The Garden Left Behind

Margeaux Adams

20171121

GNDS125 – 008

  The film The Garden Left Behind directed by Flavio Alves follows the daily life of Tina, a young transgender woman of colour, as she tries to navigate the early stages of her transition as well as the rising tensions that accompany this change. Although she remains optimistic, Tina is constantly struggling with acceptance throughout the film from both those around her as well as herself.   

The audience is first introduced to Tina as she walks the streets of New York City, distraught and afraid. This seems to be a recurring theme for Tina, as she struggles with how the world around her doesn’t seem to want to accept her for who she is. Aside from the threats of violence that she faces just for being a transgender woman, Tina is also constantly anxious about her position as an undocumented immigrant. Because of this, it is difficult for her to secure a stable job, so she uses her car as a driving service before getting a job as a bartender. Her income goes towards supporting her grandmother, as well as her gender reassignment surgery.

Our protagonist shares a close and affectionate bond with her grandmother Eliana, who she lives with. Her grandma is generally quite accepting of Gina’s transition and her place within the LGBTQ+ community, although there are a few instances where it is apparent that she is still struggling to grasp at the full scope of her granddaughter’s transition. For instance, she only refers to Tina as her former name, Antonio.

            This isn’t the only time when Tina doesn’t feel as though she is entirely supported by her those closest to her. Her Boyfriend, Jason, is partially accepting of her when they are alone, yet is embarrassed to be seen with her in public or around his friends.

Throughout the film, Tina attends visits with psychologist Dr. Cleary, eager to finally get diagnosed with gender dysmorphia so that she will be able to fully begin her transition. However, this is just another obstacle between her and who she wants to become, and it brings up “an element that’s rarely emphasized: getting permission to have surgery.” (Thompson) . Although she is very eager to enter the transgender community, a recent act of police brutality that left a transgender woman dead leaves another reason for her to become unsettled by the risk surrounding her new position. It’s at a meeting following the attack against Rosie, the murdered woman, that she meets a supportive group of women who understand exactly what she is going through and take her under their wing. She finds acceptance in these women, and with their support, becomes an activist for the rights of transgender women.

            The Garden Left Behindreally highlights the issues that transgender woman must face daily just to live as themselves. The most dangerous aspect would be the violence that effects the transgender community, but even the constant questioning creates a mentality of illegitimacy that they must challenge all the time. It’s difficult to understand who you are when your identity is always under investigation or you’re being asked to prove that you belong to one group or another. The gender binary model or binary thinking is a concept that can be used to describe this issue. It follows the idea that there are only two genders, and each gender has its own ascribed role (Baba). It doesn’t account for any differences in sexuality or gender fluidity and causes many problems for groups of people who don’t conform to this idea.

Tina faces many of these issues not only because she’s transgender, but also because she’s a woman of colour, is part of the LQBTQ+ community, is a first-generation immigrant, and her socio-economic standing, among other factors. The culmination of all these issues really provides a strong divide between Tina and her community and shows that there are many reasons for the harsh discrimination that she faces daily. 

Intersectionality, a term popularized by Kimberlé Crenshaw, would be best used to explain the culmination of issues that Tina faces. It’s the best way “understand how identities and power work together from one context to another.” (Crenshaw). There are so many factors that fuel the discrimination against Tina in the film, which include the fact that she’s a woman of colour, part of the LGBTQ+ community, transgender, and a first-generation immigrant. The overlap of her many social identities causes her to undergo more struggles than those who have less. She is not often discriminated against for being just one of these things, but for identifying as all of them simultaneously. 

The actions of Chris, a seemingly shy man who works at the local bodega, bring many issues involving violence against transgendered people to light. Chris is infatuated by Tina and doesn’t know how to handle his new feelings. It begins with a crush, which leads to a fascination before developing into a full-fledged obsession. 

The fetishization of trans women build them up as objects of fascination for heteronormative and cisgender people. This is evident with Chris, who eventually becomes extremely violent against Tina near the end of the film. The audience is shown parts of Chris’s life, which are supposed to illustrate how he developed his views surrounding Tina. His friends surround him with an overwhelming amount of toxic masculinity, and his own gender confusion frustrates him to the point of violence against those who seem to have a better understanding of who they are. His own struggle with acceptance leads him to react so negatively to his emotions for a woman who does not fill the stereotypical role that is placed in society.

Overall,The Garden Left Behind is able to accurately approach the issues that transgendered women are dealing with daily, while remaining uplifting and optimistic. Transgender actors were used to play the transgender characters, which provided accurate representation. Flavio Alves was able to highlight the struggle for acceptance and validation present within the lives of most transgendered women, with a story that realistically captures what life experiences are like for those who don’t conform to oppressive societal norms.

Resources

Baba, Habibe Burcu. “Popular Culture and Gender Studies.” Queens University, Canada. 9 Jan. 2020. Lecture.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “The Urgency of Intersectionality.” TED Conference, 2016. Keynote Speech.

Thompson, Andrea. “’The Garden Left Behind’ Is a Loving Depiction of a Trans Woman Struggling to Find Her Place in the World.” A Reel Of One’s Own, A Reel Of One’s Own, 14 May 2019, www.areelofonesown.com/home/2019/5/14/the-garden-left-behind-is-a-loving-depiction-of-a-trans-woman-struggling-to-find-her-place-in-the-world.