'XXY'

There's an interesting award winning Argentinean movie out called 'XXY' which is out on DVD.

The film has received widespread critical acclaim since its 2007 release. XXY has received twenty different awards in total and won the Critics Week Grand Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the ACID/CCAS Support Award.

It received three awards during the 2008 Argentine Film Critics Association Awards including Best Film.

The film focuses on 15 year old intersex teen Alex, who has reached puberty and has a momentous decision to make in addition to all the other drama associated with being a teenager.



Alex Kraken has ambiguous genitalia, and has been living as a girl since birth. Alex has been taking medication to suppress the masculine trails that are trying to rear their heads during puberty, but has stopped taking them for the moment.

She has an understanding family that includes her marine biologist father Nestor who has written a book on sexuality. They move to a seaside village in Uruguay from Argentina in order to protect Alex from a disapproving society.

One day her mother Suli invites a surgeon from Argentina, his wife and their son Alvaro for a visit. The visit has a hidden agenda because Suli, unbeknownst to Alex and Nestor, has extended the invitation in order to discuss the possibilities of a sex-change operation.

Meanwhile, Alex bluntly tells Álvaro that she would like to have sex with him. She successfully seduces Alvaro, but their tryst that includes anal penetration is interrupted when Néstor catches sight of them through an ajar door.

Alex later apologizes to Alvaro for performing anal intercourse on him and Álvaro admits he liked it.

After Alex has a near rape encounter with three boys who forcibly remove her shorts to see her genitals, Nestor realizes that filing a police report exposes Alex's secret to the entire town.

I'll let y'all see the movie to determine how it ends.

The movie title refers to a condition called Klinefelter Syndrome, in which males have an extra X sex chromosome. The theme about intersex organisms in nature is also reflected throughout the movie and the fact that Alex keeps an aquarium full of clownfish, which start male but can end up female.

But it's an interesting peek, albeit a fictionalized account of some of the issues our intersex friends deal with. It also speaks to the increase in more parents of intersex children opting to delay genital surgery until the child expresses a preference for one gender path or the other.