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Venus Boyz (2002)
Released By: First Run Features   Rating: Not Rated   In Theaters: 10/12/2002
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Studio: First Run Features
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Gabrielle Baur
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: 10/12/2002
Home Video Release: 6/8/2004
Cast: Diane Torr, Dred Gerestant
Published ID: 287603
UPC: 720229911061,
Plot: Gabriel Baur directs the documentary Venus Boyz, an intimate look at drag king culture and female masculinity in various parts of the world. Starting out on Drag King Night in New York City, the film introduces the lives of several women who discuss their fascination with dressing up like men. Mildred Gerestant is a data processor who performs in the evenings as a male rapper named Dred. Dressed as businessman Danny King, Diane Torr runs workshops to show other women the fine art of drag king-dom. Other subjects include Bridge Markland from Germany, Del LaGrace Volcano from London, and several others. After opening to festival acclaim throughout Europe, Venus Boyz won an honorable mention at the {~New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival}. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Can these ladies be saved - yes!
Added 9/21/2009

Can these ladies be saved, I say they can.

The question is do they want to be saved?

God is a loving God and His arms are open to all who will receive Him.

In my book "Don't Say a Word About This! Exposing and Confronting Sexual Perversion" I discuss whether or not certain persons can be saved.

It is so unfortunate that some people are so judgmental to other people.

I have seen many movies and think that everyone who wants to expand their understanding of the world should view this movie.

Dr Due
[...]

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Venusboys
Added 9/15/2008

This film shows a lifestyle I had never heard about before and it was very informative and moving. The expressions of the people in the vidoe are very genuine and it leads you rto a new level of understanding.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Unfortunately, just interesting
Added 6/9/2008

As he prepares to explain style, E.B. White writes: "Who can confidently say what ignites a certain combination of words, causing them to explode in the mind? Who knows why certain notes in music are capable of stirring the listener deeply, though the same notes slightly rearranged are impotent? These are high mysteries."

It is this mystery which causes this film to fail. There is so much of so much potency here; yet, it rarely ignites. (I think of only the two times the thin, black woman with very funky, dready hair breaks into song. There. . .that works. . .that moves. There is something going on inside her which merits more time, more exploration. That pathos, that struggle, that pain, that courage, that journey was what I was expecting in this film.)

The rest? It's mildly interesting. I'm made mildly curious about the world of drag kingdom as I could be made mildly curious about anything slightly foreign to me. But this way of life is not just slightly foreign to me.

The people? They were also mildly interesting. The entertainers seemed quite ordinary--like clerks with unspectacular lives--quite content within their own orbits and with their own celebrity. One of the entertainers talks about attending, then giving, workshops. . .

. . .There. . .That's it! That is exactly it: that all this--this potent stuff: this agonizing gender confusion, this social ostracism, this devestating loneliness--can become a matter of workshops?

Of course, although this film too often allows, it can't be.




0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Worth watching if you're already interested...
Added 2/3/2008

Venus Boyz, a documentary film by Gabriel Baur, is all about the exploration and expression of masculinity by women. These individuals range from women who are primarily heterosexual and simply enjoy the power and entitlement they feel while wearing men's clothing and attitudes to women born as hermaphrodites who have, after years of classification as female have opted to explore their inner leanings towards masculinity and male-ness. This range of viewpoints was a key element of why Venus Boyz is a film worth watching.

Unlike their male drag counterparts (queens), drag kings don't have as may films that celebrate and explore why women sometimes feel the need to dress like men, although there are some. Other than Brandon Teena's story, which remains in the spotlight due to his traumatic death and Hillary Swank's portrayal of him in Boys Don't Cry, the individual tales of these female cross-dressers and trans-sexuals are often unheard. Venuz Boyz gives us a range of these stories and a chance to take a glimpse into the performer's lives both on and off stage. Although their tales are sometimes accompanied by kitschy performances, I felt like it was the less showy parts of the documentary that were really able to communicate to me some of the politics, problems and positives of cross-dressing and of exploring female masculinity.

I wouldn't recommend this documentary to everyone. Certainly, you have to be willing to listen with an open mind about these women's experiences with a gender-biased world, but for those who are interested in exploring how a group of women are working individually to redefine gender, this is a worthwhile film. Even though I had a very open mind going into the film and have a background in similar topics, I had no idea that the range of women who choose to cross dress was so diverse. I was also reassured to hear that many of the "protagonists" of the film have been able to find funding and support for their artistic explorations and expressions.

There is a reason that this film has won awards and been featured at major GLBTQ film festivals, and that it is because it offers an insight into a world not found in other films. And, if you have ever wondered about your own female masculinity, this film will likely offer you comfort and familiarity.

2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
It depends on what you're looking for -- this could be it.
Added 9/15/2005

The reviewer Jeffrey is a man and says that the camera moved jerkily, the movie was too slow, and some things are not explained. I am a butch woman and I loved the movie. I identified with the characters and was incredibly inspired by the characters, their performances, their ability. If genderqueer things are your things, if you are a butch woman who wants to see some butch women positively represented (for once) on the screen, then this movie is for you! You may be inspired to dream, expand your goals, and feel more confident about your potential (and the potential of other genderqueers) to achieve those goals. If you don't want to watch a movie on these issues tonight, rent something else.
5 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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