Let Me Die a Woman

Trailer—Let Me Die a Woman

source: Let Me Die a Woman

No, wait, this is just another one of her exploitation movies. Where to begin. Let Me Die a Woman is like no other movie I've seen. It's kinda sorta a documentary on transsexuals, with one insanely dry and dull (actual) doctor to take you along for the ride. YIKES was this an unpleasant experience. Assuming the director's intention was a sympathetic one, but if you're familiar with her work, this goes off the rails pretty hard. On one hand, it's extremely talky and dry, yet it wouldn't be Wishman if it didn't turn into a freak show. This "documentary" is interspersed with sex scenes (Harry Reams appears!), graphic detail of various saggy items, there's graphic footage of an actual sex change operation, and even more disturbing, the doctor is on hand to show off, poke, prod, and penetrate (with his finger) a "new" *, and, that scene took the cake. I suppose the main (hispanic) woman, who talks throughout the movie, gives the most first-hand experience and insight. I found her to be fairly eloquent on the subject, which is a shocker, because she dropped out of 8th grade, and repeatedly referred to herself as uneducated. Thus ends my positive remark to the movie. If you must see an ill-conceived movie about transsexual men and women, have a strong stomach, and wish to see only the strangest, most out-there films, then this one's for you.

An extension of the Mondo-style documentary, with their "mission" to illustrate, and exploit unknown or forgotten cultural practises and habits, Doris Wishman's (see Review #298: 'Deadly Weapons' (1974)) Let Me Die a Woman follows the work of sex reassignment surgeon Dr Leo Wollman (who also acted as the films adviser), and his work with both post- and pre-op transsexuals. The film has interviews with the aforementioned doctor, along with several transsexuals in various stages of transformation, and also throws in some re-enactments and dramatisations of some of their experiences. Whilst this is billed under the exploitation banner, and would have been shown in these types of cinema, the film is not overly exploitative, and presents the stories and their participants in quite a sympathetic manner. However, the film does explore, in a very graphically visual manner the operations required to alter the genitalia. Of course with this being made in the 1970's means that the screen is filled with incredibly hairy, militant-looking pubic areas, whilst these men with tits flash their flaccid c***s for the camera. In one scene the doctor probes a post-op * with his fingers - a sexual orifice so hideous that I simply had to avert my eyes. Aside from the Mondo movies (and of course Faces of Death (1978) et al), I am not really aware of any other exploitation film that used this documentary style to expose new, sometimes weird phenomenon - except for Being Different (1981) that focused on exploiting circus sideshow acts, and included a modern day Elephant Man - so I am unqualified to state whether this film is emblematic of it's kind. What does strike me is the fact that this type of documentary was so new, and also that it was marginalised to the exploitation/grindhouse circuits. The subject matter, and the gratuitousness of the film highlights to me how this kind of "exploitation" is in fact now a fundamental part of prime-time television, with shows such as Embarrassing Bodies or any others of the many, many similar formats that infest our screens, in our homes, whilst we f*****g eat our dinner! Given this parallel, and shift in the ways in which the participants are exploited in the modern-day TV show and the cinematic format, the film is pretty naive. www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

***SPOILERS AHEAD*** A bizarre, amazing documentary about transsexuals. If you watch this, you will learn more than you ever wanted to know about sex-change operations. This movie is a classic example of Too Much Information. You've got a doctor who soberly informs us about the psychology and physiology of sex-change candidates. He stands next to them with a classroom pointer and indicates various regions of their anatomies. There are a LOT of "reenactments" of episodes from the lives of transsexuals--this means quite a few sex scenes. You also get a few silly episodes where a "woman" takes off her clothes--and we see that (gasp!) she's not entirely a woman. One especially memorable scene features an unlucky transsexual who has sex too soon after his/her operation. There's also brief but horrifyingly graphic footage of a (real?) sex-change operation. Maybe I took this movie in the wrong spirit, but I was laughing all the way through it. The narration is priceless.

First of all, anyone who watches ANYTHING directed by Doris Wishman has to expect to see bizarre camera angles, choppy film making, and bad acting...it comes with the territory and this film is no exception. That not with standing, this is probably one of the more superior Wishman films and it concerns a subject that, at the time, was considered taboo...transsexualism. Anyone who knows Wishman also knows that she is an exploitationeer so you have to expect a bit of sensationalism in Wishman's work as well. This film has that too as it is chock full of scenes and sexual anecdotes about the sexual lives of this "third sex". Yes, at the time of this film's release, transsexuals were actually considered to be a "third sex". The scene where the man gives himself his own sex change operation is exceptionally disturbing as is the scene where the transsexual has her * cave in on her. Yes, this film leaves no stone unturned as it explores every aspect of transsexualism including the female to male transsexuals. All in all it should be taken as an exceptionally classy exploitation film but NOT an educational tool.

Wow...this one's a weirdy... Doris Wishman's schlock-umentary LET ME DIE A WOMAN is definitely one of the strangest things I've seen - and I've seen a lot. Appearing to be a somewhat "serious" documentary on the plight of the trans-sexual - it really comes off more as a sleazy exploit film piece-mealed together with some "scientific" elements. The "story" is narrated by a Dr. Wollman, who is apparently an expert in all things trans-gendered. He basically pokes and prods these individuals with a metal probe, and recounts their "horrifying" trials and tribulations as trans-sexual individuals. Interspersed are oftentimes hilarious "re-enactments", and one pretty nasty portion of a male-to-female sex-change operation. There is also a repulsive scene where the good doctor probes a patients newly formed * (which looks more like it was made by a shotgun-blast then a scalpel...) with his finger. I only hope for the sake of the trans-sexual population that the medical community has made some MAJOR strides in terms of vaginal reconstruction since this film's creation... In some ways, LET ME DIE A WOMAN seems as though it's truly sympathetic to the hardships of the trans-sexual community - and other times it seems as though the goal is simply to exploit them. To be honest, I couldn't care less as this is a subject I neither understand nor have any real interest in - this is another film that I watched strictly for curiosity's sake. For fans of uber-weirdo cinema, I'd say this one's a must-see, as they don't come much stranger than this - and it's honestly not even because of the subject matter. It's more because of how ineptly it's handled. I give the film a relatively decent rating because it's just so damned strange - most "mainstream" viewers won't care to watch this type of material...and honestly, I wouldn't blame 'em. 7/10

I did not know what to expect when I saw Let Me Die A Woman. Trangender friends told me that Leo Wollman was a noted medical authority, maybe THE medical authority on transgender issues and sexual reassignment surgery back in the Seventies when it was a topic that got very little public airing. The only thing I can say is that the film was done the way it was done was to get the widest possible audience for the subject. Even if said audience was only wanting a few pornographic titillating moments. This film deals with male to female transitioning, the infinitely more complex subject of female to male transgender folks is for the most part left alone. It certainly is true the criticism that Wollman is no actor. He's a doctor and this is purportedly a documentary. But a few * stars like Harry Reems apparently offered their services to generate a little box office. In one of a few * interludes Wollman notes that you can have problems if you don't sufficiently rest and recover after the surgery is done. Then by way of a demonstration Reems does his thing with a newly transitioned woman who then experiences vaginal bleeding. There's a few scenes like this in Let Me Die A Woman. Talking about reassignment surgery though, the topic that is left untouched is the attitude of the insurance companies who still treat all of this as cosmetic surgery. That is to me mind blowing. All the transgender people I know both pre and post op have never approached sexual reassignment with the same attitude as one say getting a nose job which insurance companies have this on the level of. Some can never transition because the cost is so prohibitive they can't conceive of it in their lifetimes. This film shows the attitudes of 1977 and even with what we now know and the changing attitudes in public opinion, the medical insurance industry remains unaffected. I suppose Wollman thought this was the way to get the message out, but wow did he pick the wrong kind of film to do it.

We can thank the DVD revolution for helping preserve not only cinematic masterpieces but also the lowest dreck the industry has ever produced. There is, in fact, a thriving market for such material, the cinematic equivalent of releasing footage of train wrecks: there are enough folks out there who won't be able to look away (or, in this case, plop down their twenty bucks for the experience). Exploitation cinema offers the richest vein of such material - understandably - and video distribution companies like Something Weird, Blue Underground, and Synapse Films continue to show just how much of it was created throughout the years. To watch some of these bottom of the barrel creations, however, a question comes to mind: In spite of what they are, why do they have to be so consistently awful. The modern-day independent cinema community, for instance, is crawling with talent, brilliant filmmakers who, for want of that one big break, could easily usurp the Spielbergs and Scorceses of the world. Even given the lurid, by the numbers requirements of exploitation films, it's almost certain that these unsung geniuses could turn out compelling, interesting work. Why then, did exploitation distributors of the 60s and 70s put their films in the hands of such incredibly untalented hacks as Doris Wishman, the director of "Let Me Die A Woman," undoubtedly one of the worst pieces of cinematic garbage that's ever been committed to celluloid? The transsexual phenomenon is an easy subject to exploit. Right from the beginnings of sex reassignment surgery, the details have been lurid enough to hold fascination even in mainstream media. One would have to be utterly inept to make a film on the subject which would be boring, uncompelling, and insulting to the viewer, which is exactly what Wishman created with this film. Sitting through this monstrosity, we get the impression that Wishman had a list of bullet points she knew she had to touch upon, and plowed through each and every one of them with only the slightest thought about weaving them into a cohesive package. In a sadly appropriate way, the film's inept structuring almost compliments the consistently awful performances of the actors. If this film works at all, even as exploitation, it does so in spite of every effort of the director. "Let Me Die A Woman" doesn't even warrant a viewing as the nadir of exploitation cinema. It is one train wreck even the die hard enthusiasts might want to avoid.

Some of her previous accomplishments (like "Deadly Weapons" and "Diary of a Nudist") already taught us that Doris Wishman isn't ranked very high on the list of filmmakers with good taste and moral values, but I never thought she would even dare to exploit people that struggled with sex and identity crises all their lives. "Let me die a Woman" is supposed to be a documentary (better say schlockumentary or even smutumentary), but it has very little educational or informative value. The film is a compilation of interviews with a Puerto Rican transsexual – "Last year, I was a man" – and allegedly scientific feedback from a sleazy guy I wouldn't allow near my body. Dr. Leo Wollman may perhaps be an authority in the field of sex-change operations, but he clearly doesn't feel comfortable when there's a camera aimed at him. His eyes turn towards everywhere except straight into the lens and his lines sound a little too much like they're being read from a large billboard in front of him. Still, his acting capacities are Oscar-worthy compared to some of the courageous patients that come to tell about their agonizing lives. There's one guy/lady, I think her name's Debbie, whose voice and facial expressions are truly unendurable. "Let me die a Woman" is a rancid and utterly shameless exploitation flick, and cult collectors should only watch it for the sake of morbid curiosity. It's really jaw-dropping how Dr. Wollman unscrupulously treats the transsexuals as study objects, like motionless life-sized dummies, and moves his filthy fingers over their genitals in order to point out how he turned their penises into vaginas. I don't know anything about this type of surgery, and I reckon it must be complicated undertakings, but most of the results looked truly hideous and even quite gross. Actually, they didn't look like vaginas but gateways into hell. The film is fairly short (80min.) but the last half hour feels annoyingly stretched, as Wollman repeats the same old things over and over again and even inserts a totally ridicule story about a guy who committed suicide because he didn't talk about his transsexual desires with anyone. Oh puh-lease!