MovieChat Forums > Being John Malkovich (1999) Discussion > Lotte Transgender?

Lotte Transgender?

posted 11 years ago by scissorhands__emily
2 replies | jump to latest

Okay so Lotte appeared to have transgendered feelings throughout the movie. She admitted to Craig how strongly she felt after being in Malkovich's head, and it seemed like this wasn't the first time she had expressed these desires to Craig. My question is, at the very end, there are no signs of Lotte doing anything about this. I'm not saying she should suddenly be a man at the end, but she appeared basically as she did throughout the film. Was this just brushed over? Obviously there are explanations for why she would not have undergone any type of changes such as being happy with Maxine as she was, realizing she wasn't truly transgender, etc. But I am just wondering if anyone else had an opinion on this.

[–] catsy29 11 years ago

Yes! I've always thought that the ending would be even more perfect if Lotte showed some kind of signals of being transgender, like at least wearing Men clothes or something like that.

[–] incrediblehewoman 11 years ago

Ever since my second viewing (the first was more just trying to take it in and get a handle on it...heh) when it first came out on DVD back in 1999/2000 (forget if it came out the same year it was released theatrically) and onward, there's been no question in my mind that Lotte was transgendered. In fact, aside from the "nature of identity and reality" themes of the film, I think it also presents a pretty heavy "nature of gender and gender roles both in society and in one's own self-view" theme as well.

"Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place."-from Picnic at Hanging Rock