I heard about the movie “Different for Girls” it was a classic two childhood friends reconnect and become romantic type movie. Only it was about a Cis Guy and a Trans Girl.

I really really thought this was going to be a dated film that would make me cringe. And looking up trans people’s opinions on it here on Reddit didn’t help. People described it as “dated” at best and transphobic at worst.

But I watched it and WOW this movie was like SO GOOD! Like compared to the vast majority of English language films about trans people back then. Most of the time trans people were willfully conflated with transvestites and drag queens. But this film is very clear and explicit in stating that Kim, the female lead, isn’t a drag queen or a transvestite she’s just a normal woman who happens to be trans. She isn’t fetishized or made out to be weird or bad or wrong at all. She has character flaws ofc, but they are completely understandable given her experiences. Honestly they must have talked with a trans person given how well informed the movie is on so many different trans issues.

She also isn’t a sad or tragic character, she’s not a sex worker and (spoiler alert) the movie ends very happy for her and the male lead, Prentice. There romance is honestly just really cutesy. She calls him by his last name at first in like an annoyed angry manner, but as the film goes on it becomes like a pet name, it’s really cute. Prentice makes mistakes obviously in the beginning but honestly he obviously cares about Kim a lot and goes out of his way to learn about trans people.

Kim’s character is also just very endearing and likable. She has a sharp and dry sense of humor. She has a great sense of fashion, she’s kind of a bit a misogynistic stereotype in that she hates loud music and is a bit frail but she’s definitely not the worst representation of a trans woman and by the end of the movie she actually subverts a lot of stereotypical depictions of trans women at the time.

It’s a very stereotypical romcom, so if that’s not your thing maybe don’t watch it. Also Kim is played by a cis guy and i know for a lot of people that is a hurtle they cant jump. but i beg you to check out the movie if those two facts don't bother you. The movie is free on YouTube!