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It Gets Better

Name: It Gets Better
Director: Tanwarin Sukkhapisit
Released: 2012
Duration: 104 min

Representation Score

7.0/10

Good

2012

Director

Tanwarin Sukkhapisit

Runtime

104 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

It Gets Better is a significant piece of multi-layered cinema that avoids including someone from a minority group without giving them real depth by placing queer and trans characters in positions of influence. The characters' romantic and personal growth shape the film's direction rather than serving as secondary plots. The film's strength lies in its ability to challenge conventional social expectations. It specifically examines the tension between religious tradition and gender identity, presenting these conflicts through a lens of personal autonomy. By replacing normative family narratives with a network of chosen family and identity-driven connections, the work effectively disrupts traditional social structures.

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Category Breakdown

Does It Gets Better have LGBTQ+ representation?

Excellent

The film focuses on queer identities as key drivers of the plot. It includes a retired post-operative trans woman and a gay cabaret bar, highlighting these identities as essential to the characters' lives.

How does It Gets Better portray gender?

Excellent

The narrative challenges traditional gender roles by centering the experiences of trans women. It avoids tragic clichés by giving characters romantic ability to act and subverting patriarchal efforts to 'correct' gender identity.

How racially and ethnically diverse is It Gets Better?

Good

As a Thai production, the film offers a non-Western perspective on sexuality. Although the cast is ethnically uniform, it provides a valuable alternative to Anglo-centric queer narratives.

How does It Gets Better represent religion and culture?

Good

The film critiques traditional institutions by showing religious ordination as a tool for behavioral modification. It favors secular, identity-based spaces like cabaret bars over traditional social structures.

Does It Gets Better include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no significant evidence regarding the portrayal of physical or neurodivergent disabilities within the narrative.

Present on Screen

Queer identities serve as the foundational drivers of the plot rather than mere inclusion.
Trans characters are given romantic ability to act and developed, adult lives.
The film provides a valuable non-Western perspective on gender and sexuality.
It offers a sophisticated critique of using religion as a tool for behavioral modification.

Limited or Absent

The cast remains ethnically uniform within its Thai setting.
There is no visible representation of physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Saitarn, a retired post-op transsexual, falls in love with a local mechanic. Tonmai has inherited a gay cabaret bar from his father. And Din is a high school boy whom his father found out to be a trans. His father sends him upcountry to be ordained hoping it may make him straight.

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