Netflix dropped the trailer Thursday for “Will & Harper,” a new movie from Will Ferrell and his former “Saturday Night Live” head writer Harper Steele, who recently decided he’s a woman.
The documentary follows Ferrell and Steele on a cross-country road trip after the latter comes out, according to the trailer description. Steele told Ferrell of the new “identity” via email and wants to use the documentary and road trip to “reintroduce herself.” Before you roll your eyes and change the channel — we all know what is coming next — I actually think this documentary will be worth watching, just not for the reason you’re thinking.
How the heck can anyone have a leg to stand on in any debate if they don’t know everything there is to know about the other side? (RELATED: Will Ferrell ‘Kinda’ Vibes With Cal Ripken-Kevin Costner Conspiracy)
While I see the transgender medical industry as gross exploitation of mental illness, resulting in the physical mutilation of children and adults, I don’t know what Steele is going to say in this movie. As a woman, I have a vested interested to understand men who think they can become women. Why? Because I, like all women and girls, am forced to share my once-protected spaces with them and therefore need to adjust my lived experience to find my comfort level.
Do I think it’s okay that biological men are allowed in women’s spaces? No. It scares the crap out of me. I’ll stay this scared until I feel like I’ve got a grip in understanding this phenomenon better. Steele is offering me that opportunity. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.
I know most people are going to boycott this film. That’s not the approach I think we should take, but I respect everyone’s right to do so. Let us just hope that Ferrell doesn’t end up destroying any and all respect for actual biological women, the ones most negatively impacted by this sociological shift. (RELATED: Biden Proclaims Easter Sunday To Be ‘Transgender Day Of Visibility’)
Again, I don’t care if someone is transgender. I just don’t want to have to deal with yet another external threat every time I use a public restroom, dressing room, locker room, whatever. I wish more men, particularly those in the public eye, would stand up for protecting women and creating separate spaces for transgender people, instead of eradicating suffrage.
Anyway … this film drops Sept. 27 on Netflix. Maybe it will prove my mindset wrong.
Roughly a month later, Ferrell will join the EDM band Swedish House Mafia in Chicago for a charity fundraiser show, according to an announcement video shared on YouTube. It sounds like it’ll be his one-night career shift. Let’s hope the docuseries doesn’t cripple his reputation before then.