I chose to do my
film review on, "Ace Venture Pet Detective." It used to be one of my
favorite movies as a child but I never noticed the homophobia,
classicism, abelism, and homophobia until further analysis.I was
especially shocked to see a women get beaten in front of other men
because "she" was a man. In addition, I was surprised the movie is even
suggested as kid friendly because of the sex scenes, and adult humor. If
children are watching this film, they are being exposed to homophobia
in ways their young minds can't grasp. As a child, I remember thinking
the movie was silly. I was intrigued by the transgender plot twist and
it was probably my first exposure. If children are watching this film,
they are learning about homophobia in ways they don't understand, a
distorted view of transgenders, and inappropriate adult humor.
The
film revolves around the fact that one of the characters transitioned
from male to female to hide their identity. In addition, Jim Carrey puts
on a dress to pretend that he has a mental illness, which seems to link
mental illness and transgender identities. On top of insinuating
transgender people are mentally ill, I felt the way the mentally ill
were portrayed was degrading and inaccurate. In the scene where Ace
Ventura gets upset that he kissed a transgender, he goes as far as to
put a plunger in his mouth and burn his clothes. As one person said,
"It becomes something very, very different if when watching this
“comedy”
the character you see as yourself isn’t Ace Ventura, but Lois Einhorn.
Which is why I broke down completely when he begins smashing her face
repeatedly into a metal support beam. I’m not the victor, I’m the one
being beaten, stripped, sexually assaulted and outed, as my entire life
comes crashing around my feet, my cocky abuser laughs and mocks me in
the process, and the entire police force, my employees, sit idly
by watching it happen and then, ultimately slut-shame me as a final act
of humiliation."
(http://freethoughtblogs.com/nataliereed/2012/05/18/ace-ventura-het-perspective/).
After this horrible scene, Ace Ventura simply says, "“Lahooooser!” to
Einhorn.
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| The films portrayal of the mentally ill |
