Pageboy by Elliot Page (Review #240)

“Can I kiss you?” 

It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back. 

With Juno’s massive success, Elliot became one of the world’s most beloved actors. His dreams were coming true, but the pressure to perform suffocated him. He was forced to play the part of the glossy young starlet, a role that made his skin crawl, on and off set. The career that had been an escape out of his reality and into a world of imagination was suddenly a nightmare. 

As he navigated criticism and abuse from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood, a past that snapped at his heels, and a society dead set on forcing him into a binary, Elliot often stayed silent, unsure of what to do. Until enough was enough.”

Review:

This was certainly a memoir right up my alley. Not only was it a compelling story of a trans man discovering his queerness, but also a story of family and friends, of mental health and the pitfalls of the entertainment industry. For me I resonated most with his familial traumas. 

What I loved most though was the non-linear storytelling Elliot adopted. Much like in life, and how I grapple with my own existence and life experiences, I understood that we put the pieces of our lives together in a mixed up jumble. It felt like we were piecing things together along with him and learning why certain patterns emerge in his psyche as well as our own. 

An excellent read, as someone who is new to the genre it felt compelling and wholly human. Despite our differences (me being a cisgendered woman), we are all more alike than we know. Highly recommend this one.

As always, let me know your own thoughts and feels down below in the comments. I hope to dive more into this era of nonfiction, and hope y’all will enjoy it with me!