The heart of “The Secret of Me” revolves around Jim Ambrose, who lived life as Kristi in his youth. As he starts to share his tale, he makes it clear that he is not transgender. Instead, he identifies as intersex, and it wasn’t until he was 19 years old that he learned the truth about himself – that he was born with male chromosomes and indistinct genitalia. As an infant, he underwent surgery and was brought up as a girl.
In her debut as a director, Grace Hughes-Hallett has crafted a clear and gripping film that relies on Jim’s personal narrative to unveil a broader tale concerning the ethical treatment of intersex children. This documentary arrives at an especially relevant moment, given the current conservative backlash against the concept of gender identity.
In the movie “Three Identical Strangers” (2018), Hughes-Hellett was a producer. This film tells the story of triplets who were separated at birth for a social experiment and didn’t find out they were related until they became adults. The movie “The Secret of Me” mirrors this in its direct, clear narrative style and its exploration of how such experiments can have tragic consequences.
Intriguingly enough, I’ve often felt a strange resonance with the stories of those featured in “Three Identical Strangers.” Back in ’95, while engrossed in my college studies, I stumbled upon the case of John Money, a psychologist whose work at Johns Hopkins was once revered. As I delved deeper into his most renowned study on twin boys, it felt as if I was reading about myself.
The story revolves around a tragic botched circumcision that led to a little boy being raised as a girl. This child, David Reimer, later known as Brenda, struggled throughout life and ultimately took her own life in 2004 after learning the truth about her identity.
Hughes-Hallett skillfully weaves together two threads in the film, incorporating Jim’s personal journey alongside interviews and historical footage on the topic of money. Jim is an ideal guide for the audience, exuding a sense of comfort and self-assuredness. His manner is composed, straightforward, and sincere. Upon learning about Money’s case, Jim obtained his medical records and discovered that he was born with a penis smaller than what is typically considered normal, and his parents were advised to perform surgery without ever revealing it to him. He often terms the operation as mutilation and views the treatment as a double injustice, considering the surgery itself combined with his parents’ deceit as a compounded injury.
In old recordings, his parents clarify they were adhering to the most appropriate medical guidance available at the time, and admit to Jim’s frustration towards them. During a conversation for this documentary, Jim shares his past thoughts: “You removed my male organs. Didn’t you realize I would react like this?” It was only after undergoing a double mastectomy and the removal of a fabricated vagina – surgeries his parents consented to during his teenage years – that he felt comfortable in his own identity.
The strategy his parents chose was directly taken from Dr. Money’s manual. He maintained that one’s gender is influenced by societal norms, suggesting that bringing up David as Brenda would help him embrace his identity as Brenda. Hiding the truth from the children was an essential part of this treatment method, which was widely practiced in numerous cases worldwide due to Dr. Money’s articles that falsely portrayed Brenda as a content child. The film features short clips of the adult David, visibly upset over the fact that Dr. Money’s fabrications about him had been so widely accepted. “I was shocked, disgusted, and enraged when I learned about it,” he says. “People thought my case was a success story? Nothing could be further from the truth.
The documentary features several individuals providing commentary, all of whom are pertinent and skillfully incorporated within the narrative. Among them are Tiger Devore, an activist and psychologist who is intersex and previously served as Money’s intern, and John Colapinto, a journalist who uncovered Money’s deceptions in a 1997 article for Rolling Stone.
The music in this movie is somewhat off-key, with a discordant feel throughout. It starts with a tinny piano and takes on suspenseful tones whenever Colapinto searches for old files. A more significant issue is that the film’s narrative revolves around Jim’s desire to confront Dr. Richard Carter, who operated on him as an infant. The meeting between them at a coffee shop, which seems too staged for the cameras, occurs near the end of the movie. Carter apologizes, and while Jim appears content with their conversation, it feels overly contrived. Instead of being climactic, this encounter falls short of expectations. In addition, it comes across as manipulative, undermining Jim’s genuine earnestness.
In general, “The Secret of Me” stands robustly on its own, seldom requiring any artificial enhancements. The occurrences and their repercussions carry sufficient strength.
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2025-03-09 21:24