants with "experts" dancing around the subject with purple prose is really funny. Speaking of answering the question... Is the movie good? Absolutely. It does a good job of balancing humor with heavy topics. At one moment, you're laughing at an exchange between Walsh and a Gender Studies professor, which almost has the cadence of an early 2000's internet skit... and the next moment, you're listening to doctors (who genuinely seem to think they're doing good) talk about how wonderful it is to affirm young children's gender by mutilating their genitals and pumping them full of hormones. The title and core question of the movie do a fantastic job of cutting through all the dodgy language surrounding gender ideology. Going back to the Gender Studies professor, there's a moment where Walsh asks him if sex and gender are the same thing... and the professor basically says "they are, but they aren't". Walsh then follows up by posing the question of the movie and it basically forces the professor to go into full defense mode until he resorts to saying "a woman is someone who identifies as a woman." It's jarring to see people who've spent so long studying sex and gender be completely stumped by such a simple question. That being said, it is still *obviously* a conservative film. Walsh's incredibly dry and sarcastic sense of humor probably won't win over many people left of center. Simply put, if you're conservative, you'll probably find it cathartic. If you're moderate, you'll probably find it shocking or interesting at the very least. And if you're liberal, you'll probably feel attacked even if you agree with the core message of the movie. I give this movie 4 stars, which (when adjusted for inflation) is 5 stars.