I noticed how much the film stayed aware of the two genders throughout the story. Assumptions about the male and female genders were made often and very directly (i.e. things were not being slyly implied to viewers, but rather directly stated). For example, when Orlando says “There are three words I could use to describe the female sex, but all three are not worth expressing.” Similarly, when Orlando looks in the mirror at his new, female body and says “Same person, different sex,” statements like these leave little room for interpretation.

I wanted to point out one of the many androgynous moments in the film. It is at the beginning of the film before the Queen dies, and she tells Orlando: “Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old.” In the Queen’s advice for Orlando, sex is irrelevant. She does not say, “Be the best man you can be,” but rather gives a life lesson that could be taken by either a man or a woman.

I think the film also emphasizes how if a person could experience what life is like from the perspective of both sexes, they would become a much more sympathetic (or rather empathetic) person.