Role Reversal Films

08.14.09 | Jason Marcewicz | Staff NotesPrint this Post

The recent release of 17 Again on DVD got me thinking about the many variations of the role reversal theme in movies. Akin to 17 Again, where Matthew Perry regresses to his younger self, there is Peggy Sue Got Married in which a grown woman is thrown back in time and gets to re-examine the choices she made in her life. Then there’s Big and 13 Going on 30, where the lead characters both age into their future selves and have to cope with adult issues.

Parent/offspring body switches are extremely popular in Hollywood—they seem to (re-)cycle every decade or so. Freaky Friday is probably the most well known, particularly since it has been made and remade in 1976, 1995, and 2003. Like Father Like Son and Vice Versa have the parental switcheroo, and going slightly further is 18 Again! which has a grandfather/son twist. (All three of those were released within a year of each other in the late ‘80s!)


Gender reversals are big Tinsel town faves, too. The Hot Chick has a magical female-to-male switch, as do Turnabout and Dating the Enemy, both probing “grass is greener” themes within the battle of the sexes. Orlando goes farther afield by having its title character change sexual orientation simply on his/her own volition (not via another character). And the film Prelude to a Kiss has an ailing, elderly man’s spirit transferred into the body of a youthful bride-to-be—the gender-bending here taking a back seat to a serious examination of inner & outer beauty. Other gender-swap flicks of a less supernatural ilk include, among many others, Tootsie, Just One of the Guys, Mrs. Doubtfire, Mulan, Yentl, and Boys Don’t Cry.


Goodbye Charlie (later remade as 1991’s Switch) retains the gender-bending element but thematically belong under the umbrella of role-reversing reincarnation films. Joining it are Here Comes Mr. Jordan (remade as 1978’s Heaven Can Wait), You Never Can Tell (a rare animal-to-human switch), and Oh, Heavenly Dog! (human-to-animal). Further animal swaps of the non-reincarnation kind are: The Shaggy Dog and its sequel The Shaggy DA, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Willow, and Brother Bear.


Like a few of the examples above, the Chris Rock vehicle Down to Earth straddles a couple of genres. It deals with issues of reincarnation, but it also includes race swap themes. The Watermelon Man deals solely with ethnic issues, too, by having a white man experiencing 1960s racism after waking up one morning to find he’s black. Similarly, the docudrama Black Like Me recounted a white journalist’s findings while traveling through the Deep South c. 1959 after intentionally darkening his skin. And then there’s White Chicks, which hits a role-reversing trifecta by switching not only race and gender but also social status, namely the preferential treatment “the beautiful people” are privy to.


Class differences are jabbed at in Trading Places, as well, looking at how members of vastly different economic means (and race) deal with the sudden gain/loss of wealth. Other rags-to-riches/riches-to-rags movies include Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The Jerk, Maid to Order, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Overboard. Furthermore, The Prince and the Pauper falls under the class-swapping genre but adds the look-alike angle. Also ensconced in the doppelganger subgenre would be The Parent Trap (1961 and 1998), Face/Off (where, through plastic surgery, identities are switched), and the good/evil twin movies Dead Ringer (with Bette Davis) and Dead Ringers (with Jeremy Irons).


Body swapping, race changing, animal transference, gender benders, social inequalities…have we included them all? Which are your favorites and why? What bugs you the most? We know what gets Christopher Campbell’s dander up. Check out his blog: 10 Clichés of the Body Swap Movie.