Mum's Monday: Different for Girls

This film is one of BBC’s own, that came out in 1996. It is about a transgender man karl/Kim Foyle, played by Steven Mackintosh, and helps answer the question about sexual preferences (Gay or straight) in transgender people.

Karl goes to an all-boys school and becomes best friends with Paul Prentice (Prentice), played by Rupert Graves. Prentice has a habit of getting into trouble at school, whilst protecting Karl, gets into a fight with the other boys who notices there is something different about Karl. He has the mannerisms and the stance of a girl. The pair are teased about being friends with the term ‘queer’ being used.

Now we jump to present day and by chance, Prentice and Karl – now Kim – meet again, but Prentice struggles to know where he has seen Kim before, until he realises he is now a she.

Kim has turned out to be an independent woman with her flat, job and she quietly gets on with her life, Prentice however is immature and living precariously. Although he has a job, he is behind on his rent and struggles to budget within his earnings.

After a night out Kim goes to kiss Prentice on the cheek resulting in him telling her he is straight and her reply is “so am I”. it seems the stigma from being teased at school has stuck with him. Prentice struggles with this information and he has questions and later on in the film he even buys a book on the subject. I think this was a nice gesture and very thoughtful of Prentice, it showed him growing as a person during the film.

Kim, wants to cook a nice meal for Prentice and invites him round to her flat. Prentice has more questions, and after hearing the answers, he leaves and after a heated argument outside her flat. The evening ends with them being arrested. Although I don’t think the proper procedures were followed, what happened had to happen to make the story work out in the end. Kim wanting her quiet life runs to stay with her sister. Prentice already living on the edge makes things worse, by looking for Kim and loses his job.

This film is in some places confusing and uses a lot of artistic licence to carry it forward to the final outcome. The night Kim was supposed to have Prentice for a meal was a Friday. Kim gets home on what would be a Saturday and after Karl turns up saying he has to go to court today and needs her help, Kim runs to her sister’s and then we see her on what seems to be the next morning a Sunday, looking like it is a normal midweek day. This however doesn’t ruin the film, and therefore doesn’t distract from the story.

When Prentice and Karl were at school, Prentice protected Karl and throughout this film we see he is still Protecting Kim now. Kim realising this, goes to the second court date and tells the court what happened and explains about being transgender. In this film, Prentice becomes more mature and Kim becomes more outgoing. They protect and bring the best out in each other.

We still see a stigma attached when their story comes out in a newspaper. Kim is the subject of her workplace gossip, however her boss is understanding and can see what an asset Kim can be to the workplace and allows her to keep her job. 

This film is done in such a way that I find that you really care for the characters as if they are real and when at the end of the film, we see Kim and Prentice ride off together and disappear around the corner. I want to know what happens next. This is why this film stands out for me among others.

In this film the transgender person is played by a male the gender before the change. We have since seen in Coronation Street and EastEnders the characters played by the gender after the change. Hayley Cropper played by Julie Hesmondhalgh in Coronation Street and Kyle Slater played by Riley Carter Millington in EastEnders. Although there is nothing wrong in the casting of these actors, I still think Different for Girls has that authentic edge with their choice of actor because of the male aspect first then changing to the female but by using special effects with the character so it would be just as it would be in real life.