MR UNDERSTOOD [WATCH]

MR UNDERSTOOD

Made in 2013 based on conversations with artist Grayson Perry about his first outing to a transvestite convention at a seaside hotel.  I would not make this film the same way now, if at all. I have toyed with taking it down, but there are elements of it I am proud of to do with self doubt and how we overcome it. But in regards to LGBTQ lived experience, it feels outdated, very much from a cis heterosexual perspective and perhaps not that helpful. We live and hopefully we learn. 

Sky Arts' 'Playhouse presents …''

"Best of all was last week's Mr Understood, co-created by Grayson Perry and Kate Hardie, about a young man attending his first transvestite social. Tom Brooke's Gary battles with his shame, played by Tommy McDonnell, who follows him around, spitting insults and insecurities. Everyone else has an embodiment of shame, too: a disco full of transvestite doubles, one smiling while the other heckles, opens out into a heart-swelling scene of self-acceptance as Gary and his other half dance with wild abandon. The next day, though, it's business as usual – nagging doubt that needs drowning out."

Review by The Guardian for MR UNDERSTOOD (Sky Arts Playhouse Presents …)

IMDB