Zerophilia
| Zerophilia | |
|---|---|
| File:Zerophiliamp.jpg Promotional movie poster for the film | |
| Directed by | Martin Curland |
| Written by | Martin Curland |
| Produced by | Gregory Lanesey Matt Radecki Martin Curland |
| Starring | Taylor Handley Gina Bellman Kyle Schmid |
| Cinematography | Graham Futerfas |
| Music by | Kevin McDaniels Edie Pijpers |
| Distributed by | TLA Releasing Microangelo Ent. Halcyon Int'l |
Release date | 2006 |
Running time | 90 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $325,000 |
Zerophilia is a romantic comedy film directed by Motion Pictures' Student Academy Award winning director Martin Curland and produced by Microangelo Entertainment. The film was released on October 13, 2006 in North America.
Plot
This romantic comedy introduces a new era in teen sexuality: the ability to switch gender at will. The plot is centered on the experiences of Luke, a young man insecure about his masculinity, acquires a rare condition of "zerophilia", which causes people to spontaneously change their gender.
Zerophilia refers to a fictional condition where a person has an extra chromosome-the "Z" chromosome. There are 100 to 1000 zerophiliacs in the world but nobody knows just how many because it goes unreported. The "Z" chromosome is latent until a zerophiliac has sex (climax/orgasm) for the first time. The person then becomes a spontaneous zerophiliac. That means every time a zerophiliac becomes sexually excited, he or she starts to change into the opposite gender. They revert by removing the source of being turned on (or a tranquilizer).
Cast
- Taylor Handley - Luke (Hidden Palms, The OC, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)
- Kyle Schmid - Max (Blood Ties, The Covenant, A History of Violence, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
- Alison Folland - Janine (Boys Don't Cry, All Over Me)
- Gina Bellman - Sydney (BBC's Coupling)
- Marieh Delfino - Luca (Jeepers Creepers II, National Lampoon's Dorm Daze)
- Dustin Seavey - Keenan
- Rebecca Mozo - Michelle
- Special appearance by Kelly LeBrock (The Woman in Red, Weird Science)
Similar fiction
This film is very similar in plot to Rumiko Takahashi's gender-bending manga (and later animated series) Ranma 1/2, in which the lead character is afflicted with the misfortune of swapping gender on a regular basis. The story deals with 16-year-old Ranma Saotome's insecurities about this ability and how it affects his relationship with his arranged fiancée, Akane Tendo. While there is no evidence to support that Zerophilia was inspired by Takahashi's work, the two do share very similar themes (those of teenage sexuality and friendship).
Another possibility is the more obscure Futaba-Kun Change!, where the transformations are similarly induced by sexual excitement.
The idea of temporary mutability in sex for reproduction was found in Ursula K. LeGuin's fictional Hainish universe, and further explored in a later short story entitled "Coming of Age in Karhide." However, in this world, the denizens are gender neutral beings that enter 'kemmerhouse' upon puberty, and then change into the gender opposite of that who they first experience attraction for, e.g. being aroused by a male turns them into female and vice versa. In LeGuin fashion, in this world same sex attractions are treated as valid and just as important as heterosexual ones. The denizens revert back to their gender neutral states shortly after leaving the 'kemmerhouse.'
External links
- Zerophilia at IMDb
- REVIEW - New York Times (October 13, 2006, New York Times)
- REVIEW - Variety (November 6, 2006, Variety)
- REVIEW - Slant Magazine (2006, Slant Magazine)
- REVIEW - Insight News (February 19, 2007, Insight News)
