‘Chronicles the life of one of our great modern British icons … a portrayal of what modern activism looks like.’
The above is from the blurb and the second part pretty accurate.
The blurby bit
The SXSW festival
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, took the opportunity to criticise Donald Trump in his keynote speech on the opening day of the inaugural SXSW London festival (originally from Austin, Texas). Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf, a documentary film about the same, was chosen as headliner as it very much summed up what the festival organisers hope to promote: the loony left politics of identity. You didn’t have to be a festival-goer to get a ticket, so, despite it being theoretically sold out on the Barbican’s website, not enough festival goers eventually turned up to fill the seats.
On entering the screen for this world premier, we were greeted by morose security guards, who issued us with plastic bags, sombrely instructing us that we had to put our mobile in the bag, seal it, either on airplane mode or silent, once the film started. Needless to say I didn’t comply but it was interesting to see how many readily did – a flashback to covid. Once the film started, these fake spooks surveilled the audience with mini telescopes the entire time, ready to pounce on any infringers. When Bergdorf entered, the security detail swarmed. Who were they protecting him from? Transphobic terfs? Angry white cis het men? There weren’t any. So yep, the hand of Bergdorf’s publicity team was very much on all our shoulders.
And, of course, many of the cast, crew, friends and friends of friends of Munroe Bergdorf were in the room. If you want to know the kind of peeps this festival attracted, I had a self-described cis het chap sat next to me who talked to me, apropos of nothing, about periods, not in a creepy way, but as in this is an entirely appropriate conversation to have with a woman I’ve never met before kind of way. In other words, the audience was the über woke, with no grasp of what normal conduct looks like.
Introductions
The director of the film, Olivia Cappuccini, thanked Bergdorf for letting her into his world, which was the ‘epitome of freedom’. Bergdorf was someone we should be grateful to be in the presence of, for the joy and euphoria Bergdorf imparts onto this world was unique. Such intellectual google was a sure sign the documentary was not only going to be illiterate, but also a masterclass in arse-licking.
Then Bergdorf came on the stage to hysterical whooping from his fam. In return, he thanked the ‘dolls’ for turning out (a fair few ‘bricks’ came too but he didn’t mention them). It what was a ‘trying time’ politically, he said, and was having ‘an out of body experience right now’ (a perennial state of affairs, I would’ve thought). In the first of many oblique references to suicide, he thought it really important ‘we get to tell our stories whilst we’re still here.’ Being trans was just one way to be human and it was a difference to be celebrated, not to be made afraid of. ‘Please support trans youth as much as you can,’ he implored. We should also ask as many people as possible to watch the film, especially if they didn’t know any trans people.
Okay, I will. Watch this film, when it inevitably winds up on BBC or C4, but whatever you do, don’t pay.
Review of Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf
I did a short review immediately post-watch here, which contains the bare bones of my criticism. If you want the detailed version – read on. Q&A at the bottom.
Strong opening
A film based on such weak sauce needed a strong opening, and it delivered in that respect. Using a montage of images about and of Munroe Bergdorf, both audio and visual, augmented by judicious use of additional music, a real sense of suspense and intrigue was created. If you knew absolutely nothing about the arguments which have raged over the last eight or so years, you would undoubtedly be seduced. Then we were straight into flashback mode. Munroe alone as a child, wanting to run away, told through dramatic reenactment and Munroe’s narration. But there is no getting away from the flimsy story; two children in a nice home, mum and dad present. They could at least had them arguing.
Munroe was stifled at home, as he wasn’t allowed to be open about who he was really attracted to. He was ‘expected to be smaller, less effeminate, less girly’ (a contradiction in terms). Cue a selection of TV clips demonstrating the ‘bigotry’ of the time, including Dot Cotton as pantomime villain condemning Colin, the most boring gay in the village (if not the world), a storyline which ran in 1987, which also happens to be Bergdorf’s year of birth. Ditto for clips relating to Section 28, legislated in 1988. So, events which happened well before Munroe could walk or talk, in a time when social attitudes were rapidly changing, as four or so years after this, AIDS went from a terminal illness to a manageable one.
‘Chosen family’ is best
First hinge point comes with Munroe allegedly ringing mum, telling her that a camera is filming and she doesn’t have to say anything. Mum says something back, but we don’t hear what, either because the mic doesn’t pick it up, or she has decided against appearing, even audibly. Or a third possibility: it was never intended for her, the father or the brother, to appear. Munroe says in an ideal world he would have loved his parents to appear and that’s as much as we learn about his family situation, it not being mentioned again. The rest of the film is a constant harping on about how amazing his ‘chosen family’ is, as aspirational dreamy music plays.
Criticism of trans people is very dangerous …
Via the story of his love affair with another trans-identified male, called Ava*, we learn about the suicide risk trans people face, told again with dramatic reconstruction. Cue lots of out of focus roving camera, them caught together mid-laughter, etc, accompanied by soaring aspirational music, the type you’d hope to hear in a sound bath. It’s also the first point that I noticed the filmmakers had employed a sound effect on Munroe’s voice, to make it sound as if it was recorded on analog equipment, as the voice fluctuates, sounding friable, as if he is talking to us from the distant past. It’s pure artifice but the effect is reused again and again, becoming quite grating in the end, and almost making us forget that this alleged suicide is being weaponised in the name of Munroe’s trans activism.
*I looked into Ava in another blog about Bergdorf, I didn’t learn much though.
Ditto for the case of Brianna Ghey, the 16 year old trans-identified boy murdered by two other 16 year olds. The main culprit, Scarlett Jenkinson, had consumed violent pornographic content on the dark web, claiming to have visited ‘red rooms’ (though this Daily Mirror article casts doubt on the existence of these). Nevertheless, it is almost certain this was the content she was radicalised by, which even Ghey’s mother has recognised. You won’t be surprised to learn though, that the documentary places the blame for the murder, not on pornography, school or the parents, but the culture war, and – more specifically – terfs.
The L’Oréal Incident
One thing the documentary doesn’t shy away from is using clips of Munroe in various stages of transition. He has certainly gone through quite a few looks, surgeries and skin tones.
The incident is retold in an entirely misleading way, i.e. that Munroe was simply reacting to the violence in Charlottesville. However, Charlottesville happened on 12 August 2017 and Munroe’s inflammatory and racist Facebook post was made at least two weeks later, just a few days after L’Oréal had announced Munroe would be the face of its True Match campaign. We were shown a graphic clip of Fields’ car ploughing into the Charlottesville crowd and then Munroe’s supposed belated response:
Honestly I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people. Because most of ya’ll don’t even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour. Your entire existence is drenched in racism. From micro-aggressions to terrorism, you guys built the blueprint for this s***.
Come see me when you realise that racism isn’t learned, it’s inherited and consciously or unconsciously passed down through privilege.
Once white people begin to admit that their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth… then we can talk.
Munroe Bergdorf’s Facebook post (now deleted) as reported by the Mail Online, 31 August 2017
The audience in the cinema that night whooped and applauded several times, not only the Facebook post itself, which was displayed on screen in full (but not, I note, readily available via a Google search) but also Munroe’s mealy mouth excuse that he was merely speaking against racism. Despite protestations otherwise, it is this outburst which appears to have given Munroe a career, as he leapt from TV sofa to TV sofa. However in the documentary Munroe claims that he was near breaking point. Andrew Neil, Channel 4 News, Good Morning Britain all had the trans activist on to explain promote himself. My hunch is the whole thing was the idea of a PR man; propel Munroe into the limelight, whilst still getting L’Oréal the clicks it needed for its campaign. Which leads us nicely into the next strand …
The talent managers, Justin and Kim
As a result of the L’Oréal incident, Munroe bagged himself a new management team: Justin and Kim of Diving Bell talent agency. They have been able to take him onto bigger things, including this film, which they both appear in quite a bit, carefully cast as empathetic cis het trans allies. You would have to be stupid to not see this is also their vehicle. Their role is that of surrogate parents, advising and guiding Munroe through his fame and activism journey, agonising over his mental health and wellbeing. I believe the word is advertorial.
Just wants to be a doll
By the halfway point, we learn Munroe’s ultimate aspiration was to appear on the cover of British Vogue, which he achieves (but had to share with 9 other people, lol). Throw as much montage and sound bath music at it as you like, there is simply no way to whitewash such frivolity.
One thing I will tip my hat for though, is his unnerving knack to be introduced by a star struck pleb as ‘brave and stunning’, then arrive at the podium tearfully speechless. This involves sniffing and pretending to not be able to speak for a few seconds, which he now has down to a pat. His acting ability might not be much but the little he can manage has taken him far.
The documentary is also peppered with reaction clips to Munroe. People looking stunned, in awe, tearful, thanking him for changing their lives, thanking him for changing his life. The testimonials are overwrought, yet tragically real, and very nearly gave me a funny turn.
Zero safeguarding for the doll?
We learn that Munroe was groomed by a paedophile as a child, who made pornographic photos of him. As an adult he was ‘violently raped’. He also claims to have been stalked, yet, despite this history of vulnerability, he, and the filmmakers, apparently decided to make the location of his flat identifiable, since it is clearly by a river with several landmarks seen from the window. We also see him outside his apartment building more than once and shots of the building itself. So either he isn’t that worried about further stalking or a location shoot was used. Hopefully it’s the latter, because revealing the whereabouts of his actual home would be totally nuts, whatever the truth of his past might be.
Just give us the drugs!
The very last scene is from London Trans Pride with Munroe Bergdorf pointing out a sign he really likes, which read: ‘Give us our oestrogen, you cowards.’ Then him making a speech about bodily autonomy. ‘Love and rage’ was the slogan for Trans Pride 2023, and inspired the title of this documentary. It makes no sense but there’s nothing new in that.
Question & Answer
The audience were not given the opportunity to ask questions.
Why did you want to make this film right now?
Bergdorf told us that things were worse for the trans community now than they were ten years ago as there was far less empathy. However, he still loved being trans and being part of the community. He was nervous about the film, as he had shown his vulnerable side and still recovering from bereavement.
How did it feel to let cameras into your personal space?
Bergdorf claims that he isn’t interested much in being on social media that much any more and didn’t feel the need to be hyper present there. He no longer feels the need to be relatable to people he doesn’t know. He felt that the documentary showed himself as a whole and complex person and learnt a lot about himself from it.
Were rules or boundaries agreed upon?
The director said herself and Bergdorf were in constant dialogue, naturally spending a lot of time together (more than with her husband) and that if any boundaries were crossed, they quickly pulled them back again. The safest environment possible was created, i.e. minimal crew and mostly just her. Everyone felt the weight of responsibility to get things right. Importantly the crew was ‘diverse’. (It’s obvious that Cappuccini got way way too close to her subject, seems silly not to just admit that.)
Please talk about the decision to include versions of your younger self?
It hadn’t been Bergdorf’s idea. As he had already handed over the permission to be observed, he also gave over much of the creative control, though it is clear he wanted ‘chosen family’ front and centre.
These are experiences that so many of us dolls experience, just men who are meant to love us, treat us like they hate us and the journey of understanding the love that you deserve is really a volatile one for trans girls a lot of the time.
Munroe Bergdorf – what a feminist!
The director had hoped Bergdorf would be able to look back on his childhood with fondness and kindness, which wouldn’t have been possible if they had used actual archive, hence the dramatisations. Though it occurred to me that original camcorder footage would have simply exposed truths which needed to kept hidden for this particular narrative. Bergdorf confirmed that he had connected with his inner child.
What was it like to film the chosen family?
In lieu of any actual family appearing in the film, the interviewer wanted to know what it was like to film the ‘chosen family’, aka Bergdorf’s personal disciples. The director confirmed that they were the people who pulled Bergdorf out of the darkness, encouraging him to keep going. Bergdorf readily agreed – he wouldn’t be here without them. They kept him centred in a society which was trying to tear trans people to pieces.
Again, I'll repeat, I believe there is a distinct possibility that Munroe's family were never supposed to appear in the documentary.
The documentary format was the best way to tell his story, as in the past he had been misrepresented and either shown as angry, controversial, over-sexualised or as a fetish. Now people could see him in his full complexity. Interestingly, he appears to believe that friends ‘are your mirrors’ and ‘pieces of you.’ I wonder what happens, eh, when ‘the mirrors’ start reflecting something back you don’t like? Huh, huh?
What did you learn about yourself making the documentary?
Cappuccini, sad sack that she is, believed that her life had been very bland before she started this project but was now just tickety-boo since she had experienced the colour and fun the trans community brings. If you didn’t have access to that you are living a ‘straight, straight, straight life.’ We should surround ourselves with this love, as it is pure joy, despite everything that trans people have to face. So find your trans friend today, peeps!
Bergdorf faltered a bit, he wasn’t sure, was still learning from the ‘extremely confronting experience.’ On the plus side, he had done shoots for Cosmo, Vogue, GQ, Rolling Stone and Glamour all in the space of under a year but hadn’t necessarily been that personally happy during those times. Smaller things make him happier now. (I suspect this was nothing more than a nod to his new age self-help book published in the same week – Talk To Me – which, on eyeballing, seems thoroughly glib. Review to follow.)
Andee, the producer, obviously knew of Bergdorf before the documentary, and understood a lot of the issues already, being trans himself. Knowing other trans people teaches and inspires you in different ways. The process had taught him about how to love himself and that he was worthy of love.
Where does the title come from?
London Trans Pride, said Bergdorf. Which is the biggest trans Pride in the world, apparently (roll over Terf Island, I guess). ‘Our community is love,’ he said, a ‘manifestation of self-love’ and a ‘desire to save yourself.’ Before he transitioned he didn’t think it was possible to do transition and still love, but happily it’s all worked out. With regards to rage, trans people were being denied very basic things, like healthcare, safety, respect, dignity and opportunity. These were things we should all have, regardless of how we identify or how the world sees us. Bergdorf didn’t want these things to be taken away from even ‘the worst people on earth’; we should all have dignity, safety, opportunity, healthcare. There was a lot to be angry about but the trans community was the manifestation of love itself. Moreover, Bergdorf hoped the documentary saves a life or two.
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The Lies They Tell 
This guy’s 15 minutes isn’t over yet!?
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Gravy train shows no signs of stopping, m’dear.
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