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| Poster artwork for the comedy musical drama film Spork. |
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Identities by Linh
Spork is
a film about a thirteen-year-old girl nicknamed Spork (Savannah Stehlin), who
was born intersex but identifies as a girl. She was given the nickname by her
elder brother Spit (Rodney Eastman), as a way of helping her and himself to
understand her intersexuality. Spork is always bullied at school, lives in a
trailer park with Spit, her favourite film is The Wiz, her friend Tootsie Roll (Sydney Park) lives next door and
she has a pet dog who died when she was young so she had him stuffed. Spork has
an admirer named Charlie (Michael William Arnold), the son of same-sex parents
who gets teased and bullied about having two gay Dads and his effemininity.
After a day of horrendous bullying at school from other
students, then by Betsy Byotch (Rachel G. Fox) and her clique of cool girls,
Spork befriends Chong, without the Cheech, Chunk (Kevin Chung), a tubby Asian
boy who offers her some encouragement. Spork takes Chong’s advice and during
gym class, she knocks out Betsy with a basketball, and damages Betsy’s nose.
Spork tells Tootsie Roll and she is praised for finally sticking up for
herself. A school dance competition is coming up, but Tootsie Roll injures
herself while practising, so Spork offers to take her place. Betsy is still
furious with Spork and seeks revenge at the dance competition auditions.
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NOT
NORMAL?: Spork (Savannah Stehlin) just wants to fit in rather than
be different in the film Spork. Image:
Last Bastion Entertainment.
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Director J.B. Ghuman, Jr. drew on his own personal
experiences of being different, growing up in a diverse community when writing
the screenplay for his first feature film Spork.
Being half Indian, half German and a gay male growing up in a breakdancing
community may be a valuable contribution to sparking ideas and inspiration in
his writing, directing and performing. Ghuman, Jr. gives Spork a light-hearted tone, despite the serious subject matters,
and creates a wonderful film with a cartoonish look and surrealist images.
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COOL
CLIQUE: Lucy 'Loosie' Goosie (Oana Gregory), Betsy Byotch
(Rachel G. Fox), Tori (Halston Autumn McMurray) and Jecca (Odelia Hartl) show
off their dance moves in the film Spork.
Image: Last Bastion Entertainment.
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Although Spork
appears to be a coming-of-age tale of an intersexual on the surface, the
underlying story is about all forms of differences including race, sex,
sexuality, social class and religion. Using children in a school setting is
ideal as that is the place where children meet and socialise with other
children. Children’s learning experiences not only come from school but also
from home, so it was effective to show the family situations of Spork, Tootsie
Roll and Chong Chunk. There is a balanced display of prejudice and acceptance
in the film between characters and their situations, but overall it is
entertaining and enjoyable.
The cast of young actors gave excellent performances,
albeit with a very raw and edgy script that included profanity in the dialogue
that may have been a bit excessive. Savannah Stehlin is wonderful as the nerdy
Spork and her Twister-dancing moves are great; Rachel G. Fox is perfect as the
beautiful but bitchy Betsy so Rachel is one to watch in the future; Oana Gregory
is lovely as Lucy ‘Loosie’ Goosie whose loyalty for Betsy wanes due to the
intensity of Betsy’s cruelty towards minorities, and Lucy transgresses; Michael
William Arnold as Charlie is sensitive and charming, with a hint of cheekiness.
The standout performer is Sydney ‘Syd The Kid’ Park, who
is a stand-up comedian and actor and she is a fantastic dancer too. Her comic
timing, booty-popping and tootsie rolling and as Spork’s neighbour and friend
Tootsie Roll, are fabulous.
The guest appearances were interesting with Keith David (Cloud Atlas, Death At A Funeral) in
comic form as Coach Jenkins; Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson on television
series The Simpsons, is a prim but
not so proper Anatomy teacher Ms Danahy and Beth Grant is great as the sweet
but slightly dodgy Principal Tulip.
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FEISTY
FRIENDS: YoYo (India Scandrick), Tootsie Roll (Sydney Park) and
Treena (Sydni Scurlark) sing up a storm to support Spork in the film Spork. Image: Last Bastion
Entertainment.
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Spork is
a creative way to reference intersexuality, although the word ‘hermaphrodite’
was used throughout the film. It is a Freudian symbol analysis of
intersexuality where the spoon is female and the fork is male; so the combination
of both is ‘spork’. The word ‘intersexuality’ is preferred over ‘hermaphrodite’
due to the clinical/medical/political use of the latter word. ‘Hermaphrodite’
implies fully female genitalia and fully male genitalia, whereas intersexuality
implies partially female and partially male. This reference and link to Spork
becomes clear at the beginning of the film and especially in the scene where
Spork is learning to dance using the Twister game while Tootsie Roll and her
dance crew sing ‘Hey Lil Mama (Funky Y2C)’.
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FINDING
FRIENDSHIP: Spork (Savannah Stehlin) and Charlie
(Michael William Arnold) share a moment on the swings in the film Spork. Image: Last Bastion
Entertainment.
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This film is not for everyone, but will definitely be a
classic for those seeking something extraordinary that pushes boundaries for
children and adults, in understanding and dealing with differences such as
sexuality and racism. Spork wants to be like everyone else and wants to fit in,
until she realises being different is not so bad afterall. Everyone wants to
fit in and be liked by others, and this film makes the message clear that life
can be hard if you are different but accepting your differences makes life
easier. The film’s original soundtrack by Casey James and The Staypuft Kid and
Timothy Kiefer is brilliant. Some high-energy dance hits by Mousse T, and 69
Boyz and 1990s popular culture and music references such as Britney Spears and
Justin Timberlake may also appeal to audiences.
Director:
J.B. Ghuman, Jr.
Writer:
J.B. Ghuman, Jr. (screenplay)
Cast:
Savannah Stehlin, Sydney Park, Rodney Eastman, Michael William Arnold, Rachel
G. Fox, Oana Gregory, Kevin Chung, Halston Autumn McMurray, Elaine Hendrix,
Keith David, Yeardley Smith, Jenny Koh, Kelly Park, Alissa Dean, Beth Grant,
Chad Allen, India Scandrick, Sydni Scurlark
Producers:
Kevin Frost, Geric Miller-Frost, Christopher Racster, Chad Allen, Honey Labrador,
Angela Sostre, Ferrari Watts
Cinematographer:
Bradley Stonesifer
Original
Music Composers: Casey James and The Staypuft Kid, Timothy
Kiefer
Film
Editor: Phillip J. Bartell
Production:
Nathan Carden (Production Designer and Art Director)), Orlando Soria (Set Decorator)
Costume
Designer: Samantha Kuester
Running
Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes
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