They Look Back: The Animalization and Self-Articulation of Trans Genitalia

Premiering in 2006, Trannymal is the first not-for-profit film produced by the Trans Body Law and Education Project. Completely devoid of voiced narration for the duration of its two-minute run time, the film immediately confronts the viewer with trans-genitals accompanied by a score reminiscent of a child's lullaby. Each image corresponds to a line of the poem quoted above, offering genitalia with attached feathers as a visual stand-in for birds, or fleshy folds stretched to briefly resemble a star. The project's second film, Trannymals Go to Court: An Eight-Genital Movie, premiered in 2007 and has a run time of twelve minutes. A similarly lighthearted score supports the film, which features fully fleshed-out characters, plot, and dialogue. While both films weave together fantasy, political manifesto, and elements of the public service announcement, tropes not unfamiliar within the conventions of transmodern media production, the choice to dissociate genitals from the subjects...