The Misandrists

Bruce LaBruce’s queer comedy The Misandrists pits a binary notion of sex and sexual politics for women (i.e., straight but oppressed by men vs. lesbian and radically separatist) against a more nuanced reality of gender-fluidity and inclusiveness. It does so with a campy flair that makes one laugh without diluting the seriousness of the story’s subtext about tolerance and true rebellion. The narrative focuses on a school for young women that is largely cloistered and run by radical females dedicated to the destruction of global patriarchy. Lesson plans and everything else at the school are merely fronts for anti-male propaganda and revisionist thinking about everything from reproduction to pornography (the ersatz nuns who run the school plan to finance their revolution with funds from lesbian porn films shot on campus and featuring the students). The status quo is shaken when transgender student Isolde (Kita Updike) rescues a wounded male anti-capitalist and hides him at the school, sparking an ideological battle. LaBruce brings a comic archness to the proceedings, including a cheesy turn by Susanne Sachsse as a headmistress who resembles a bewigged stripper more than an administrator. Also delightful are the ambiguous conversations between the girls, which suggests that their mad orthodoxy about men rings a little hollow even for them. With the caveat that the film features explicit sexuality and a graphic vaginoplasty, this is a funny satire with a timely bite. Recommended for more adventurous collections. (T. Keogh)