“Someone once asked me, ‘Why don’t you write your biography?’ I replied: ‘Because fucking Virginia Woolf wrote my biography in 1928.’”
These are the opening lines to Spanish writer Paul B. Preciado’s film Orlando, My Political Biography. As part of the Search Engines: Art, Tech, and Justice Initiative, the Digital Studies Institute and the DISCO Network hosted a screening of Preciado’s biography, followed by a workshop from the filmmaker himself. For Preciado, writing a biography has never been at the front of his mind. However, when he was approached with the idea that other filmmakers would write the story of his life, Preciado became concerned that his story would not be properly told. A life story is so much more than facts you can find online. Sitting in that room with producers, he came up with an idea: what about adapting Orlando by Virginia Woolf?
Woolf’s Orlando features a character who magically changes from man to woman while sleeping. This novel is often regarded as one of the first pieces of trans fiction; when Orlando wakes up in a changed body, she expresses that she’s still the same person, but then must deal with the implications from society that come with a different sex. Preciado used Orlando as a framework for his biography, crafting a message to Woolf in return: “Just as you wrote my biography before my birth, I decided to write you a letter after your death.”
In Orlando, My Political Biography, over twenty trans and non-binary actors come together to collectively play the role of Orlando. Preciado expressed that the film felt larger than just his own life and that everyone has a bit of Orlando inside them. After all, we all have moments where we aren’t comfortable in our own skin, and looking at the story from this basic level, we can all relate to aspects of this trans heroine.
The documentary includes interviews with the different Orlandos telling their story. The intonation and casual pauses in speech make it seem as if they are coming up with what they want to say on the spot; however, everything is scripted, leaning heavily on the poetic language of Woolf to immerse everyone in a fictional state. I found myself captivated by the stories of each Orlando as they used Woolf’s prose to express the state of transition and their personal battles against the norm.
Preciado stressed the importance of changing the binary gaze. “Since I was four, I couldn’t see people as man or woman.” We feel the need to categorize everything and put things in boxes, but not everything is black and white. People are just people. One of the magical things that happened on the set of Preciado’s documentary was that the cast was made up of so many different gender-non-conforming individuals that gender designations ceased to matter.
One quote that stood out to me from Preciado was “Masculinity and femininity are political fiction.” Though I identify as a cisgender woman, that doesn’t mean that I conform to every stereotype of society’s “feminine” ideals. As a kid, I was always grateful that my parents didn’t buy me the “pink” toys. It never made sense to me that Little People would release a normal yellow-colored school bus and also release a pink “girl” version. I loved playing with stuffed animals and Barbies, but I equally loved building with Legos and toy train sets. It didn’t matter what color the Lego sets were either; sure, I loved the classic Lego Friends that my generation grew up with, but give me Kylo Ren’s command shuttle instead, and I’m happy as can be. This toy example is very basic regarding gender norms and expectations, but it does represent how these perceptions are instilled in us from a young age.
It’s time to change the binary gaze. The year is no longer 1928, yet it often feels that we’ve taken steps backward in time to get there, with two sides moving in opposite directions. During the workshop, however, Preciado shared that he has a positive outlook for the future of trans acceptance. Nearing the end of Preciado’s film, children are introduced as the next “Orlandos.” Continued progress relies on the next generation to carry the torch and worldwide connection.
Preciado explained that we need to utilize technology to connect in ways that we never have before to strengthen international connections. Search Engines’ program goal of studying the intersection of art, tech, and justice is more important than ever as we navigate an increasingly polarizing future. By adapting Virginia Woolf’s literature to a documentary, these themes of justice retain the same power but allow for greater accessibility and audience engagement. The progress of “Orlandos” isn’t limited to a single country; it’s a worldwide movement.
To learn more about the Search Engines programming series, check out our website: https://www.disconetwork.org/search-engines.
Read a related Q&A with the Orlando event organizer, Atticus Spicer, on our website:
https://www.digitalstudies.umich.edu/news-events/all-news/search-news/q-a-with-atticus-spicer.html
