To Ed Wood, Thanks for Everything! Glen or Glenda

        Oh, the 1950s… the most romanticized era of American history, with post-wartime happiness settling in as the boys come home, and family values taking the forefront. Truly a perfect decade!

Just kidding. We all know the atomic age was ripe with paranoia, segregation, and general fear of the unknown. It’s not worth hiding that. Because of these conflicts looming over society, a lot of the popular entertainment of the time was either family sitcoms or cheesy monster movies… from space!

I’m not going to talk about any of that. I’m going to talk about a shockingly progressive movie made by one of the most infamous directors of the time.

         Glen or Glenda is Ed Wood Jr.’s directorial debut, before he made the infamous Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957). A WWII veteran, Wood started out in Hollywood and directed 21 films, but was spectacularly ignored at the time. After developing an addiction to alcohol, he ditched filmmaking and penned 80+ novels beginning in the 1960s, before passing away at the age of 48 in 1978. His notoriety came starting in the 1980s, when Michael Medved penned him “the Worst Director of All Time” due to the low quality of his films in his book The Golden Turkey Awards, and has since been immortalized in the Tim Burton biopic named after him, starring Johnny Depp as the titular role.

       What isn’t quite as well known is that Wood was an avid crossdresser, and potentially an early example of a transgender woman. He dressed in women’s underwear all through his time in the Marines, and continued his fondness for such activities afterwards. I’m not here to shame; quite the opposite, as it adds an interesting perspective on an otherwise nonsensical film.

        Glen or Glenda shows two stories, told by a doctor to a detective investigating the death of a man dressed in women’s clothes. The first is of the titular character, hesitant to reveal to his newlywed wife his fondness for her clothing. The other story follows Allan/Anne as she undergoes a full sex change operation into a woman. The stories are interspersed with narration, hypnotic bits of Bela Lugosi as a “scientist” (his motives are unknown), and lots and lots of stock footage. At one point oddly erotic segments bombard the screen, only there because a producer wanted there to be more sex in what was a fairly short film.

        Taking away the themes presented, the film itself is tolerable. It’s very clearly being made on a low budget, which adds either charm or annoyance depending on how you feel at the moment. The dialogue is rather stilted, the audio skips at times, and the performances are generally stiff and bizarre. It’s all a very surreal feeling, as if a joke is being played on the viewer and Wood expects us to go along with it. I didn’t feel like doing so, however it seems David Lynch has, citing this as one of his favorite films.

Surprisingly, the presentation of what we now call gender dysphoria is handled pretty well. There is a lot of outdated vocabulary, namely the terms “transvestite” and “pseudohermaphrodite” (I'm a pre-med student and didn’t even understand the latter one), but that’s to be expected. Unlike many films, it never presents these individuals as “monsters” or “freaks”. It simply shows the two stories in a very matter of fact way, as people wanting to be accepted by society. There is nothing sexual about their desires; all Glen and Allan want is to be themselves. It’s the fact of the matter, and the film never tries to negate this.

        Odd a film like this was even able to be released, at a time where drag queens were seldom heard of, let alone sex changes. and if so, were seen as a danger to the family values established. Even well after Glen or Glenda, the transgender community was misrepresented, mostly used as the butt of many a joke in exploitation films and a fetish vehicle in the golden age of porn. Nowadays there is a bit better understanding of the community thanks to social media, events like Pride, and even programs like Rupaul’s Drag Race. However, despite the increased publicity of the community, trans folks are still seen as menaces by certain circles, and are still fighting for equal opportunity in healthcare, mental health care, and social acceptance. Many claim that trans people did not exist before 2010. Glen or Glenda disproves this, and for that there should be significant respect paid, no matter the quality of the film itself.

Parker S.