Brazil doesn't want Mick Jagger yelling for its soccer team.
With nearly 50 years at the helm of one of rock music's most successful bands and a bevy of supermodels under his belt, most would consider Mick Jagger one lucky bastard.
But not in the parallel universe that is the World Cup.
After the Rolling Stone watched the United States go down in defeat to Ghana and then England take a 4-1 beating from Germany — while rooting for the loser in both games — fans started to note Mick's ironic lack of football satisfaction.
So when Jagger proclaimed his intention of next rooting for first-ranked Brazil in its match against Chile, Brazilians were less than enthusiastic. Instead, they but pleaded for him to pick another side, despite his Brazilian ties. (Jagger has a son, Lucas, with Brazilian model Luciana Gimenez.)
"The Rolling Stones lead-singer has a reputation for bringing bad luck in this World Cup," said the Brazilian ESPN website.
But frankly, worried Brazilians were being a bit short-sighted, as Jagger watched them roll to a 3-0 victory over underdog Chile.
After all, the continued longevity of Keith Richards is more evidence than a football score could ever be that Mick Jagger brings not just good luck, but miracles.
As the rights and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community have expanded over the past 50 or so years, one part of that group, transgender people, has found it more difficult to be considered a normal part of society. Every new instance of putting the story of a transgender person on screen, whether fictional or real, increases their exposure to those who might never have encountered them before.
That makes a documentary like Will & Harper (a title which seems to take inspiration from the groundbreaking TV series Will & Grace) valuable. The fact that the “Will” in the title is comedian/actor Will Ferrell helps, as he and longtime friend, Harper Steele, embark on a road trip across the United States soon after Harper reveals her transition from a man to a woman.
Harper, who met Will while they were both at Saturday Night Live in the late '90s/early 2000s, decided at the relatively older age of 59 that she could no longer pretend to be someone she wasn’t. The idea of the road trip – and of filming it – came about so that the friends could reconnect, learn more about each other given the momentous change, and do a lot of the things that Harper enjoyed doing by herself prior to her transition.
Director Josh Greenbaum and his crew attach a camera to the hood of Harper’s old Jeep Wagoneer to record her and Will's conversations as they traverse many states, starting in New York and heading west. Their connection to SNL means that many of the show’s current and former stars show up in one form or another along the way, including Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Tim Meadows, Lorne Michaels, Molly Shannon, Kristen Wiig, and Will Forte, among others.
While their love and respect for Harper is obvious, Harper has trepidation over how strangers in middle America will react to her. The presence of Will (and the cameras) gives her perhaps easier acceptance than someone not traveling with a famous person, but there are still more than a few uncomfortable stops, particularly when they get to the South (Texas does not come off well, but surprisingly Oklahoma does).
Those scenes with everyday Americans are interesting (if occasionally a bit contrived), but the heart of the film is the friendship between Will and Harper. Their conversations range from silly to heartfelt, but there is a genuineness to them that can’t be faked. Harper invites Will to ask her any questions he has about her transition, resulting in insightful – and, often, funny – answers. Their friendship was clearly already strong, but it gets palpably stronger during the 17-day journey.
There are a lot of messages one could get from a film like this, but it’s notable for how apolitical it is. Will and Harper have encounters with Eric Holcomb, the Republican governor of Indiana, as well as a few people wearing MAGA hats, but their positions on transgender people goes unremarked upon. The friends gently correct people who mis-gender Harper, but they never express any animosity towards them. It’s a movie about exploration, with education as a side benefit.
While it might be too strong to say that Will & Harper is a world-changing film, it adds another layer to the story of transgender people as a whole. It also shows the unconditional love between two friends, a lesson that is heartening in divided times.
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Will & Harper is now playing in select theaters; it will debut on Netflix on September 27.
Brazil doesn't want Mick Jagger yelling for its soccer team.
