| Butch Jamie | |
| Director: | Michelle Ehlen |
| Producer: | Michelle Ehlen Leah Williamson |
| Music: | Harold Squire |
| Cinematography: | Matt Workman |
| Editing: | Michelle Ehlen |
| Studio: | Ballet Diesel Films |
| Distributor: | Here! TV |
| Runtime: | 84 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Butch Jamie is a gender-bending romantic comedy film that premiered in July 2007 at Outfest: the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Writer, director, and lead actress Michelle Ehlen won Outfest's Grand Jury Award for "Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film."[1] The film was produced independently through the filmmaker's production company, Ballet Diesel Films.[2]
The film follows the story of Jamie, a struggling butch lesbian actress who gets cast as a man in a film. The main plot is a romantic comedy between Jamie's male alter-ego, "Male Jamie," and Jill, a heterosexual woman on set. The film's subplots include Jamie's bisexual roommate Lola and her cat actor Howard, Lola's abrasive butch German girlfriend Andi, and Jamie's gay Asian friend David.[1] [3]
Butch Jamie utilizes deadpan humor through slapstick, irony, and satire. The film incorporates elements of slapstick physical comedy along with the irony of Jamie entering into a "heterosexual" relationship with an unknowing woman. As a satire, the film pokes fun at gender roles, social assumptions, stereotypes, and the politics of relationships.[4] [5] [6] In addition to gender roles and stereotypes, the film also satirizes the movie industry.[5] This is reflected not only through Jamie's adventures, but also through Howard, the cat actor who Jamie has projected her competitive drive onto.[4] Howard's owner, Lola, takes the cat's career very seriously, complete with professional head shots and a demo reel.
While it's common to see comedies where men pose as women, female to male comedies are much less prominent. While the film is said to be a lesbian version of Tootsie,[5] [7] [8] the fact that it highlights a butch actress marks it as unique. Jamie's stereotypical butch masculinity, sarcasm, and cockiness are rarely seen in such prominence in female actors on-screen. Unlike Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, Jamie's career problems are not the result of a character flaw, but from a flaw in the way women are chosen to be represented.
Writer/director/actor Michelle Ehlen is developing a sequel called Heterosexual Jill. While Butch Jamie is a satire on gender, Ehlen proposes to have the sequel be a satire on sexuality.[6] [9]