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C LASSIFIEDS
December 30, 2015
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
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C ontinued froM p age 9
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L egaL N otices
Need a ride to see
The
Temptations
On Sunday, January 17th @ Spirit Mountain Casino
Les Femmes is hosting a bus ride fundraiser
Enjoy light hors d’oeuvres, good conversation and great raffle prizes
Donation: $10.00
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Transitioning into Lili
Bus departs from Portland at 4:00; Departs from Spirit Mt. at 11:30
For more information please contact:
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a time when there was no concept
of transgender identity for either
Einar or Gerda to grab onto. How
does one manage when compelled
toward inward truth for which
there is no outward confirmation?
We journey through visits to doc-
tors who prescribe painful radia-
tion treatment and diagnose insan-
ity. With no one to offer Einar a
way to process or analyze the truth
that compels him, he forges ahead,
transitioning into Lili before tran-
sitioning was a concept. Indeed,
with no signposts to guide her, Lili
tumbles to the conclusion -- which
now seems heart-breakingly bru-
tal and unnecessary -- that Einar
must die in order for Lili to live.
A lesser film would have re-
lied more on exposition to explain
what is happening; this one ad-
mirably shows more than it tells.
Redmayne conveys how Lili’s
fear competes with her excitement
as she flirts with a man whose at-
tention she has attracted, and then
retreats; her schemes for studying
how women shift their weight or
ask a question; the small ways
in which transitioning to female
requires Einar to give up power.
In a particularly affecting scene,
we see in Redmayne’s body and
face how acutely it pains Lili to
take off her wig, revealing Einar
underneath. She has no access to
a means for reconciling Einar as
part of Lili, and her distaste for
Einar becomes increasingly pal-
pable.
The toll on Einar/Lili’s relation-
ship with Gerda is also thoughtful-
ly portrayed. Einar is blessed with
a spouse who genuinely loves him
and is capable of making much of
the journey with and for Lili. In-
deed, Lili becomes a regular sub-
ject of Gerda’s portraiture, earn-
ing Gerda professional notice and
subtly assisting in Lili’s transition.
It makes sense that both of them
were artists; only highly intuitive
people could find a way to venture
into and make sense of such com-
plex psychological territory. Yet,
increasingly, Gerda finds herself
losing her formerly attentive part-
ner, even at times finding herself
rather cruelly abandoned. All of
Lili’s energies are absorbed in the
task of becoming herself; her very
idea of womanhood in 1920s Eu-
rope contains little room for Gerda.
No matter how much this por-
trayal may veer from the historical
record about Einar/Lili and Gerda,
it is profoundly true in the deepest
sense. This film is a worthy win-
dow into early identity formation
for a transgender woman -- in-
deed, Lili Elbe’s journal eventu-
ally became important in that re-
gard. But it is also resonates with
wisdom and empathy for those
important few whose lives call
them to the lonely and confusing
work of scouting ahead for where
the rest of us must and will even-
tually evolve.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on
the Oregon Court of Appeals and
the first woman of color to serve
in that capacity. Her movie review
column Opinionated Judge ap-
pears regularly in The Portland
Observer. Find her movie blog at
opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com.
Portland’s
‘Wader the
Gator’ issues a
fitness chal-
lenge.
Water Warrior Club Returns
Portland Parks & Recreation
presents the 15th Annual Wa-
ter Warrior Club this January for
community members that love to
swim. The city’s six indoor pools
will be hosting “Where’s Wader
the Gator” fitness challenges for
lap swim and water exercise par-
ticipants.
Swimmers that complete at
least 16 workouts in the month of
January will receive a free a Wa-
ter Warrior t-shirt along with the
obvious health-benefits of swim-
ming regularly. Participants can
chart their progress at their neigh-
borhood pool. For more informa-
tion, visit portlandparks.org.