Did you hear about the story of the “Saturday Night Live” writer who went on a cross-country trip with his friend Will Ferrell to see how Americans accepted trans people after he decided to transition into being a woman? Nope? Then, I must say you are in for a treat because it is quite interesting. The best part? It’s a true story. It is in the form of a documentary called, “Will and Harper,” and it is available on Netflix.
Now, though I might ever so slightly offend some people, this documentary can be viewed as a very blunt instructional movie to a nation where perhaps a third of the population not just holds very negative views about trans people, but is actually being served a very heavy dose of hate press against them. This documentary is quite powerful in a subtle way, purely thanks to the chemistry of the two personalities in the title. Furthermore, it serves with a certain take on the type of buddy comedy that once’s famous actor Will Ferrell might have participated in (after, he would need an apology). After all, Peacock with ex-cast members of former “Saturday Night Live” productions is not famous for coming up with a complicated sarcastic sense of humor.
Steele, or shall I say, Andrew Steele, is Harper Steele. During Ferrell’s reign at ‘Saturday Night Live’, Harper served as his greatest supporter. Despite everyone doubting Ferrell’s comedic prowess, Steele insisted him to be a gifted comedian. That friendship between Harper and Ferrell blossoms beautifully. Steele chose to transition to female during the COVID, Ferrell was shocked when he received an email that said ‘I am old now and am ready to live as a woman.’ To summarise Ferrell’s outlook on his former friend, ‘Andrew was the quintessential lovable curmudgeon, whose creative sense of humor baffled everyone, possessed a rugged charm with 501 jeans and dirty beer from Iowa that gave him a frighteningly hilarious personality.’ But like the movie states, there is a misconception as to what controls the decision to undergo the transition.
The interest of the movie has been supplied largely at the hands of Harper Steele more than the name Will Ferrell which in this instance will definitely weigh in favor of the director Josh Greenbaum of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. The plot seems far too engrossing because it almost contradicts the idea of people identifying as straight or cisgender trying to figure out how to cope with an old friend, who is now in the place of a mysterious new package. This and the other make Ferrel turn into a stand-in, someone who the audience can relate to and who has long made the journey of coming to terms with acceptance and is now, well, reenacting it for the camera. After he got that email, Ferrel says he started thinking to himself, “How long did she feel this way? What made her keep this in for so long?” and expresses how their friendship was at the moment of Ferrel receiving the new “uncharted waters” but such statements feel a bit exaggerated. It is painfully obvious from the way these two converse while being chanced upon by cameras and many other circumstantial evidence, that there was never even the slightest possibility that Ferrel would abandon Steele, or that he would have any major hurdles to deal with.
Steele’s issues are of greater concern. In fact, some of these concerns may be fatal. Steele is Iowan and says “loves the USA, but I just don’t know if it loves me back right now.” She explains that she is trying to adjust her image to the world but still enjoys the same things, including what she refers to as “shi-y sushi” and “truck stops,” and all her favorite places in the country where one could go and never be found.
This issue arises from the get-go when they start planning a road trip. The primary issue here is safety. Not so much the safety of these two in the context of a real-life road movie: they’re traveling with a camera crew, one of them is Will Ferrell, and presumably, the production got clearance and put signs up saying, essentially, “We’re making a movie, you give your permission to be in it when you go inside this establishment,” whether that place is the arena where the Indiana Pacers play or one of the previously mentioned dive bars. Steele gets conceived to be male, and there’s a cringe moment at the game with the governor of Indiana who poses as a friendly but is an outspoken anti-trans person who has signed into law a bill denying gender-affirming care for teenagers.
No, the issue is no longer around the United States and internationally at large, and that is the concern when famous people are not under the microscope of having ten cameras pointed at them and someone is filming for a Netflix documentary. Steele admits: “Walking past all those bros in a bro-ey environment has been the hardest part of my transition,” And in the end, it all works out pretty okay, though. And that’s the purpose of the exercise: to demonstrate that bigots are making false proclamations and all of this is not a big deal, and that if Will Ferrell most certainly is a friend to Harper, then what makes you think that the reverse is not possible everywhere else?
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