Real Boy
Directed by Shaleece Haas
Shaleece Haas and Independent Television Service (ITVS)
THIS 2016 DOCUMENTARY recounts four years—from late adolescence to young adulthood—in the life of Bennett (né Rachael) Wallace. Real Boy is an enthralling, intimate, and poignant film, and it is a pleasure to watch. Director Shaleece Haas, who tirelessly followed Bennett on his literal and figurative journey, slept on floors, hung out at music clubs, and accompanied him on road trips, capturing 200 hours of footage. Bennett, one of two children in a comfortably middle-class home in Pasadena, began to experience gender dysphoria as a preschooler. Vintage home movies show the tow-headed, engaging, and eloquent Rachael, at various stages of childhood. One unforgettable scene is the birthday when Rachael receives a boy’s suit jacket. “It’s what I always wanted!” is the excited child’s response.
“I am a boy with the wrong body parts,” Bennett states near the beginning of his transition, and doesn’t hold back when describing some of the destructive behaviors of his past, including cutting. At one point in his younger years, he severed a tendon and had to undergo surgery. When Bennett changes his name and begins to take testosterone, his mother Suzy (by this time divorced) has tremendous difficulty dealing with the transition. When Bennett and his new friend Dylan decide to fly to Fort Lauderdale to undergo top surgery, it’s Dylan’s mother who is going to take care of them both postoperatively. At the last minute, Suzy decides to fly out too, and a scene of her and Dylan’s mother in conversation about their children is very moving. Suzy’s slow but blossoming acceptance is entirely genuine and touching to watch.
Bennett’s life back in Pasadena includes Joe Stevens, an acoustic folk guitarist who fronted the band Coyote Grace (he later went solo). Bennett and Joe—a mentor who became a close friend—jam and play original music, providing a needed break from the intense conversations about transitioning. Joe becomes part of Suzy’s life, too, as do Joe’s parents. A very revealing dinner conversation has Suzy saying that she thought something was up with Rachael when the child was a preschooler, and she thought Rachael was probably gay.
At the screening I attended, both Bennett and director Shaleece Haas were there in person and took questions from the audience, filling in some of the back story that had been left on the cutting room floor. Bennett had attended all-girls’ schools for about eight years but did not begin to transition until after graduation. “High school was hard enough,” said Bennett, though he praised the single-sex structure, “without having to worry about transitioning.” It was gratifying to learn that his father, who in the film had declined to see Bennett one Thanksgiving, has become very close, and he believes that his sister, who has mostly cut him out of her life, will eventually accept him. In the film, Bennett says several times how important the love of his family is to him.
Bennett Wallace has recently released an album of original folk music, Worth the Weight. Real Boy will be released for distribution to cinemas and will also air on PBS’ Independent Lens in 2017.
