Shortlisted for the Documentary Feature Oscar, Kokomo City landed on Paramount Plus without audio description. It is a shame, because we never really get to know the ladies of Kokomo City that way. This feature finds a few trans sex workers in the Miami area and lets them tell their stories. It does feature a few other interviews, with potential male clients, but it’s a bit nebulous to follow without the audio description.
As a fan of the documentary Paris Is Burning, I can’t help but see the stark contrast time has given to this community. With a touchstone documentary like Paris Is Burning featuring the transgender community, in and out of sex work, through their glorious balls where the ladies put on their best vogueing, but also including a character who does not survive the making of the film due to perpetual violence against the transgender community, Paris Is Burning was a representation of all the glory and wonder, but the harsh reality of how these girls operated outside of their safe havens. That doc likely was the direct inspiration for Ryan Murphy’s Pose, which also included a reminder of impending death, even among some girls living it up and having it all.
Kokomo City feels more optimistic, even if we are still talking about trans sex workers in a time where the transgender community is facing a mounting pack of legislation telling them how they can and cannot live their lives. Stories like these are important, because they shine a light on an underrepresented community, but also they allow these girls to tell their own stories. The reality is that if these girls were not trans, the only other possibility for them to be in a documentary would be if they were trafficked. What that says about this feature is that it is still pointing out the nature of sex work as being documentary worthy, but I wonder if these girls were not trans if anyone would have made a documentary about them. And if not, then what kind of representation do we really want for this community?
It’s not that what I took away from the documentary was bad, but Paris is burning wasn’t all about trans sex work either. Even in its day, it had other things to say. Now, in a day and age where everyone is worried about who is swimming in the pool and using the bathroom, Kokomo City is still a documentary of its own because it believes in the somewhat celebration of trans sex workers.
Perhaps, the next documentary that we need about the trans community isn’t one that shows them working in a field that documentarians seemingly are no longer interested in exploring, and instead focusing on the many ways in which the rights of this community are being consistently infringed upon, with little to no resistance. I look at the ladies of Kokomo City and think they are fierce women doing exactly what they want to do, but I also see that there’s a level of exploitation of their transition status simply by this existing. You just don’t see documentaries anymore about sex work. It’s not that we became a bunch of prudes, it’s that it has been done already. hell, HBO turned it into a reality show (Cathouse).
I think we can do better for this community. It’s not that this is a bad film, or that I totally disagree with the films existence, but the next time we travel to this community, I do hope the representation isn’t just the idea that this documentary is inherently interesting because these girls are transgender and sex workers. What about that swimmer who is being told where she can and can’t swim? Or trans youths that are at risk of losing their healthcare? Now is the time. Hopefully, 2024 brings me that documentary, and hopefully it has audio description so I can grade it.
Final Grade: Abstain (due to lack of audio description)
Projected Grade If It Had Audio Description: B+, A-
