Much of contemporary cinema and theater lacks substance. More often than not, we are faced with a “been there, seen that” scenario. One such exception to this rule is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a film by John Cameron Mitchell released in 2001. Set primarily in post-Cold War America, Hedwig is a film that typically breaks conventions. Our story follows Hedwig, a gay… trans… well, forgotten and confused human being. Growing up in East Berlin during the Cold War, Hansel Schmidt (John Cameron Mitchell) experiences what I would call a horrific childhood in the bleak landscape of Communist-occupied Germany. He falls in love with an American soldier and changes sex to marry him and leave East Berlin. The operation is botched, leaving him as a physical contradiction. Not quite a man, but not yet a woman, Hansel (now Hedwig) has what she describes as an "angry thumb." When she describes it in lighter terms, she calls it a "Barbie doll crotch." Arriving in America, the soldier leaves the same day the Berlin Wall falls. Destroyed, Hedwig spends time discovering herself and eventually finds her soul mate in a young boy named Tommy Speck (Michael Pitt). They collaborate musically and romantically, but after discovering Hedwig's secret, he leaves with all their music. He becomes a huge rock star, living Hedwig's dream while leaving her in the dust. From then on, Hedwig and her band "The Angry Inch" follow Tommy as he travels the country while Hedwig desperately tries to gain the notoriety she deserves for her music. Looking at this film through the lens of a feminist gender perspective, I find Hedwig to be a pioneer at the forefront of gender change...... middle of paper ...... struggle for gender equality. If we truly want to respect our species as humans instead of socially constructed labels, perhaps we all need to experience the lifestyle that having an "angry thumb" entails, even if it doesn't. what for a moment. Works Cited Butler, Judith. “Performative acts and gender constitution: essay on phenomenology and feminist theory”. Theater Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Internet. May 11, 2011. Flocke, Hillary. "'You Kant Always Get What You Want'?: Hedwig and the Angry Thumb as a Postfeminist Film." The Vassar Quo. Vassar College, February 21, 2007. Web. May 12, 2011. .Hedwig and the Angry Thumb. Dir. John C. Mitchell. Perf. John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor and Stephen Trask, 2001. DVD. Tyson, Lois: A Friendly Guide, New York, 2006. 85..