Ma vie en rose

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A new family has moved in, and it's time for the block housewarming party to commence. As the party progresses, the children are introduced. First up is the eldest, Tom. Then comes the second eldest, Jean. Then comes the third child, and only daughter, Zoe. And everyone applauds...until it's revealed that the "third child" they thought they saw in the pretty pink dress was actually their youngest, a son named Ludovic.

...Yeah. Life for them becomes more difficult after that. See, Ludovic is not just a Wholesome Crossdresser, he's actually convinced he's really a girl. Even when confronted with irrefutable evidence, he figures it all out: When God was giving out all the chromosomes on the date of his conception, he accidentally lost a set of X chromosomes in the trash, and replaced them with a set of Y chromosomes. And while he's developing a sort-of crush on his new friend Jerome, the rest of the town is getting bent out of shape over whether or not they should let their kids hang around with a boy who habitually dresses in girl's clothes.

Comparable to the later Tomboy.

Tropes used in Ma vie en rose include:

• Ambiguously Gay: Ludovic may or may not grow up to be gay. His (or her) parents are certainly worried he will, though.
  • Ambiguous Gender: It's hard to tell whether Ludo is transgendered or just gender-variant, but the film seems to support the former more.
• Awkward Father-Son Bonding Activity: On the advice of his boss, Ludo's dad decides to spend more time with his son to get him to be more masculine, and enrolls him in football (soccer), encouraging him from the sidelines. Ludo is hopeless at the sport.
  • After the game, the unbearably cruel locker-room taunting and gang-bullying will feel familiar to LGBT members of the audience.
• Brats with Slingshots: Chris has one and shoots Ludo with it as a way of saying hi. Ludo isn't amused.
• Disney Acid Sequence: Bizarrely enough. It involves a popular dress-up doll.
• Double Standard: In-universe one demonstrated in full at the end.
  • Out-of-universe one in the form of the film's R-rating.
• Dysfunctional Family: They're a harmonious and loving bunch at the beginning, but Ludovic's gender troubles cause all kinds of discord, to the point that he says he wants to live with his grandmother instead of his parents and his parents let him and consider leaving him with her when they move.
• Everything's Better with Sparkles: Ludovic loves and wants to be like Pam, a Barbie-like doll and children's TV character. She tends to trail sparkles in the air around her. On one occasion Ludo imagines her blowing sparkly air that ties up two interfering mothers and takes Ludo, in a pink dress, and Jerome flying through the air with her.
• Fairytale Wedding Dress: Ludo dreams of wearing one to marry Jerome.
• Giant Poofy Sleeves: Zoe's princess dress which Ludovic makes a grand entrance wearing.
• Imaginary Friend: Ludovic's daydreams of being rescued by Barbie-woman Pam.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: At the end of the film, Ludovic meets a boy named Chris -- short hair, shorts and T-shirt, catapult -- who turns out to be a girl named Christine. During Chris's tenth birthday party she (or he, since he may be trans) makes Ludo swap costumes with her so that Chris is wearing the musketeer outfit and Ludovic the princess dress.
• Momma's Boy: Ludovic has a good relationship with his dad but seems especially close to his mother, also to his grandmother and older sister. This, along with his parents' wish for a girl as their last child, is a possible explanation for his attraction to all things feminine.
  • However as a sort of lynch-mob mentality develops among their neighbors--threatening the family's livelihood--Mom can no longer tolerate Ludovic's gender nonconformity. She begins unpredictably lashing out, blaming (with shocking frankness) her child for their changing fortunes.
• One of the Boys: We don't see much of Chris but as far as we can tell she/he pals around largely with boys.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Ludo loves them.
• Tomboy: Chris. Either that or she/he is a transboy.
• Transsexualism: Ludovic clearly feels transgendered at seven. He/she may or may not grow up still feeling that way. Chris may be transgendered as well.
• Traumatic Haircut: Ludovic gets one near the end of the movie.
• Truth in Television: Ludo's obsession with a Barbie-like character and love of pink dresses are realistic traits for a young transgirl or gender-variant boy.
  • Likewise is her insisting that she's a girl.
  • One might easily fail to grasp the full implications of Ludovic's intent, after he's discovered in the giant freezer in the carport (it wasn't just a hiding place). More-recent first-time viewers of the DVD are more likely to "get it," assuming they've followed the news in the past couple of years.
• Youthful Freckles: Chris is freckle-faced.