What will you do if your son suddenly asks you to let him dress as a fairy from now on? Find out in ‘Fairyocious‘.
In the French short film ‘Fairyocious’, Alma seeks out help from her friends and neighbors as she grapples with her son’s uncanny request.
Darkness tinted with the blue hues of the moon envelopes the first scene of the film. The view of the facade of Alma’s house is seen with lights flashing inside. An ominous sound reverberates in preparation for what’s to come.
“I want to be a girl,” says Alma’s son, Simon.
Alma, revealed to be pregnant, proceeds to speak with her neighbor about her son’s sudden request. Her friend, Myriam, is baffled by Simon’s wish, adding that no one these days wants to be a girl with an unspoken consideration of the burden that women continue to experience. Alma replies, a bit exasperated that her son wants to be anyway. Myriam continues to add that her son also plays with Barbies instead of dinosaurs– even if she prefers her son does the opposite– so there is nothing she should be worried about. Myriam reluctantly says that even if Alma and Simon are in this situation, she believes that Simon wouldn’t turn out to be gay. Noticing that her friend used a slur for the word gay, Alma berates Myriam for her crass language.
It is noticeable that the friend doesn’t really take the situation seriously, smirking and laughing at Alma’s evident worry. Alma tells Myriam that he’s sure her son isn’t gay because if he was, she’s confident she’d know as she is his mother. Myriam shrugs at her reply. Her friend further adds that it is all part of being young and that the confusion will eventually go away.
The next scene cuts to Alma’s son now in a full-blown fairy costume with a blue dress, blue eyeshadow, and putting on coral red colored lipstick. The scene comes back to Myriam laughing as Alma describes her son’s new way of dressing. Myriam, again, reassures her that it is just an innocent costume.
Simon adamantly tells Alma that what he is wearing is not just a costume, it is who he is now. But, Alma blinded by Myriam’s advice, tells her son that the costume bears nothing. He dejectedly replies that this is who he is and that he is a fairy. Alma tells him that she doesn’t get it and requests to take it off. She even attempts to lighten up their conversation by saying they could bake mouna. Simon pays no mind to her words and says that he wants to dress like a fairy every day.
A new friend, Oulfa, joins Myriam and Alma in their conversations. She says that the same thing happened to her cousin, Akim. Oulfa tells her that all they did was let the child see a therapist so that he doesn’t speak of the request again. Alma who looks hopeful asks if it did actually work. Oulfa, who looks a bit uncomfortable, reluctantly says yes as the cousin never spoke about it again. In fact, the cousin never spoke at all which led her to believe it was probably the reason why he eventually threw himself from a window. Alma now looks horrified by what Oulfa said. Myriam sarcastically says thanks.
