THE STORY – A documentary that explores the evolution of gender identity and comedy from the ’90s until today through the lens of the iconic SNL sketch, It’s Pat. A group of trans and nonbinary comedians — plus the character’s creator, Julia Sweeney — gather together to grapple with the legacy of this iconic character.
THE CAST – Rowan Haber, Julia Sweeney, Kevin Nealon, Murray Hill, Molly Kearney, Brontez Purnell, Roz Hernandez, Nori Reed & James Tom
THE TEAM – Rowan Haber (Director), Rowan Haber & Hannah Buck (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 92 Minutes
In a sketch on “Saturday Night Live” in December of 1990, the world was first introduced to Pat, the comic creation of cast member Julia Sweeney. Pat was a character of an indeterminate gender whose very presence to friends and co-workers made them uncomfortable as they tried to determine to just what gender Pat rightfully belonged.
Clad in a light blue Western shirt, tan slacks, oversized horn-rimmed glasses, and curly black hair, Pat was oblivious to their puzzled inquiries, usually responding to their not-so-subtle hints with answers that only confused them further. That the joke was on the befuddled cisgender colleagues helped to make the endearing (if annoying) Pat one of the most beloved of SNL characters, appearing in 12 sketches from 1990-93 and even starring in the 1994 film “It’s Pat.”
In recent years, however, the perception of the character has decidedly changed in some quarters. With heightened sensitivities given the anti-trans mood and enacted legislation gripping some states, many trans advocates now consider the creation of Pat to be a step backward. Several pundits have now opined that Pat is actually the butt of the joke, which they cite as a concern since the character was among the few (and certainly the most popular) nonbinary presence on TV at the time. They argue that it is actually the character’s gender identity and neurodivergent traits that are being mocked.
Into the fray jumps director Ro Haber, an unabashed Pat superfan who nonetheless harbors some discomfort at the messages that can be read into Pat these days. In their own gender journey, Haber has relied on Pat as somewhat of a touchstone, but now they wonder whether the audiences that are laughing at Pat are actually laughing at Haber as well. Is Pat a nonbinary trailblazer or a transphobic cliche? Haber decides that they are not giving up on Pat quite yet and sets out to find out if there is some way to reframe the character to make Pat the kind of symbol of empowerment that Haber always considered Pat to be.
To do that, they gather a “writers’ room” of top trans and nonbinary comics, including Brontez Purnell, Roz Hernandez, Nori Reed, and James Tom, to hash out their feelings about reclaiming Pat. For most, the character was a shaping force in their early lives, and if Pat was to be reimagined, they would be just the ones to do it. Together, they hatch a plan to create a new Pat sketch that can better reflect the sensibility of trans and nonbinary people in 2025.
Before proceeding, however, Haber desired input from Sweeney herself. The comic actress is still very proud of Pat, her most popular creation, but rather sheepishly admits that she had no philosophical intent on creating the character. As men dominated SNL during her time there, with such strong male personalities as Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, and Mike Myers commanding the stage and the writer’s room during those years, she confesses that she wrote the Pat character just to get something on the air. Noting that Pat was not originally intended to be androgynous, she explains that she tried to do it in male drag but wasn’t convincing either way until she realized that the ambiguity of Pat was actually the essence of the character.
Still, she is upset at the thought that her creation could be the source of hurt and misunderstanding today, so she agrees to join the writer’s table to offer input and receive absolution. Sweeney’s journey is actually the most interesting narrative arc in “We Are Pat,” approaching the trans comics with some apprehension of what they might say but finding open arms instead. The comics empathize with Sweeney’s gender oppression while she was at SNL, with which they find some kinship. At last, their meeting movingly convinces Sweeney to become more benevolent to herself in her feelings about Pat.
Elsewhere, however, the narrative through-line of “We Are Pat” is not nearly as focused. The film begins promisingly enough as a recap of the history and cultural impact of the character, including interviews with drag king Murray Hill and former SNL alums Kevin Nealon and Molly Kearney, the only nonbinary cast member in the show’s history. But Haber soon shifts the focus to trans comedy in general, providing a bit of history before seguing to personal anecdotes and observations by the writer’s room panelists themselves. While they offer a valuable voice that is rarely heard in a documentary, their commentary offers little to what had been posed as the purpose of their gathering: a reimagined version of Pat. When the new sketch is written and shot, it’s almost thrown away at the film’s conclusion and sadly lands with precious little impact.
Even if the doc doesn’t hang together as a whole, Haber has given the trans and nonbinary comedy community a rare and valuable platform to have their voices heard. Here’s hoping that this is not the last time that their important takes can be heard in a film.
