XXY - Argentine Film About Gender in the Modern World

Title: XXY
Released: 2007

Movie and Plot Summary

Being different is rarely easy, especially if you're a 15 year old hermaphrodite. This Argentine film deals with teenage angst and how the decisions we make alter our path.

Fifteen year old Alex faces having to make a decision about her gender when her mother invites a plastic surgeon and his family to stay at their family home by the sea. Alex's father resents the surgeon's presence, and accepts Alex completely as she is. Witnessing the difficulty Alex faces in personal relationships, her father comes to understand the complexity of the situation and society's inability to accept the undefined.

While certainly an interesting film concept, I would recommend XXY to people who like fringe independent movies, not Hollywood moviegoers.

Spanish Language Learning Notes

This film gives a good insight into the Porteno (Buenos Aires) accent with which I am so familiar. Be prepared for a different sound: the ll and y sound like an sh and sentences follow a more Italian sing-song pattern. Set on a beach in Uruguay you will get a sense of this vacation-destination-country for Brazilians and Argentines alike.