Tomboy Identities

The films The Adventures of Félix and Tomboy each cause the viewer to question the identities of the characters within the films and their own identities. Due to similar styles of self-discovery and a variety of equivalent identities, connections can be found between both of the main characters, Félix and Mikäel. Additionally, varying styles of narration communicate numerous complimentary ideals of identity and self. Through the creation of personal quests for Félix in The Adventures of Félix and Mikäel in Tomboy, the narrator utilizes various narration techniques to express both characters’ exploration and discoveries of their identities, ranging from sexuality and gender to family dynamics and ethnicity. In both movies, Félix and Mikäel …show more content…
Both movies take place in a lull portion of Félix and Mikäel’s lives. The Adventures of Félix occurs during Félix’s unemployment, and Tomboy occurs while Mikäel is on summer vacation and has not yet returned to school. The lack of commitment required by each of the characters allows for them to be able to take time for internal reflection and evaluation of their identities and selves. Regardless of this extra time, both characters feel a need to reflect primarily outside of their home, Félix away from his boyfriend’s opinion and Mikäel away from their mother’s opinion, adding to the feeling of a physical quest. Additionally, both Félix and Mikäel are discovering their identities during a change in their family. Félix‘s mother recently died, and Mikäel’s mother is pregnant with a boy. The similarities between the films continue through both of their gradual increase in trust in their families. Félix slowly increases his trust in his created family until he reaches his sister, to whom he eventually admits his witnessing of the murder, and his father, to whom he gives the kite. Mikäel’s trust increases with their explanation of their masculine role in their friend group to their sister. The scene of her cutting their hair and them telling her about their hope …show more content…
In the film The Adventures of Félix, the movie utilizes music to connect Félix to his North African and French identities. In a very early scene, when Félix is cleaning his mother’s home, he finds a box with some money and letters. He picks up a picture of his mother holding him as a child, and the viewer hears French background music. However, as soon as he picks up his father’s letters, the music shifts to North African music. An additional narration technique is the movies separation into sections each based on a family member. The director expands this technique by having Félix visit well-known sites in France and uses it to express his metaphorical journey through an additional medium. As Félix visits locations for the first time that many French people visit as part of their childhood, he is also creating connections with family members that are often developed before his age. Both his traveling and his creation of a family are a physical representation of Félix’s journey in which he trying to make up for time he feels he had lost. It is important to note, that the viewer suspects him to not be fully reliable due to the questioning of his motives by numerous