Passable

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As gender transformations go, Larry Wachowski's -- she's now called Lana -- hasn't turned out too badly. Not drop-dead ravishing but moderately appealing in a no-big-deal, sitting-around-Starbucks sort of way. The shot on the right (posted by Us Weekly) is the first time I've seen Larry/Lana looking 100% female. If a sense of fulfillment and/or happiness is part of the dividend then it's all to the good, right?

(l. to r.) Geeky heavy-cat Larry about a decade ago; transformative Larry about six years ago; Lana snapped at LAX on 4.17.

To be totally honest, if I saw Lana coming towards me in an airport corridor I'd probably say to myself, "Wow...no hips. And her feet are too big." I need a kind of hippy-breasty hourglass thing or it doesn't work for me. But she looks relatively normal. Just another hard-working girl.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 28, 2009 at 8:53 AM

comment #1

Wrecktem says ...

I'd hit it.

Posted by Wrecktem at April 28, 2009 9:09 AM

comment #2

Sabina E says ...

Wow... when I heard about this last year, I thought it was a hoax.

So, uh, how will they call themselves? They can't be the Wachowski Brothers anymore.

Posted by Sabina E at April 28, 2009 9:13 AM

comment #3

Calraigh Bracken says ...

More power to her.

Posted by Calraigh Bracken at April 28, 2009 9:14 AM

comment #4

Michael says ...

Whatever makes her happy...seriously, it's fine.

Posted by Michael at April 28, 2009 9:18 AM

comment #5

berkguru says ...

she looks like Kate from Jon + Kate make 8

Posted by berkguru at April 28, 2009 9:21 AM

comment #6

slutsky says ...

They've been calling themselves The Wachowskis for a while IIRC.

Posted by slutsky at April 28, 2009 9:24 AM

comment #7

Floyd Thursby says ...

"I need a kind of hippy-breasty hourglass thing or it doesn't work for me."

Yet another timeless entry for Quotations from Chairman Wells.

Posted by Floyd Thursby at April 28, 2009 9:29 AM

comment #8

frankbooth says ...

Definitely makes a better woman than a man.

But Andy is still fat and has a blue-collar, Chicago accent. Are you gonna let that slide?

Posted by frankbooth at April 28, 2009 9:38 AM

comment #9

rr3333 says ...

So, I guess, Jeff's not into him ... err ... her.

Why can't Lana get some caps like Jessica Biel or Scarlett Johanssen or Chris Rock.

Sorry to say, but in all honesty, what a freakin' weirdo.

Posted by rr3333 at April 28, 2009 9:43 AM

comment #10

Chicago48 says ...

Whatever.
They made a couple of really good movies, and I wish they would return to the scene. They made two of my faves: Bound and the Matrix.

Posted by Chicago48 at April 28, 2009 9:45 AM

comment #11

corey3rd says ...

Those pants need to be surgically removed. ick.

Posted by corey3rd at April 28, 2009 9:49 AM

comment #12

Monument says ...

I find this whole spectacle depressing. I know we're supposed think he/she's happier now, but I can't help but think that people who go to these lengths are profoundly unhappy. His marriage was destroyed and I'm sure it's had a negative effect on the rest of his family. I hope she's happy, I do, but somehow I doubt it.

Posted by Monument at April 28, 2009 10:00 AM

comment #13

MilkMan says ...

Has there ever been a more successful pair of Brother & Sister filmmakers? Are they the first? And I find this fascinating because now academics and film scholars are going to have to apply a whole new set of schematics in order to read their films. Someone get Donna Haraway on the horn.

Posted by MilkMan at April 28, 2009 10:08 AM

comment #14

MilkMan says ...

Lana Wachowski is way hotter than Kathleen Turner, who now looks like Charles Laughton wearing a wig.

Posted by MilkMan at April 28, 2009 10:09 AM

comment #15

actionman says ...

Bound is a perfect film.

Posted by actionman at April 28, 2009 10:13 AM

comment #16

VoiceOfReason says ...

I'm all for gay rights and doing what makes you happy but transgender folks are not right in head. They're just as messed up as straight plastic surgery addicts.

Posted by VoiceOfReason at April 28, 2009 10:14 AM

comment #17

Monument says ...

I had to deliver a vodka tonic to Kathleen Turner at an event a few months back. She is virtually unrecognizable in person. But I have to give her some credit for not jumping on the plastic surgery bandwagon, she is who she is, nothing wrong with that.

Posted by Monument at April 28, 2009 10:14 AM

comment #18

DarthCorleone says ...

I love the voices of tolerance on this site.

Posted by DarthCorleone at April 28, 2009 10:19 AM

comment #19

Mark says ...

I wonder if those pants make Joel Silver less or more likely to OK a $120M budget in her hands in the near future.

If Revolutions was their Lady in the Water, and Speed Racer was their The Happening, where is the smart money on which side is more likely to become relevant again?

Posted by Mark at April 28, 2009 10:31 AM

comment #20

D.J.Z. says ...

I'm more shocked by Arlen Specter's party change myself. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_specter_switch;_ylt=Apxh5TAH_hOKe8MyCEk.KusXIr0F;_ylu=X3oDMTJrZDBpdTdsBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNDI4L3VzX3NwZWN0ZXJfc3dpdGNoBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2JyZWFraW5nbmV3cw--

Posted by D.J.Z. at April 28, 2009 10:36 AM

comment #21

Sabina E says ...

Monument, gay rights and transgender rights are NOT in the same category. Even many gays and lesbians I've met, are against transgenders and their sex change operations. And they've always said that they resent being slumped in the same group as trans folks, too.

Posted by Sabina E at April 28, 2009 10:37 AM

comment #22

Mowkeka says ...

What if someone gets a sense of fulfillment and/or happiness from believing they're Napoleon?

If it was someone you loved, wouldn't you do everything in your power to convince them they're wrong?

Posted by Mowkeka at April 28, 2009 10:42 AM

comment #23

MilkMan says ...

We're all gonna die. Head for the desert.

Posted by MilkMan at April 28, 2009 10:47 AM

comment #24

JD says ...

MilkMan, their films have supported gender-ambiguous readings really well since this first became news years ago. In simple terms, 1) Bound deals with two women in love, which is the kind of relationship Wachowski is currently engaged in, 2) V For Vendetta is all about transcending physical identity and expressing oneself through ideas. For all we know, there is a woman hiding under that V costume. 3) I can't remember exactly what went down in Speed Racer, but it deals with a character (Speed's brother) who erases/conceals his ego and physical presence, in order to achieve something deeper and more selfless. Plus, The Matrix films touch on all these issues... and dozens more. To do any of this justice, I'd have to write a full blown term paper (and revisit these films), but this stuff was very much on my mind the last time I saw each of these films.

Posted by JD at April 28, 2009 10:55 AM

comment #25

rr3333 says ...

Yes, Kathleen Turner isnt looking good these days, but you may not know that she's had physical maladies for many years.

Posted by rr3333 at April 28, 2009 11:01 AM

comment #26

MilkMan says ...

Good stuff, JD. It's a start.

Posted by MilkMan at April 28, 2009 11:02 AM

comment #27

MilkMan says ...

I did not know that, RR3. I hope she regains her health soon. God bless her. God bless us all.

Posted by MilkMan at April 28, 2009 11:04 AM

comment #28

MikeSchaeferSF says ...

of course, transgender folks aren't interested in being "ravishing" -- they're not drag queens. Most are interested in blending in and being thought of as regular folks who are (finally) the correct gender.

Posted by MikeSchaeferSF at April 28, 2009 11:05 AM

comment #29

Burbanked says ...

JD & MilkMan: I was thinking along similar lines about the Ws' work already being infused with such psychology. MATRIX is all about people living a lie, a concealed existence, with an evil society that forces them into an intolerable state of being. The truth can only be exposed through violent revolution, destruction of the status quo by leather-clad, androgynous people.

And, of course, by massive amounts of kung-fu.

Posted by Burbanked at April 28, 2009 1:49 PM

comment #30

Josh Massey says ...

Even as a dastardly conservative, I am all for gay rights - marriage, adoption, etc. And I fully support a person's right to alter themselves through surgery, and I have no problem calling her "her."

But yeah, it creeps me out. Sorry.

Posted by Josh Massey at April 28, 2009 2:08 PM

comment #31

D.J.Z. says ...

I just hope their new ninja movie doesn't suck.

Posted by D.J.Z. at April 28, 2009 2:46 PM

comment #32

frankbooth says ...

If someone you loved was about to get married, wouldn't you do everything in your power to talk them out of it? It's a temporary solution to the permanent problem of existential dread.

Right, MilkMan?

Posted by frankbooth at April 28, 2009 3:16 PM

comment #33

frankbooth says ...

Actually, I take that back. Existential dread is cured by death.

At least, I sure hope so.

Posted by frankbooth at April 28, 2009 3:18 PM

comment #34

LexG says ...

Do you think his blue collar Chicaaaago brother busts his balls about this shit day and night? That's the part I find most surreal.

Well, obviously not as surreal as the actual transformation, but the idea of collaborating with family on kinky, semi-personal lesbian-themed gender-themed material and stuff with your sibling.

Maybe because I grew up around and with guys straight out of a casting call for "Monument Ave." meets "Summer of Sam," but that's the kind of shit family just doesn't talk about or even acknowledge... I can't picture anybody's brother/uncle/dad EVER chilling out with a family member around the old computer, Final Drafting up sex scenes for "Bound."

Posted by LexG at April 28, 2009 3:38 PM

comment #35

The Winchester says ...

It's only creepy if she marries Andy.

Posted by The Winchester at April 28, 2009 4:03 PM

comment #36

MDOC says ...

Somethings I can't just smile and say "that's great". All transgender people are mentally ill. Any doctor that says other wise is lying. I'm not arguing against Larry's freedom ,and I hope Larry finds happyness but I think he is ill.

Posted by MDOC at April 28, 2009 6:46 PM

comment #37

MDOC says ...

But I actually agree with DZ that if it helps him make a better Ninja movie than we all benefit.

Posted by MDOC at April 28, 2009 6:48 PM

comment #38

TM says ...

To me Lana looks like Stockard Channing and Meg Ryan mated and this is the result. Not great but not bad. To each his own. If she's happy now, good for her.

As for Kathleen Turner, yes she's had health problems for many years -- but they were exacerbated by her excessive drinking and drugging. Interesting to hear that someone here delivered a mixed drink to her, because she swore up and down in an interview that she NEVER touches alcohol because of her "health" issues. The woman is a c*#nt of the highest order.

Posted by TM at April 28, 2009 7:40 PM

comment #39

MilkMan says ...

That's one way to solve that problem, Frank. You're right. But the easiest way to transcend is drugs. Heroin, specifically. Three bags of wool and you won't have any more problems. Just one. Which is a start.

Posted by MilkMan at April 28, 2009 8:38 PM

comment #40

Bob Violence says ...

All transgender people are mentally ill. Any doctor that says other wise is lying.

The entire point of reassignment surgery is to treat gender identity disorder, so congratulations on figuring out what the entire medical profession knew decades ago

Posted by Bob Violence at April 29, 2009 3:35 AM

comment #41

ashleylynch says ...

All transgender people are mentally ill. Any doctor that says other wise is lying.

Thank God I don't live anywhere near you.

I just hope that Lana is actually finally out and accepting who she is. This story has been in the media for years now and every time publicists for the Warchowskis insist that Larry is NOT transitioning or considering surgery. I can understand why she doesn't want to pronounce loudly to the world that she's trans. She really just wants to be a normal woman and live her life.

People can judge her all they want, but I guarantee you it doesn't even come close to the internal hell she's had to struggle with and doing what she's doing now is one of the hardest damned things anyone can ever do.

Posted by ashleylynch at May 3, 2009 1:28 AM

comment #42

dd says ...

Well, obviously not as surreal as the actual transformation, but the idea of collaborating with family on kinky, semi-personal lesbian-themed gender-themed material and stuff with your sibling.

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Posted by dd at May 10, 2010 7:57 PM

comment #43