Sleepaway Camp and the value of a problematic trans narrative

 So, assuming you have seen it or at least just now read the wiki article.  You must understand this was the _only_ representation I saw in movies coming up.

Family friendly 

Barring shit like the trans women being the punchline in movies like Bachelor Party – one of DARLING ERICAN TOM HANKS mor shining moments – that was literally it for me growing up.

Meanwhile and I don’t think many of the younger people reading this will really understand, but this was the 1980s.   When All Media was almost literally fagfagfagfgfagfgfgfgfagfagfagfagfagdirtystinkingfaggotyfaggotfagfagfagfagfgfagfgfgfgfagfagfagfagfagdirtystinkingfaggotyfaggotfagfagfagfagfgfagfgfgfgfagfagfagfagfagdirtystinkingfaggotyfaggotfag fagfagfagfgfagfgfgfgfagfagfagfagfagdirtystinkingfaggotyfaggotfag.

Basically every other word in all things that were not network television. 

VCR Parenting 

Sleepaway camp in my case has a unique distinction – it hails from my freshman year in high school when I had a VCR of my own in my bedroom so I could rent movies AND the local shitty supermarket was selling DREK UBER DREK for super cheap (Read: Freshman in high school) rental

So this mean for example, the :classic” deathmaster, which has a sequence where one of the bad guys is gender flipped, RAPED BY THE PROTAGONIST and it is played for laughs. 

So yeah, the ‘reveal’ in Sleepaway camp meant a lot to me.  Unlike everything else here, it was not exploitative within the narrative. Within the narrative…however unintentionally by the creators, it was empowering.

She had agency. 

Through becoming the definition of Axe Crazy but agency.

Valuable sweet agency. 

As it is so common across Queer Media, we begin relating first to the villains because only these villains by rejecting society, get to be themselves.

So maybe this is part of why I’m not on board with all this assimilationist shuck and jive. I don’t want to look like a Karen nor live like one. I don’t want cushy job writing bullshit for some megacorporation. 

If you do that’s fine. 

But also  get out. 

Because you are now in my way. 





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