What Is a Woman?

The fact that we live in a world where a question like this is not only asked but people, especially many women in this documentary, can't seem to be able to answer is mind blowing. Great documentary. The truth sets people free.

I was quite surprised to see the level of respect this film had for the subjects, at many points reflecting on the sympathy for children suffering with gender identity.

I think what I appreciated most was that these weren't trick questions, the presenter asked very basic and honest questions - the fact that a univeristy professor was unable to answer simple questions in his own field was very telling. It was a running theme that those who wanted honest discussions were being shut down, lose their careers and even faced imprisonment.

Speaking with an African tribe was also an interesting juxtaposition of societal ideals.

My one criticism is that I wish he had not been able to open the jar of pickles.

Love him or hate him, Matt Walsh has done a brilliant job on this documentary showing us the craziness of the people who believe in the trans movement. I know that Matt works for Daily Wire and they need to make money but I just wish they could have seen fit to release this everywhere for free. Matt and the makers of this film are not hating on people who are suffering form any delusions or depression, they are fighting for the children being abused at the hands of the people who believe they are better than their maker. Recommended viewing, not for the beautiful art, but for making you think about the way the culture is flowing.

So, its fairly well produced, it looks good (certainly comparable to other documentaries out there.) All of the technical aspects of the film are in order. Nothing truly stands out as exceptional, but everything is very much professional.

From an approach perspective, it really is more of a documentary than most "documentaries" in that, the main character (Matt Walsh) is asking questions to try and understand the opposing opinion. Most "Documentaries" have a side and then only interview supporting perspectives of the thesis. In this case, Walsh actually interviews the opposing side a lot. For that reason alone, this a more honest documentary. Now, fair-is-fair, I don't like the subject of documentaries to be the documentarian. I believe that would classify it as more journalistic or activist (a-la, Moore or Spurlock.) But it is a common documentary style.

That said, I guess we get into the meat of it and why people love it or hate it. As before mentioned, there is a lot of exchanges with opposing view points, and those view points did not make strong arguments. Did Walsh interview the actual leading experts on the subjects? Maybe, maybe not. They do have considerable credibility, but Walsh himself is by no means an expert in the field, so even if the people he's interviewing are not the leaders, it's not like it's an unfair fight.

I think if you're for or against this subject matter, it's probably a good film to watch. It's always good to know what the opposing arguments are, but for some reason this topic people get very passionate about. From a purely creative standpoint, I think it's great, not exceptional, but if you like documentaries, it's going to be one of the best ones this year.

On the plus side

• interviewed a lot of solemn, pious academics who could not give a non-circular answer to the question "what is a woman?"

Gaps

• not much investigative zeal; very partisan
• did not present the evidence from the UK, Swedish, Finnish and French medical regulators who are raising doubts about treating adolescents with puberty blockers and steroids. Lost opportunity to challenge American gender zealots.