Trantasia (2006) User Reviews

Good movie but needed more.

[l9rae · 6/10 · 11 September 2008]

I just finished watching this film and it was quite good for a documentary. I was very impressed by the range of the women in the pageant, and very impressed with the level that they competed at. They were like Miss America contestants.

Some were run of the mill drag show queens, then there were serious performers and even novices. Clearly they didn't turn many girls away from the competition.

It's interesting that someone commented that they didn't see anyone being discriminated against in the film; naturally they aren't going to show the dark underbellies of the pageant world. But it's pretty common in competitions that feature white and black contestants. That is why they have all black pageants, so women of color have a chance to win. When the winner was a blond haired, blue eyed, size 4 Barbie doll; I wasn't shocked--but I felt the hurt up there on that stage. There were women who were intensely beautiful that didn't even place. I know it was a slap in the face, but welcome to womanhood ladies! Overall it was informative and interesting. Worth seeing.

don't judge a book by its cover...

[smocko · 8/10 · 19 May 2009]

I caught this film on Showtime last week ... I guess I was kind of expecting the typical "train- wreck" treatment of the subject manner but actually found myself totally captivated and entertained.

The women in this documentary were born male but are now all trying to become Las Vegas Showgirls. They show a lot of courage ... a lot more courage than most of people I know.

The beginning of the movie is kind of weak but it really gets a lot better as you get to know the various girls in the contest....

I would have liked to have seen more of the lady that hosted the contest and the Vegas promoter who put the whole thing together

AND for a documentary the music was surprisingly good as well !

For what it is I give it four-stars!

The show of shows

[lastliberal · 8/10 · 18 May 2008]

It is amazing what you stumble upon when you wake up early Sunday morning. I had seen brief snippets of this and decided to give it a total view. I am certainly glad I did.

These women were just amazing. Under the purview of the first Transsexual beauty pageant, you had the opportunity to see six of the women and their families and get to know what their childhoods were like and how they coped as males before they were transformed. You learned that there is some conflict between pre-op and post-op transsexuals. You learned to appreciate another part of what makes up this human race.

Were they beautiful? I would have no problem hooking up with most of them (post-ops, of course). A really great show.

I grew up a poor white boy in Texas.

[lastliberal-853-253708 · 8/10 · 5 February 2012]

It is amazing what you stumble upon when you wake up early Sunday morning. I had seen brief snippets of this and decided to give it a total view. I am certainly glad I did.

These women were just amazing. Under the purview of the first Transsexual beauty pageant, you had the opportunity to see six of the women and their families and get to know what their childhoods were like and how they coped as males before they were transformed. You learned that there is some conflict between pre-op and post-op transsexuals. You learned to appreciate another part of what makes up this human race.

Were they beautiful? I would have no problem hooking up with almost all of them (post-ops, of course). A really great show

Why the sour grapes?

[jerisummers2 · 4/10 · 26 January 2011]

The movie documents the first "Most Beautiful Transsexual Pageant" and is also a search for talent for a show on the strip. A few contestants are profiled about their personal journey from being born male to transitioning to female persona's or living as women. There could only be eight finalists and then the top three out of those eight. I wasn't surprised at the choice of the eight finalists or the ultimate winners; they looked like women and were very beautiful, which was the whole point of the pageant! Two of the contestants, both black men, were shown complaining about not having won, claiming it was racist and prejudice. I saw it as they didn't look like real women and frankly, were not really attractive in drag! They both looked like what they were; a man in a dress with makeup on (and very poorly applied makeup at that...blend, blend blend, ladies!). The most vocal about claiming racism was seen tottering out onto the stage, clearly not able to walk well in heels and did not look feminine or classy at all. From what I could tell, the individuals who presented as the most realistic "women" were the ones who had gone through surgical and hormonal transition. Some revealed that they had had complete surgery and were living as women with a vagina and breasts (and some other silicon reshaping), rather than some who had not had breasts, hormones and/or sex re-assignment surgery. There is a difference; drag is a man in a dress (or a woman dressed as a man), transsexual to me means someone who has changed their gender which usually requires hormones at the very least. You don't just shave and put on a dress to be a woman! I thought the most natural looking woman was Maria, the blond with a European accent, tasteful clothes and makeup. She looked like a woman and behaved like a classy woman, as opposed to what some contestants were seen doing on the Strip. In my opinion all of the contestants should be proud of themselves for living their lives as their hearts dictate but their presentation of beauty may not be what appeals to others, end of story! That doesn't mean it's a racial decision! For anyone who has seen RuPaul's Drag Race, the winners of the first two seasons have been black men! RuPaul is black. Does that mean his show is racially biased because both winners are black? There were some beautiful Asian, Hispanic and white contestants who looked very good in drag but they didn't win. Was it racism? Or was it that their beauty and ability to create the illusion of a female wasn't as good as that of the two men who won, who happened to be black? Not everything is about race, folks. Vegas drag shows are about beauty, illusion and looking as "real" as possible. If you look like a fat man in dress with horrible makeup, you probably aren't what they are looking for to cast as a showgirl! Over all, the movie is interesting and I found the stories of some of the contestants very touching. I would have liked to see more of the process of the contestants creating their female illusions and more of their costumes during the actual pageant. What we should all take from this movie is that these people are not freaks, they are people just like all of us and deserve respect and acceptance for trying to make their outside match what they feel on the inside. Some are people who are changing gender in all aspects physically, some are happy with a partial transition and live as women, some are happy to live as men who do drag. I don't care what's under the hood, I only care about how we treat each other in this life!

Needed a lot more

[freakfire-1 · 3/10 · 24 March 2008]

This is a film that won't be seen by a lot of people. However, it feels more like a transsexual infomercial than a film. Not only that, but it didn't cover everybody's history or the social environment of the little known community. And that is just one of the major flaws.

Many of those participating were obviously too manly and they did not try to hide it. Some were post-op and even had hormones to keep their voices to a more feminine tone. And thank God those are the ones who were in the final selection.

The film really fails to keep things interesting, at least for me. I do admit some of them, who were post-op, were female to every degree a natural female is. Breasts, body, voice, everything. But I fail to see why this is a movie instead of a Discovery Channel special program. "D"