Game Face

"Game Face" is a documentary addressing sports participation among gay and transgender individuals in the United States. It's an insightful, relevant production that examines the intricacies of competing openly in what's largely been a conservative holdout. Its subjects are Fallon Fox and Terrence Clemens, and its arenas are professional mixed martial arts and college basketball.

It took me a while before I realized why both of these athletes are featured. The Fallon Fox controversy was so big that it could've filled the run time by itself, but the parallels and contrasts between Fox's and Clemens' experiences are intriguing. Both had their lives negatively affected by backlash to their gender/sexuality, but while Fox must battle contention and abuse after being forced to out herself, Clemens spends most of the movie torn between the success he can achieve while remaining closeted and his burning desire to reveal himself to the world. The production shows the hostility that social nonconformity in sports can generate but also the support and humanity such trials inspire. The movie is equal parts inspirational story and cautionary tale.

While the film makes a case for the transwomen's participation in sports and highlights the absurdity of shunning someone for their sexuality, it does so only fleetingly and is infinitely more concerned with ensuring that viewers recognize Fallon and Terrence as human beings. You see some of the backlash they experience, mainly in Fox's case, but it's not the most visceral stuff and is relatively easy to deal with. The film's not a platform for its subjects to get even with their detractors, though it does take a swipe at fighter Ashlee Evans-Smith for her two-facedness on the transgender issue. For a film that deals with sensationalized events, it's not very sensational in its own right and isn't out to shock you.

Well-shot and well-edited, the movie's accessible even to people who aren't familiar with these sports. Its bid to make you care about these matters is pretty strong, and I'd recommend it to just about anybody.

There are two different stories being told - Fallon's story and Terrence's story. One is great and one is still a huge question mark.

Let's start with the great one. Terrence is a highly gifted basketball player who has had some bad luck partly due to his sexuality. His is a story of how fighting spirit and determination can take you over mountains. A story of accepting oneself and what makes us different. Hope he has done well with his studies and is living a happy life.

Being gay and playing basketball does not create any risks for others health and safety. There is actually not even a discussion nor has there ever been on that topic. The question simply does not exist.

Unfortunately for Fallon Fox the same can't be said for transgender athletes.

Of course transgender women should be allowed to perform any sports they like, that is not what anyone is saying. The question is whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete against biological women in competitions. If they should, should they be allowed to do so without the opponent's knowledge of them being trans?

There is a line by Fallon in the film where she says something in the line of "I dont understand why this is an issue. All I ever wanted to do was to fight MMA and be happy..."

Maybe so, but if you cant understand why others worry about the situation, then all you are is a full blown narcissist..who may or may not enjoy beating up women.

I wanted to give this film a lower rating due to Fallon Fox, but it didn't seem fair on Terrence nor the film makers, who I'm sure only had good intentions and wanted to highlight "outsiders" in sports - which at the end of the day is a good thing.