Elliot Page

I hope he got something out of writing it; I didn't get that much out of reading (listening to) it. I don't read a lot of celebrity memoirs, so I can't judge it against the genre. Page says/implies he's been good at acting because he's good at dissociating; sounds like he's getting better, and I'm really happy for him, but it doesn't make for the most insightful or connected writing.

I wonder if he's doing some weird LA Freudian group therapy thing, because bowel movements and poop come up a LOT. I too have an anxious stomach, but he really takes it to the next level.

Also, my recommendation stands: don't write about your transition until you've been out for a few years. Your cis friends and colleagues will make it sound like a good idea; they're wrong. Page actually did a good job not falling into the most obvious traps (he's really thoughtful about privilege), but I feel like in a few years he might actually have something original to say about transitioning while A-list??? On the other hand, do celebrity memoirs ever have anything new to say? I don't think that's their function....… (more)

Elliot Page writes about his childhood in Canada, people in his life who helped, hindered, and harmed on his journey to becoming himself (and a professional actor, director, and producer). He is effusive in his gratitude to those who helped, and discreet (not naming names) of those who were harmful.

The narrative is not linear, and the writing has a style that is not quite run-on, not quite stream-of-consciousness, but he uses commas where most would use semicolons or periods.

A brave story of a difficult journey of transformation.

See also: Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt

Quotes

I was a walking stereotype, just not the way my mom wanted. (16)

Those were some of the best times I my life, traveling to another dimension where I was...me....Why do we lose that ability? To create a whole world? (16)

I can still see it, her yelling at them, it was rare to feel protected. (21)

Throwing around power bit refusing to admit they have any. (67)

It was too much to play a role on-screen when the role I played in my personal life was suffocating me already. (102)

"The system is twisted so that the cruelty looks normative and regular and the desire to address and overturn it looks strange" (Sarah Schulman, Ties That Bind, quoted p. 106)

We do not realize the extent of the energy we are losing until we find where it is seeping from. (134)

...popularity is the ultimate mask. (159)

Too many times those who were supposed to protect me did nothing, or if anything, only furthered my silence. (192)

Possibilities. Perhaps that is one of the main components of life lost to lack of representation. Options erased from the imagination. Narratives indoctrinated that we spend an eternity attempting to break. The unraveling is painful, but it leads to you. (197)

I can see now how moments like these... silently paved the way for my future relationship dynamics. I would throw the feelings aside, worried I'd get in trouble for having them, remaining in situations a lot longer than I should have, hide my truth. Inevitably, this would always lead to more damage and more harm. (228)… (more)