Watching Mutt was really interesting. I had to remind myself that not everything good is always action packed, and remembering that in both film and literature is exceedingly important. I feel like today, most people find simple things to be boring, where simplicity can actually be a great opportunity to implement important and emotional themes.

Plot and Gender

The plot of the movie revolves around the main character, Feña, who is a trans man. The movie revolves around one day where Feña ends up running into his ex-boyfriend, sister, and father, all of whom have not seen him since he transitioned.

Feña is now moving through life as a trans man, and experiences things differently, and this movie takes these events and portrays them, in my opinion, realistically.

Feña’s Ex

My least favorite section of the movie was any scene about or with Feña’s ex-boyfriend John. John and Feña dated before he was out as a trans man, and in any explanation of the movie depicts John as straight. Many people had an issue with calling John straight, since he and Feña hook up when they meet again, but I think that it is a perfect description of him. John’s attraction to Feña is not queer, it is dehumanizing. While he uses the correct name and pronouns, it is clear that he does not genuinely see Feña as a man. There are even aspects of Fetishization, where John watches Feña change, while Feña asked him to look away, and John asks to touch and look at Feña’s top surgery scars. The whole scene just feels gross, and it made me hate anything that John does throughout the entire movie, and he even gets worse.

When Feña drops off John’s car, and it is clear that he wan’t more out of the night than just dropping it off, John becomes incredibly defensive. He argues that he cannot be with Feña because he too was hurt during their relationship. How? As viewers don’t know.

I have very mixed feelings about the portions of the movie that we don’t have answers to. In one lense, it make the story mildly confusing. How did Feña hurt John? Is it that he transitioned or was he genuinely a bad partner? While that makes some parts confusing, it also feels natural. Viewers expect to know everything about a movie, and I think that that can translate into real life, where people expect that they do know everything about someone else’s situation. This movie, however, leaves us asking questions, both about the characters and the plot. It feels very “real life” because we don’t know everything.

Feña’s Sister

I loved getting to see Feña rebuild his relationship with his sister, Zoe. The contrast in between Zoe and John really benefited the story. John goes through meeting Feña again and does not separate new Feña from old Feña, and sees no growth between the two versions. He does not truly accept him as a man; however, Zoe is the opposite of that. While she is upset at Feña for leaving at first, she grows to accept that he needed to, and that he was forced to. She accepts him as his brother, and is ecstatic to have him back in her life, even if Feña is different than he used to be, when she last saw him.

Feña’s Father

It is clear that the goal of the movie is to show how Feña’s relationships change, after he transitions.

With John not accepting him, Zoe quickly accepting him, it is important to also see the role of Feña’s father, who has a difficult time accepting him, not because he does not love his child, but because he does not immediately understand. Zoe mentions that she has trans friends, and I think that was an important distinction between the two generations seen in Feña’s family.

Feña’s father definitely didn’t quite understand, and where I don’t think that is much of an excuse; however, seeing that by the end of the film, every word is filled with so much love, as his father calls him his “guy” is beyond heart warming.

The Ending

Thinking back on the film and watching it again, makes it clear that each person sees a different Feña. John only sees the Feña that he dated, before transitioning. Zoe, who’s mother has pushed Feña out of her life, see’s only the new Feña, the one who stands with her and protects her. Feña’s father is stuck between the two, not wanting to let go of the daughter he raised, while also not wanting to hurt the son he has now. Each gives the story meaning, and shows natural ways that coming out and transitioning can affect a trans person’s relationships.

Even if it felt more like a character study, I think the movie was incredibly important. It showed a lot about the life of trans people, and how it can affect how people around truly see them.

The last scene show’s Feña sitting, seemingly lost. The ending of the film gives us no more answers, as Feña does not know what will happen next, the audience doesn’t get to know either. We have truly seen a day in his life, and we have to learn what happens next by living in our own lives.