To find really classic tales of women impersonating men, one need look no further than Shakespeare, whose works abound with such characters. Rosalind of As You Like It and Viola of Twelfth Night initially spring to mind, both of whom meet their future husbands while disguised as men. These situations not only provide for lots of humor and drama, but also allow the couples to get to know and be friendly with each other in ways that would be impossible if the women’s true gender was known.
… Which brings me to the first real item on my list today: a little 2006 US film called She’s the Man. She’s the Man is one of a number of American teen movies that take classic works of literature and transplant them into a modern-day high-school setting (à la Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You). And which classic gender-bending tale does She’s the Man modernize? None other than Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In the original play, the character of Viola (disguised as a man) is enlisted by the Duke of Orsino to help him win the hand of Lady Olivia. In acting as his intermediary, the disguised Viola not only falls in love with the Duke but also attracts the romantic attention of Olivia herself. While She’s the Man retains many of the key plot features and characters of the play, it completely overhauls the style, setting, and execution of the story. Like the play, the movie places emphasis very heavily on comedy and very lightly on dramatic tension. Actress and erstwhile comedian Amanda Bynes doesn’t make a very convincing boy, but therein lies much of the film’s humor. Watching her posture and pose and try desperately to act like “one of the dudes” is worth the price of admission alone, and practically everything out of her mouth is side-splittingly hilarious. Plus, there’s Channing Tatum to look at. Check out this awesome scene:
Yet Shakespearian heroines weren’t the first to assume male personae; the classic Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, a filial daughter who joins the all-male army in place of her ailing father and eventually becomes a great war hero, derives from a 6th century poem. The myth has survived the centuries to take on many different forms, including operas, novels, films, and television serials. Mulan became something of a household name in the US in 1998 whe
n the story got the full Disney film treatment, complete with campy songs and wisecracking sidekick-to-heroine. While the Disney version presents a not so sensitive or subtle depiction of traditional Chinese society, this consumer still appreciates the value of the film’s dramatic and visual appeal.
Also of note is the fact that a brand new, feature length, live-action adaptation of the legend of Mulan is currently undergoing postproduction in China, where it will be released later this year. The film, starring Vicky Zhao in the titular role and Chen Kun as her love interest, was represented at this year’s Cannes film festival, where this teaser was shown. It looks to me like a pretty battle-centric war epic, but with the story of Mulan there’s always going to be some human drama and intrigue. No news on a US release yet, but here’s hoping.
Moving right along, we come to another classic gem in the gender-bender canon: the 1982 musical comedy film Victor Victoria, starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, and John Rhys-Davies. The movie, which takes place in 1930s Paris, features the struggling singer Victoria Grant (Andrews) and her openly gay friend Carroll “Toddy” Todd, who together concoct an unlikely get-rich scheme. The two will pretend to be gay lovers so that Victoria can become a successful female impersonator – in other words, she’ll be “a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman.” While I adore this film for many reasons (it’s originality, cleverness, winning humor, stellar cast, and great music), the main romance is not one of those reasons. I just don’t think Andrews and Garner had that much chemistry. Plus, his character never really believed “Victor” was a man, and where’s the fun in that? Still, this is a really great movie that I would recommend to just about anybody.
The next item I would like to discuss is probably my number one favorite example of cross-gender storytelling: the 17-episode kdrama Coffee Prince. Coffee Prince was a mega-hit on the trendy drama scene in the summer of 2007, and for good reason. The story and main character were unconventional (at least by kdrama standards), and the drama had a lot to offer (I felt) that many kdramas do not. Unlike the other stories in this list, the main character of this drama doesn’t need to undergo a big transformation in order to assume the guise of a man; Go Eun-Chan’s already so boyish in demeanor and dress that most people mistake her for a pretty guy anyways. Plus, Yoon Eun-Hye’s an actress who really knows how to play both sides of the gender coin. She does a fabulous job of bringing this unique and endearing character to life and of making her really believable as both a boy and a girl. I’m not a huge fan of Gong Yoo, but I really liked him in this drama. I also really liked the development of his loafer rich boy character’s relationship with the penniless and hardworking Eun-Chan. The two become unlikely friends through a series of bizarre circumstances, eventually sharing an almost younger-brother-older-brother relationship. Their friendship has its natural ups and downs, and Han-Kyul (Gong Yoo) eventually starts to question his sexuality as he finds himself more attracted to Eun-Chan, with lots of pseudo-homoerotic undercurrents resulting. Coffee Prince is just a really well-executed and engrossing drama to begin with, and any fan of gender bender stories definitely won’t want to miss out on this one. A scene from the drama:
Another recent cross-gender themed kdrama that stands in stark contrast to the trendy Coffee Prince is last year’s 20-episode sageuk (Joseon era) drama, Painter of the Wind. In this drama, cute-a
s-a button Moon Geun-Young plays a woman who, from a very young age, was raised as a male by her adoptive family of royal painters so that she too might achieve wealth and status as an artist (an option only available to men.) While I thought the drama itself was rather disappointing, I found the premise very intriguing. Moon’s character, Shin Yoon-Bok, was a real-life Joseon artist (male in reality), and the drama covers many of the historical events of his/her life. Her main relationships are with her teacher and mentor Kim Hong-Do (also a real person) and the giseang (female entertainer) who becomes her artistic inspiration. While I found the drama lacking in many respects (especially its latter half), I thought it provided an interesting twist on the cross-gender theme. The 21 year old Moon would make a pretty convincing boy, but only if that boy were about eleven years old.
And now we come to the last item on my list, a 1994 Hong Kong film called He’s a Woman, She’s a Man. Like Coffee Prince, this film features a boyish girl in male guise causing another man seriously to question his own sexuality. Unlike Coffee Prince, however, the two mai
n characters here have more lust for each other than actual friendship. But it works for this film and these characters; one mustn't be too hasty to draw unnecessary comparisons. And in spite of its commercial premise, this romantic comedy features sharp direction, effective humor, and great performances including those of lead actors Anita Yuen and Leslie Cheung. Yuen in particular is wonderful, playing a convincing man and a lively, endearing character. The film was followed by a sequel in 2006 called Who’s the Man, Who’s the Woman, which while on the whole inferior to the original nevertheless includes some hilarious and memorable moments.
Before wrapping up this meandering post, I just want to say a quick word about the many cross-dressing themed manga out there (and believe me, there are a ton.) Still, I can’t think of any that I
really liked, at least not any that I enjoyed anywhere near as much as the films and dramas listed above. The most popular and well-known example (in the US at least) is Hana Kimi, which I happen to loathe. That being said, I found the cross-gender subplot in Fruits Basket to be very compelling. In that manga, it was only revealed half-way through the 23 volume series that one of the characters, the ominous and mysterious Akito, is actually a woman and has a pretty twisted romantic past with another main character. I could go on and on about that series, but this is not the place. (Edit: I'm an idiot. When I first wrote this I completely forgot about Ouran High School Host Club, a gender-bending manga that I really like. Perhaps because there's so much other wacky stuff going on in that crazy series, or because the cross-dressing thing is never taken very seriously, but OHSHC just didn't spring right to my mind when I tried to think of an example of a good manga gender-bender.)
So there’s my list of noteworthy gender-crossing, female-impersonates-male stories in various media that I’ve enjoyed over the years. I’m aware that it’s not anything like comprehensive, just a semi-random list of all the ones I could think of today. Maybe I’ll write about more in the future (and in further depth too), but I just wanted to take the time now to appreciate this trend. I’ll definitely be on the lookout to see where it will pop up next.
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