Introduction
You are a guest at the annual Los Angeles International Short Film Festival to discover new and interesting short films. One of the films that are shown strikes you the most: “Tough Enough“ by Lukas Blakk is a short film about struggling with the mainstream gender identity. After watching the film, you decide to take part in the discussion round for the film review of “Tough Enough“ together with the director and host, Lukas Blakk.
Task
In small groups of max. 5 people, prepare the role you’d like to present during the discussio.
You may choose out of the given examples below or create your own idea of a participant.
Possible Roles:
- the host and director of the film, Lukas Blakk
- an art student
- a consultant of ABqueer
- a famous football player
- Lady Gaga
- a teacher who wants to show the film in class
- a republican and conservative senator
- member of Catholic Church
You can gather information from the internet to prepare your role card. Write down important thoughts, ideas or attitudes on the role card.
When preparing your role card, think about the following questions that could be raised during the discussion:
- What is (hetero-)normativity? Who decides what is considered as normal?
- Why do people sometimes play different roles in their life? Is it just a role or is it their personal identity?
- What are the privileges that heterosexual people have?
- What is intolerance and where does it come from? What can we do to raise tolerance?
- What can be done to help people who are struggling with heteronormativity?
- In which way does the film deal with the protagonist’s issue?
Consider these questions for your role card and during the discussion. Try to comment on the film’s message and on the artistic quality of the film itself. Stick to your role while filming the discussion later on.