Artist Talk on Happy Birthday, Marsha!
Nov 16, 2015

In November, I had the opportunity to attend a talk at Cooper Union on Happy Birthday, Marsha!, a new film directed, written, and produced by Sasha Wortzel and Reina Gossett. The film takes us into the life of Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender activist who had a big influence on queer culture in New York. I’m used to reading philosophical texts and jargon on issues concerning gender and sexuality, but I’m not used to learning about these topics outside of a 8 X 11 piece of paper. When we think about queer culture, we usually come across an inauthentic version that is presented by mainstream media and movies like Stonewall (a whitewashed version of the Stonewall riots). 

 I always thought a Trojan Horse was necessary in telling stories about minorities, like in Jenji Kohan’s television series Orange is the New Black, where Kohan uses Piper, a white woman, as her Trojan Horse. She does this in order to put the experiences of Women of Color and Queer Women of Color into more people’s sphere of knowledge. Happy Birthday, Marsha! does not try to make the story easier, but shows the actual events that happened before the Stonewall riots and the actual people who were there.

 Happy Birthday, Marsha! is not separate from the culture, but made by it. Gossett and Wortzel brought truth to this movie through every scene. Jay Toole, a member of the film’s cast who knew Marsha personally, told her story at the event. Toole discussed the struggles of living as a queer woman in the 1960s: police arrested her on a regular basis for not wearing clothes that conformed to gender norms, and she ended up homeless in the Village because of her identity. This talk gave me a glimpse into a strong and resilient community that finds ways to subversively move through mainstream media, to have their voices heard, and reclaim their history and culture. 

 By Auri, YI Leader