Transfixed, also known as Gender Bias, is a Belgian film entitled Mauvais Genres about transvestites and the transgendered, their admirers and those who hate them. Based on a novel by Brigitte Aubert and directed by Francis Girod, the movie focuses most attention on Bo Ancelin (played by Robinson Stèvenin), a night club entertainer in Brussels who began dressing as a female in response to the post-traumatic stress of being treated as a woman by his father (played by Marcel Dossogne) from the age of thirteen. There are three simultaneous but interlinked plots in the film. One, introduced quite early, is the effort of the authorities to put away Bo's father, who had been molesting many people; detective Huysmans (played by Richard Bohringer) urges Bo to testify against his father in court in order to establish a pattern that may make conviction easier. In the second plot, Huysmans is assigned to the case of a serial killer of transgendered prostitutes, many of whom are Bo's friends. When Huysmans finds Bo near the dead bodies, he hints that Bo is a suspect, though his supervisor scoffs at the idea. The third plot involves Bo's lust for next-door neighbor Johnny (played by Stéphane Metzger), a macho man whom he pursues despite nonreciprocation; indeed, Johnny quite often shoves Bo away, as if disgusted. Johnny, in turn, is a business associate of Alex (played by Frédéric Pellegeay), who shows intense verbal hostility to Bo. Their business appears to be servicing rich women and then blackmailing them; during one scene, trimly built Johnny stands naked while Alex screws a woman. With his good looks, Johnny is merely the bait, as we later learn that he is impotent, yet another post-traumatic sexual legacy. The three plots, which provide enough mystery to create suspense, come together quite tragically in the end. The film provides an excellent opportunity for filmviewers to empathize with the plight of transvestites and the transgender. MH
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