Will Ferrell has a high profile comedy career. The sketch comedy show SNL launched him into Hollywood films in ensemble casts like The Anchorman 2 and then lead roles. Broadly speaking his brand of comedy falls under absurdist comedy and he appeared in some mainstream films like Austin Powers and Zoolander. Later his title role in Elf, and double act in Blades of Glory and The Other Guys brought him more renown as a comedy actor. In the 1990s working in SNL he befriended Steele who over the decades remained a close friend. In the Netflix documentary based on the two pals, Steele confesses that he was the one who predicted Will will go far after he bombed his SNL audition.
Here they are after decades between them since they first worked together on a road trip. Will is nearly 60 and Harper has crossed the mark. The film documents a milestone meeting; Ferrell is catching up with Steele to find out his friend's experience of transitioning. The litmus test is the Mid West which Iowa-born Harper is deeply attached to. All her life she has made her way all over these states and enjoyed stopping at the all-American diners (her favourite place), and imbibing shitty beers at the local bars. Steele is well travelled in this whole region but as a man. Ferrell has the idea of catching up with Steele now after her transition to see how familiar landscape changes for a transgender person. For instance, how will locals gathered in a bar or diner react to Harper as opposed to N.
Will begins the documentary with his characteristic jokes but that's sort of the last time there is any levity in the film that is built on the conversations he will have with Harper in the film. Will reveals that Harper informed him about transitioning in a heartfelt email which gave Will pause for thought. He was shocked that he had no idea such a good friend of his was going through such tremendous struggle with his very self identity throughout the years they knew each other. The duo meet Harper’s kids in a greasy spoon for breakfast at the start of the journey. Will asks if they are okay with this huge change in their dad who they still call dad even though she is a 61 year old woman now. The kids are accepting and not a lot of personal struggle as a family is revealed. This is a careful editorial choice perhaps and is a reaffirmation that the two hour long film puts in focus at its heart Harper alone. And one person's life struggle is too vast to even explain through the film.
There are a few but big raw moments where Harper breaks down when thinking about her lonely journey as a man who identifies as a woman. Since this is not scripted, neither Will nor her offer particularly articulate dialogue, but every time she talks about anything feminine she adopts, she feels completeness. Even choosing the name Harper for herself makes her feel amazing and right.
When she is recalling such epiphanies moments in simple words, those are the teaching moments for the viewers. Her deeply personal battle to self actualize and discover her identity will hopefully help viewers put themselves in the shoes of someone like Harper. We in Pakistan continue to ‘other’ise the marginalised LBTQI+ community and, for the sake of various beliefs, traditions and values, hold ourselves back from even openly discussing what such terms mean. One of the silver linings that frank discussions over social media is the creation of some sliver of space for those who do not exist in a heteronormative context. Online there are a handful of influencers who have provided a platform for the inclusivity of those who are marginalised on the basis of gender but what about the national narrative of the Islamic Republic?
Drafted in 2018, The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act in Pakistan, was lauded as a positive step in the recognition and safeguarding of transgender rights. It enshrined much needed protections such as the definition of a transgender person and access to legal gender recognition based on self-determination, the rights to education and employment and the prohibition of discrimination.
However, in 2023 the Federal Shariat Court of Islamabad struck down some sections of the Act calling them un-Islamic. It ruled that the sections 2(f), 3 and 7 of the Transgender Act 2018 which relate to gender identity, the right to self-perceived gender identity and the right of inheritance for transgender people do not conform with their interpretation of Islamic principles. The Shariat court was wary that the Act could pave the way for rape, and sexual assault of women. Granting these rights could facilitate men “disguised” as transgender women to gain access to exclusive spaces intended for women. Critics of the courts interpretation say there is no publicly available evidence of such incidents taking place in Pakistan.
Comparatively the US has a longer history of legal rights for transgender persons. In 1993, Minnesota became the first state to ban employment discrimination on the basis of perceived gender identity with the passage of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. When a trans man Brandon Teena was raped and murdered, a national movement began to incorporate anti-transgender hate crimes into future US hate crime legislation. The murder also inspired the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry.
The funny thing about the documentary is that Will is not an emotive guy so probably not ideal to be picking apart such a crucial and sensitive subject. Conan o'Brien called his eyes stony like a dead dog when he was singing Ferrell's praises upon receiving The Mark Twain Prize and said his eyes make him look like a serial killer. This is true. It works for his comedy yet it is true. In playing the part of the interviewer essentially, Ferrell is abysmally tongue-tied and inarticulate. Most of his questions to Harper trail off mid sentence and are answered because Harper can figure out what he is implying. And Ferrell also asks a few questions which transgenders may deem inappropriate perhaps, about waking up with breasts after the surgery and Harper's plans on additional surgery of sexual organs etc. Maybe this will not offend because essentially this is an intimate and voluntary back and forth between good friends. And Harper has given Will carte blanche to interrogate in order to understand the experience of her transitioning. Although I read a review of the documentary by a trans woman who took objection to such a line of questioning.
Harper calls Will a bag of cement, somewhere at the end of the trip when they are getting pedicures with another comedian from the SNL cast. As he is the producer of this documentary, viewers will naturally put the onus of conveying a message on Will's shoulders. I'm not sure he does that successfully. But I'm not sure if he was meant to, perhaps the idea was to give Harper the centre-stage. Yet, it is a disappointment that Will pretty much just mumbles throughout the film. On that note, Will almost fails to come across as authentic because we are only used to seeing his deadpan face while he does crazy antics but even in this context, that's the only face he has to show. At times, you might even be put off with his cavalier persona, putting on disguises and generally drawing attention to himself like an egotistical actor would.
Other than one evening when he shows up dressed as Sherlock Holmes to consume a kilo of Texan steak, drawing public attention to himself and his dinner partner, he does not further the narrative. As he sits chewing beef surrounded by hundreds of diners who quickly pick up their phones, thousands of X users online attack Harper viciously for being a trans woman. It turns out to be an extremely tense evening that weighs on Will and the next day in the car he breaks down crying for having let down his friend as he did not know how to protect her from the cruelty of public eyes and vitriol.
By the second half, my interest and curiosity lagged. I confess I felt there wasn't much happening other than driving through redneck America and mundane chatter with unrelatable humour. If you have the space of two hours to talk about the isolation and pain of being marginalised and veritable outcast by society for discovering who you really are, you can cram in just a little more informative experiences. The two friends meet up with one trans woman and again that exchange is serious and impactful. Yet again Will has nothing to add to it, for his own nor his audience’s sake.
An interesting aspect about the subject which humanises and makes it relatable is that Harper is not glamorous. She is just a regular old lady with her long grey hair clipped crazily on the crown of her head, mostly wearing unassuming dresses or cardigans and tights. Sometimes she dresses up for a night out and Will makes sure to compliment her kindly. The two friends touch upon the topic of ageing and beauty and appearances and Harper shares how make-up would make her feel unpretty. It's somewhat wholesome that each of them are straight shooters in such discussions.
Pakistanis who watch this might feel bowled over once again how far behind we are in terms of living a life of liberty and freedom. If the challenge to assert one's individuality (specifically in terms of gender identity but generally in terms of life choices) seems insurmountable for a white American, can we imagine life for a Pakistani who may be trying to discover and live their true self? The answer is saddening.
This is not a happy documentary despite the two friends working in comedy, yet it is an accessible one. And that's the bittersweet pain of life that it can be filled with tragic irony and at the same time the freedom of joy is within reach.