Let me start by saying….I loved the new Netflix documentary, Will & Harper.
In the midst of the semester, I was feeling bogged down, and with social and political conflicts whirling around, Will & Harper was the breath of fresh air that I didn’t know I needed.
Will & Harper, follows Will Ferrell and Harper Steele. They met while working together from 1995-2008 at Saturday Night Live (SNL). A few years ago, Will found out that Harper was coming out as a trans woman. The documentary features their time together as they take a cross-country road trip from New York to California, talking about their work, their friendship, and Harper’s transition. Along the way, they make various stops, including a Walmart parking lot, an Indiana Pacers basketball game, and a steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas. Harper shares that she wanted to go to these places because they were previously spots she would regularly visit, though she worried that now, post-transition, they would be unwelcoming, and even possibly unsafe. With the exception of one dive bar, Will and Harper face these places, and stressors, together.
So often, when we discuss trans/non-binary issues in the classroom, the research is quite stark. For example, in 2022, nearly 240 anti-LGBTQ+ legislative bills were filed, and many of them were directed toward exclusion of trans people (Lavietes & Ramos, 2022). In 2021, 32 trans and/or gender nonbinary people were murdered in the United States (Human Rights Campaign Foundation, n.d.). The majority of these were Black and Latinx trans women. Newer research shows that enacting state-level anti-transgender laws increased incidents of past-year suicide attempts among TGNB young people by 7–72%. Will & Harper do not shy away from these grave topics, and a faculty member might consider showing the scenes where Harper discusses her suicidal thoughts/moments (starts at 1:13) or her awareness of anti-trans legislation that was proposed by the Indiana governor (starts at 33:45). These scenes provide personal and deeply moving accounts.
If I were to teach this, though, I would primarily focus on their friendship as a powerful source of support. One major learning goal would be that friendship really does make a difference in combating anti-trans prejudice.
To teach it, I would first have students read The Trevor Project Report and The Williams Institute Report. I would then break them into small groups and ask them to identify 2 important themes from the research. My hope is that they would notice how important social support is in reducing distress and suicidality among LGBTQ+ adults (De Chants et al., 2022; Hatzenbuehler et al., 2020). With LGBTQ+ youth, the presence of even one accepting adult reduces the likelihood of suicidality by 40%. I would then have the students watch a few scenes from Will & Harper: the diner scene with Will, Harper, and Harper’s two children (starts at 11:30), the scene where they are at a Beech Grove, Indiana Walmart parking lot, sharing a variety of Pringles chips (starts at 26:03), the scene with Will, Harper, and Harper’s sister (starts at 46:02), and the scene with Will and Harper in Trona, CA (starts at 1:35). I would also likely show the last scene on the beach with Will and Harper (1:46). Before viewing, I would ask students to notice non-verbal moments of connection and to write down exact quotes from conversation. I would then ask students to discuss how these moments connect to the research and illustrate how social support creates resiliency, connection, and hope.
It is not often we get to see the messiness of intimacy, so Will & Harper offers something unique. Thank you, Will and Harper, for modeling vulnerability and for providing those of us who teach Psychology of Women & Gender with such great material.