Talk:Life Is Hot in Cracktown

I enlarged the cast list a bit and enlarged the plot description considerably. I made a point of seeing this movie several times and reading the book it was based on. Sussmanbern (talk) 21:03, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Transvestite/Trans person
I haven't seen the film, but I assume it is either set in the 1990s (when the short stories were written). Is 'trans person' the correct way to describe someone from that period? I would have thought that a person from that time would describe themselves as a transvestite - that was the term used at the time. It seems anachronistic to me to use language that trans people would use today to describe the identity of people (or fictional characters) of the past. Would be interested in others' views. Girth Summit  (blether) 18:46, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

I see your point but Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is not just a man in dress-up, Marybeth is a man living as a woman, always in dresses. The movie might confuse viewers because the character is being played by a very photogenic woman, but other characters (e.g. the policemen) see Marybeth as a man in a dress and makeup and react accordingly. The book (and presumably the movie) take place in the same time period as covered in the TV series "Pose". We might describe Marybeth at this late date as a transsexual but at the time depicted the police and others would use cruder terms. Sussmanbern (talk) 07:13, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

The Book
The film was described as "gritty" but it actually prettied-up the godawfulness detailed in the original book. The film dramatized about half the stories in the book. The book itself introduces us to addicts, prostitutes, perverts, sociopaths, killers and just about every imaginable antisocial form of behavior, almost all the action taking place in NYC slums. It ought to be required reading for anyone training to be a social worker in depressed neighborhoods. I recommend this book to readers who can tolerate rough language (very liberal use of that word) and rougher behavior. Sussmanbern (talk) 06:54, 5 March 2022 (UTC)