Analyzing the crossdress movie (RE: Sorority Boys)

[Dina Lerret]

Quiet Tiger wrote "Depth and Growth Versus Superficiality and
Shallowness: A Semiotic Analysis of Sorority Boys"--the title is
longer than some of my essays ;-)--for an academic assignment.  A link
for her work is here:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/sorority_boys/4093.html

It's an entertaining read and provided some different ideas.  Though,
after watching the movie again, I disagree on her assessment of
Adam/Adina being intentionally tripped for the Walk of Shame.  The
guy's expression after s/he stumbled over him (another movie blooper
with the stand-in not matching his previous position between shots)
wasn't one of enjoyment.  Speaking of that scene, the slap Adina
intended for the blocking guy's shoulder also hit the guy next to him
on the face and you can see him rub his cheek--two for the price of
one, indeed.

Anyway, along the way, I thought it'd be kind of fun to bullshit my
way through a Sorority Boys essay, coupled with the fact I'm an Adina
'whore', and the following 'off the top of my head' commentary
resulted.  I'm typing this up with the belief the reader has
familiarity with Sorority Boys, and as usual, I have no idea what I'm
talking about. {g}


For lack of a better title, I'll call this "Look Both Ways Before
Crossing" (AKA Dina Wants To Have Wild Sex With Adina).


>From movies like Some Like It Hot (Tony Curtis = hot chick), Tootsie
(Dustin Hoffman = not so hot chick), Mrs. Doubtfire (not touching
Robin Williams {g}), and now, Sorority Boys, men dressed in 'drag'
have provided comical means for folk to laugh at the 'absurdity' of a
guy wearing a gal's dress.  However, I'm going to say there can be a
thin line between ridiculous and ridicule.

In this subgenre of comedy, some of these movies have the male
characters required/forced into crossdressing with the implication
being they would not do so otherwise, which possibly provides a
certain comfort level for the audience to laugh because the characters
are 'normal' but in an odd situation.  Sorority Boys may be a parody
of gender roles for both men (Kappa Omicron Kappa - KOK) and women
(Delta Omicron Gamma - DOG) in modern society but the stereotyping has
a troubling layer beneath the humour.

These type of movies are also enabling the sense that a man, seeking
the 'equality' of a woman, should feel guilt because it's not 'normal'
(i.e. absurd) for them to don a feminine appearance--whereas, modern
society has become accustomed to seeing many women wear trousers and
suits as they enter arenas dominated by men.  Sorority Boys may have
focused more on social pressures gals go through, but guys also have
societal pressures because of gender expectations that even a
'carefree' character like Adam cannot escape.

In an early K.O.K. house scene from Sorority Boys, Adam ironically
says, "We let one DOG in, next thing you know, we'll have three." 
After Spence steals the KOK'tail cruise money and frames the social
committee (Adam, Dave, and Doofer), Adam, along with Dave and Doofer,
is forced to pledge D.O.G. and be one of three DOGs to enter KOK in an
effort to clear their names of the theft since, as guys, they wouldn't
be allowed entrance to their former dorm.  The plotline--yes, I'll use
plotline in reference to Sorority Boys ;-)--requires the guys to dress
in drag where they eventually find themselves exiled to the 'outcast'
DOG sorority house, which impresses upon the viewer this sense of
abnormality.

As the movie progresses, the three guys juggle their lives as men and
their assumed identities as women.  Each gender role presented its own
set of obstacles, but Dave/Daisy and Doofer/Roberta eased into this
duality and made friends with their housemates at DOG.  On the other
hand, Adam remained uncomfortable with his alternate identity of Adina
and continued to push the other DOGs away.  He couldn't accept who he
was becoming or those who reminded him of his situation.  In Adam's
words, he went from "I was the go-to guy at K.O.K., okay" to "I'm
ugly. I would never fuck me."

In his mind, Adam went from accepted to unacceptable.  Adam's
reluctance (probably coupled with Michael Rosenbaum's talent with
physical comedy and the irony of his better known dramatic role in
Smallville as Lex Luthor) made his character memorable in Sorority
Boys because more folk found him humourous as he struggled to find a
balance with his gender biases.  Ironically or maybe because of it,
Adam/Adina remained one of the most 'sexual' characters, which
triggered additional issues.

Adam had no qualms in using gals as sexual conquests, and as Adina, he
tried conforming 'her' appearance to what he'd find appealing by
wearing form-fitting outfits and heeled shoes to "make [his] legs look
slimmer".  However, his heterosexual nature may have subconsciously
tried to undermine the transformation such as during one scene where
he 'forgot' one of Adina's 'tits' because he possibly knew, as a gal,
he'd be subjected to the [sexual] attention of other guys, which the
movie did have moments where guys assessed him/her as a sexual
partner.  Even though the 'missing tit' scene was humourous, a guy
like Adam would take notice of breasts and if something was amiss.

>From Adam came Eve... or Adina and with her the 'fruit of knowledge'. 
Adam/Adina ends up "seeing behind the curtain", as he would say, and
experiencing some of what women go through in their lives, which Quiet
Tiger's essay delves into, including being a [non-consenting] 'sexual
conquest' for another guy, Jimmy, and having to do the Walk of Shame
himself.  Adam eventually has an emotional breakdown, and it isn't
until Adam reevaluates women as more than 'objects' that he can be
more accepting of 'Adina' and find a way for masculine and feminine
roles to co-exist as evident by his joy in playing sports again, even
dressed as Adina.  He finds there can be strength in femininity.

It's interesting to note, at the KOK'tail cruise when the guys' dual
identities are exposed, Dave is wearing boxers, Doofer's got
urine-stained briefs, but it's Adam who is wearing women's panties and
hosiery**, which matches the 'trait typing' they started with in the
movie.

In the end, Adam, Dave, and Doofer's names are eventually cleared,
Spence's deceit is punished, and by the closing scenes, Adam is sworn
in as the new KOK president, but during the ceremony, he doesn't agree
to 'forsake other houses' for KOK.  They later show a KOK/DOG mixer
and you can see Adam is wearing a tag with 'Adam/Adina' on it, thus
implying his acknowledgement of being Adina and not forgetting 'her'
[as a guilty secret] as he claimed he would attempt to do.  Adam
embraces a new confidence that isn't tied into just one gender role,
and I think he's gained a new awareness of not only those around him
but himself as well.

Hm, I probably should have some closing commentary here... but it's 3am now. {g}

**Heh, bullshit aside, the probable reason for Adam's panties to be
*over* the control top hosiery (other than to prove Superman isn't the
only one who can wear 'knickers' on top of tights) was because
Rosenbaum didn't have his 'bikini' area waxed.  Press releases did
mention the three guys were waxed for hair removal on most of their
bodies, except the groin area, and the very limited Sorority Boys DVD
extras has a brief clip of the guys getting waxed.