I realized that most trans people’s stories are transwomen’s stories: Transparent, Tangerine, Janet Mock, I Am Cait. I began to question if I accepted transpeople’s stories more because they are stories of trans women, and I relate more to women’s stories than men. I did not look for this documentary, but I was reading an article about what is about to expire on Netflix, and the article mentioned Becoming Chaz. I literally live a Sonny Bono, Cher and Chaz free life, but I decided to give the documentary a chance.
Becoming Chaz feels more like reality tv than a documentary. The real focus was on Chaz’s deteriorating relationship with his girlfriend, handling the tabloid circus and Chaz’s obviously distant relationship with his mother, Cher, in comparison with literally everyone else in his life. Awkward! Becoming Chaz was still educational in helping me understand transmen’s issues, but unlike I Am Cait, there was no effort to focus on other transmen’s stories except a couple of activist lawyers although Chaz acknowledges that he has a lot to learn.
Becoming Chaz definitely feels more like a celebrity tv vehicle than a documentary, but it is still inherently sympathetic to the central issue of being a man who is designated female and how to become who he is.