Cierra's Media Review

A Kid Like Jake Review

I choose a fiction film for this titled, A Kid Like Jake. Jake is a young boy, who feels more

comfortable as a girl rather than a boy. He likes to dress like the typical girl, play with the girls, and play with dolls, babies, etc. Jake’s parents struggle to come to terms with Jake’s true feelings at heart and are worried about how other people might see him. The mother of Jake refuses to think of Jake differently until the very end of the movie. The mother, Ally, wants to send Jake to a private school that only excepts select students. When she is speaking to her husband after meeting with the head of the school, she says, “Yeah he likes fairy tales but

maybe that’s not the most critical thing worth mentioning.” Ally was frustrated how the only

thing that was mentioned when she was talking to the head of the school is how Jake likes to

do girly things, not about how smart he really is for his age. For Halloween Jake wanted to be Rapunzel instead of a pirate, which is what his mom really wanted him to be. She says to her husband, “Maybe we should explain to him why Rapunzel isn’t a good idea.” Jake’s parents are worried about him being made fun of by other little kids but forget to take account of his feelings and what he wants. Jake never comes out and tells his parents that he is transgender, but he tries very hard to do that through his actions rather than coming out and saying it. When his mother was asked by Judy the teacher if she had realized she said, “No, but I can wait until he tells me himself.” The mom knows Jake’s actions are not seen as ‘normal’ for a young boy, but she doesn’t want to come to terms with it unless he tells her himself directly. One night, Jake’s parents got into a huge argument about Jake. His mom believes it’s just him not knowing what toys he likes to play with and that he just likes girl’s clothes rather than boy’s clothes. On the other hand, his dad knows and has come to terms with the fact that Jake feels more like a girl at heart. When the dad was about to go pick up Jake from his grandma’s house the mom says, “Go take him out for ice cream and when your done why don’t you both go get your nails done.” The mom continues to say, “not like you’ve ever taken him to a park and thrown a ball in his direction.” The mom is trying to put blame on her husband for the way Jake is but truly Jake just feels more comfortable as a girl. It’s not because of the way he was raised, it is just the way he is. The mom struggles to believe her boy is different but when she realizes it, she comes to terms with it and has a much better relationship with Jake.