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‘Ponyboi’ Review: Intersex Star River Gallo Can’t Be Fenced In, Even by Clichés of Their Own Making
River Gallos’s gender nonconforming lead character adds an original angle to 'Ponyboi,' about a sex worker trying to get free of a sleazy pimp.
Either way, it’s a sordid yet stylish showcase for intersex actor (and activist) River Gallo, who uses “they/them” pronouns and sees the project as an opportunity to educate audiences about the social and psychological aspects of exhibiting both male and female traits in a world that classifies people in one box or the other. Sparkling like a rhinestone in the rough, Ponyboi stands out amid a lineup of cartoon gangsters, tough-guy dealers and gum-smacking prostitutes — lowlifes recycled from a hundred late-night cable movies with superficially similar plots. Expanding upon their 2019 short of the same name, Gallo focuses on the criminal elements making life difficult for Ponyboi, a biologically ambiguous (male-identifying, female-presenting) New Jersey sex worker with dreams of being rescued by an ultra-masculine cowboy.
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