THE CHANGING OF THE MAIN CHARACTER’S IDENTITY IN MOVIE JUST CHARLIE (2017)

Abstract

Society constructs gender to distinguish the sexes of men and women. They believe that human is only born with two types male and female. Those are included in the term heteronormativity who have only two gender or sexual orientation options. Queer refers to people who have a gender identity or sexual orientation that differs from their biological gender. One of the terms Queer is Transgender which is a term for someone who needs recognition of gender identity from anatomical gender assigned at birth, or those who are considered ambiguous in their gender. Society finds it difficult to accept the existence of transgender because of the heteronormative. The experience of the story felt by transgender people is represented in the film Just Charlie (2017). This study aims to examine how gender identity is performed in the Just Charlie (2017) and how is the response of society. The theory used in this analysis is Judith Butler's "Queer" theory, specifically Butler’s gender performativity. This qualitative study has resulted in two findings. First, the main character showed the major terms of gender performativity such as an act of cross-dressing, repetition, and revelation. Second, although the United Kingdom is a liberal country, people still cannot be free to choose their gender preference. This study proved that gender performativity makes the identity of gender not only determined by the sexual genital from birth but also something act repeatedly.