On "Popular" and the Past; Rex's Epsilon

On Monday, I commented on the then upcoming Popular's storyline about the shop teacher undergoing a sex-change operation. Tonight was the night, and it was a wonderful hour.

The very gifted middle-aged male shop teacher announces he is starting a gender transformation process and wishes to be called Ms. Deb from now on. Students are perplexed to say the least. Harrison returns home to find his mother blindly looking at television. It is revealed that she has been fired from her job as a pharmacist at the national chain drugstore where she worked. In a follow up scene, she tells Harrison that her lover has left her. Harrison wants her to fight back, but she will not, so wanting to do something, he opts to defend Ms. Deb. The students seek the help of the openly gay journalist teacher, but he also declines.

The one person most adamantly opposed to Deb is Bobbie, the masculine female bio teacher. Deb tells the bio teacher that her opposition may stem from her own sense of gender confusion and had she thought of crossing over. Sides are taken, the media comes in, and a decision is to be made at a PTA meeting. Speeches are made. Pleas for understanding are given. But deb looses. Deb leaves. The credit roll.

One brilliant casting decision was to have a very ordinary performer as Deb. No incredible beauty, just a typical guy who looked like he would be at home drinking beer at the bowling alley. And his makeover as a woman was never dazzling but came across as the kind of sensible woman you'd find in the grocery story looking for the best buy on pork chops.

Another wonderful element was to portray Harrison's mother, not as a femme or butch lesbian, but as a harried, tired, depressed individual. In fact there is a scene that talks about her lack of demonstrable lesbo characteristics.

Although Harrison's mom is re-hired, Deb is not. We don't know her fate. All we see is her departure. She comes from her room carrying a box of possession and slips out the exterior door. End!

Somewhere near the end, the tears started. No doubt, these were as much from a stressful day as from the show. It was especially poignant to me in that at one point, I was a teacher -- a confused, angry, and very sad one. This was at a time that I privately knew who I was but had no idea what to do about it, so much of my life was one of overcompensation and arrogance and isolation. And lots of that petty bitchiness that we sometimes use as a shield.

Some years ago, I was at one of the local gay watering holes and encountered a former student. (Far from a novelty, for I often came across former students.) She said that when I was teaching, she had told me she was a lesbian, and I had replied it was okay. Obviously that had meant a great deal to her. I'd love to comment on how noble I felt, but I can't because I didn't remember doing it.

A number of times before, I've spoken on the terrible, overwhelming loneliness of having been a teen who realized he was different. You feel you are the only person on a desolate planet. I frequently am amazed that I survived and did not end it all. Certainly, the thought came up many times. But I'm still here. Still as confused and isolated as ever.

I was reading at reX cam last night and discovered that Rex had lost one of his beloved cats. Rex truly loved Eps. What is that mysterious bond that we create with these furry creatures? It is not quite like anything else you encounter. I can certainly see how the ancient Egyptians held the feline in such awe.

PAX!