Over a five-year period, filmmaker Susan Sandler profiles Julie Scotti, a transgender comic/motivational speaker who was born male and, as Rick Scotti, was a headliner on the booming stand-up touring circuit in the 1980s before having surgical and hormone treatment in late middle age to become female.
Scotti has been married three times; the first is declared to be a youthful rebellion taken too far; the second produced two children —who now, as adults, love and support Julia; the ex-wife, meanwhile, does not participate here. It was as a parent that Scotti declared feelings of attraction to men and being more akin to being a mother than a father; thus, a decision to undergo gender-reassignment surgery at age 47.
Even so, a third bride (declared by the comic to be the true love of Julia's life) tried to stick with the atypical spouse throughout, but as hard as she tried, she just could not make the arrangement work.
Scotti (who has also worked as a teacher) is shown going through new routines and viewing archival footage of old ones (and cringing at the material that comes across as homophobic). Julia Scotti's return to the world of standup is highlighted by a successful appearance on America's Got Talent that underlines (perhaps unintentionally) that in the youth-obsessed world of showbiz, a gray-haired matron type as an entertainer is rare enough; the sexual revelation of course brings expected effuse praise from the prime-time panel, a stark cultural contrast with the personal and professional rejection Scotti felt immediately as a post-op female.
Scotti's humor, at least what we see of it here, is more relatable and universal than say an LGBTQ rallying-type (think the durable Kate Clinton, who appeared in a similarly titled concert documentary We're Funny That Way in 1998). A strong addition to queer-oriented shelves. (Aud: C, P)
Julia Scotti: Funny That Way is a VL Pride Month Pick. For the month of June, we spotlight films and documentaries that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
