It's somewhat incredible to believe that a person with so much education would be a dish-washer and telemarketer. Was this due to job discrimination because she was trans or a lack of confidence or direction with regards to pursuing a career?
shareWhat I was curious about was how she was able to afford all of the expensive operations she had while working in these low-paying jobs. In the beginning of the movie she mentions she had, not just electrolysis, but facial feminization surgery (which is about $30,000). That seemed unrealistic to me when someone works as a restaurant worker/telemarketer.
She probably had a decent job before she decided to transition and saved up for all of the expenses. It is a sad fact that many transgendered people do face discrimination in the workplace as well as what the OP mentioned, "a lack of confidence or direction with regards to pursuing a career."
In addition to the previous poster's estimate of $30,000.00 for facial femeninization surgery (which is spot-on by the way) , the gender re-assignment surgery is anywhere from $12,000.00-$18,000.00, and electrolysis is as much as 20,000.00 to 30,00.00 depending on where you go.
She has lot of education but she has not a degree.
shareThe job may have been low paying but Bree looked happy working in the family restaurant. That seems to be a decent trade off for her.
No two persons ever watch the same movie.share
Because she didn't have a degree. It's pretty pointless for many careers but that little piece of paper means a lot to people.
RIP 2009. Bad year for Celebrities. Now Haiti too
Based on all the different majors she took it seemed as if she is very intelligent and was a good student but not very focused on reaching the goal of graduating due to her inability to stick to her decisions (except of course when it comes to her surgeries but I don't think she was thinking about that in college..not yet). Also looking at her relationship with Toby's Mother which started in college as Bree's "experimental lesbian phase" ..it was probably then that she started to look into her Transgender identity and Bree became focused on that instead of graduating college. Even her mom tells her at dinner that she could never make up her mind..not even with choosing a degree. It is very easy to just leave college unless the student is focused on their major and graduating. As other posters mentioned, that little piece of paper is worth a whole heck of a lot if you want to get a good job or follow up towards a good career.
Bree probably felt that pursuing her Transgender self was more worth her time than getting a degree. I think it started to snowball for her. Her family probably would give Bree the money she needed if they knew she was in college (& college is expensive).They wouldn't know if she was changing her appearance if she was "away" at college. She could have gotten a lot of those less drastic surgery while she was in college for ten years. Her family has a lot of money..her Mom offers her $200.00 and more from the house safe when Bree tells them after dinner that she needs 1,000$ even though the mother doesn't approve of Bree's lifestyle. Also, when Toby hit Bree it was Bree that her mother ran to and cradled while Toby made off with her purse and the sculpture. Despite her mother not approving of Bree's "lifestyle" it seems that she does care and would help Bree if she asked for the money. Later, when Toby asks her why Bree doesn't live at home (with her parents) she says her parents come with the house. I can see Bree doing her best to not depend on them anymore..it's too many negative family drama and she doesn't need that. She has a stable life without the her parents in the scene needs to start her own life as a Transgendered person and nothing is going to get in the way of her getting her surgery. Maybe she had better jobs in the past and she saved? In any case, she doesn't seem to be in debt. Getting a diploma after ten years of college is quite expensive and no one is asking where she got the money or why her low paying jobs do not screw up her financial history (student loans and all that stuff).
Regarding the jobs themselves, at the Mexican restaurant, I think Bree actually likes working there because the other employees "get her". She is different than them, she is afraid of being called a freak...that she might be a freak but at the restaurant everything seems low key, they like Bree for who she is and she probably won't be recognized or hasn't been recognized as Transgendered. In the last scene of her working in the restaurant she actually looks happy & smiling (although that could be because she had the surgery). Also her telemarketer job gives her her own space and no one can see her and call her a freak.
Oh and one other thing: Bree tells Toby that she'd like to become a teacher. Once Bree is whole & totally confident as a Transgendered person, surgery and all, she could always go back to school to get her teaching degree. Of course, she had just met Toby and almost everything that came out of her mouth was a lie. Maybe the teaching thing was a lie but maybe not. It's very rarely too late to go back to school & get a degree.
It doesn't matter how many degrees you have. If you are miserable as a CEO or a Film Director or as intelligent and rich as Howard Hughes what's the point in doing that job? Howard Hughes was insane. Bree is not. Ever work as the producer of a film, commercial or video? in a big famous Hollywood position? Tom Cruise's role as Mega Hollywood producer, Les Grossman, in Tropic Thunder, isn't far off the mark. Crazy. Stressed. Anger...Rage... Sometimes it's all about your comfort zone and what you can realistically do (as in making enough to pay your bills & be fine with that).
Bree genuinely seems to like her life and herself and accepts it more and more each day. Who cares why she is in a low paying job without a degree? As long as she can pay her bills and is happy? She seems to be okay with the way things worked out. And that's what really matters.
question which serves as the answer:
How many transexuals have you seen in high-paid "office" jobs?
How many transexuals have you seen in high-paid "office" jobs?
@ littlecasino60 & poster right above:
I find what you are saying about working as a Transgender or Transexual person fascinating. Could you maybe post this under another topic?..maybe start a new thread? I'm sure I am not the only one on this board who would like to hear your take on jobs while living a Transgendered/Transexual life. Please do not mistake my ignorance as stupidity.
This particular thread has been here forever; give the topic a *bump* so we can read what you have to say.
Thanks.
Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't break character until the night of the Academy Awards.
thanks uberbitch, littlecasino seemingly knows better than me. maybe i cant understand people who live through these as i'm not a TG/TS person (although i face other discriminations because of my views).
i support this cause and all "ANTI-" movements against ethnic or sexist discrimination.
Because there aren't too many people who want to hand out a high paying job to some dude who wants to chop his schwein off and go prancing about in women's clothes.
shareI thought perhaps that Bree was working these particular sorts of jobs because for a starter, the waitressing jobs would be easy to get/lose without them really altering her career prospects if she wanted to go into an academic profession (like teaching, which she refers to at the end).
With low level jobs, they're easy to let go of which would be ideal for someone like Bree who may have to take two or three months off at a time to recover from various surgeries, etc. It also seemed to me the waitressing job she was working in particular at was a job she'd taken on because she maybe wanted to learn the culture and the language (which she does at the end).
The telemarketing from home, again, ideal for someone like Bree. Telemarketing is excellent for someone who may need to shut herself in for extensive periods of time as she waited for scars to heal, and the hormones to take effect, etc. Jobs like this would give her a good deal of time to transition without her needing to really take time off and lose income, plus she'd be able to avoid huge gaps in her employment history during her surgeries and healing which would prevent future employers from picking on her having any absences.