Line #36 Literature/KissOfTheSpiderWoman


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1985-kiss-of-the-spider-woman-poster1_9276.jpg]]
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3	''Kiss of the Spider Woman'' was originally a 1976 novel by Argentinian writer Manuel Puig. It was later adapted into a film in 1985 and a musical in 1993. And a 1983 play. But that one isn't as well known.
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5	Set in a BananaRepublic (Argentina in the novel and musical, Brazil in the film), the story follows the imprisonment of Luis Molina (Creator/WilliamHurt in the film), a [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} trans woman]] who was caught corrupting a minor, and political prisoner Valentin Arregui (Creator/RaulJulia in the film), who is part of a leftist revolutionary group trying to overthrow the military dictatorship and is currently being tortured for information.
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7	Molina passes the time by describing her favorite movies: the most prominent ([[AdaptationDistillation and the only one featured in the film]]) being a romance story of star-crossed lovers... that also happens to be a Nazi propaganda film. Naturally, the FilmWithinAFilm is draped with metaphors and symbolism relating to the two characters. It is later revealed that Molina was imprisoned with Valentin to spy on him in the hope that he will open up to Molina, using the film as a way of getting him to talk. Just one problem: Molina has fallen in love with Valentin. Cue moral dilemmas, political statements and [[{{Gayngst}} gay angst]].
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9	Has nothing to do with any of the ComicBook/SpiderWoman characters published by Creator/MarvelComics.
10	----
11	!!The story provides examples of:
12	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Valentin's girlfriend loves Valentin who loves Marta. Molina loves the waiter, and later Valentin, both of whom are straight. [[spoiler:Subverted when Valentin agrees to sleep with Molina.]]
13	* BananaRepublic: The country the story is set in[[note]]Argentina in the novel and musical, Brazil in the film[[/note]] is a dictatorship that imprisons sexual minorities and “disappears” its political opposition. True to RealLife, in both cases.
14	* BringMyBrownPants: Very embarrassingly happens to Valentin after eating poisoned food.
15	* BuryYourGays: The trans woman protagonist demonstrates her newfound bravery by accepting a suicide mission to pass a message to political revolutionaries. The same thing occurs in the movie, with the protagonist becoming a [[AdaptationalSexuality homosexual]] [[GenderFlip cis man]].
16	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Molina dies and Arregui continues to be tortured.]]
17	* GenreShift: After [[spoiler:Molina is let out on good behavior]] the novel is told through a series of reports and documents.
18	%%* HeelFaceTurn:
19	%%** Molina, though we know that he was a heel after he starts turning.
20	%%** The protagonist of the Nazi propaganda film. Technically speaking.
21	%%* HeroicSacrifice:
22	%%** [[spoiler:The heroine of Molina's second film.]]
23	%%** [[spoiler:Molina herself.]]
24	* LastNameBasis: Molina is rarely called Luis. Valentin gets this too by everyone except Molina (see MeaningfulName).
25	* MeaningfulName: Valentin = Valentine.
26	* NarmCharm: Molina's second film is an in-universe example. Doubly so since it's a Nazi film.
27	* OutOfTheClosetIntoTheFire: The trans protagonist demonstrates her newfound bravery by accepting a suicide mission to pass a message to political revolutionaries. They shoot her, thinking she's working for the government.
28	* ScaryBlackMan: The warden's assistant.
29	* ShowWithinAShow: Molina's films.
30	* SpeechCentricWork: Largely in dialogue.
31
32	!!Additionally, the film provides examples of:
33	* AdaptationalNationality: The film relocates the story from Argentina to Brazil.
34	* AdaptationDistillation: Only one of Molina's five films from the novel makes it to the film.
35	* GenderFlip: Molina was a transgender woman in the book, but is a cisgender man now, [[AmbiguousGenderIdentity though there's still some dialogue that implies Molina is trans here too.]]
36	* MeaningfulName: The protagonist of the Nazi propaganda film is named [[Creator/LeniRiefenstahl Leni]].
37	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Neither Creator/WilliamHurt or Creator/RaulJulia attempt a Brazilian accent.
38	* PropagandaPiece: InUniverse, the Nazi film Molina is obsessed with naturally counts. It tars all Jews and French Resistance members as horrible people.
39	* TranslationConvention: All dialogue is in English, while text and signage remains in Portuguese. This extends to the "film-within-a-film" segments, where all the French and German characters speak English.
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41	!!And the musical provides examples of:
42	* PragmaticAdaptation: The musical takes even more liberties than the film.

Context Literature / KissOfTheSpiderWoman