History YMMV / GlenOrGlenda

* ValuesDissonance: The trope is Discussed InUniverse when Dr. Alton points out that there were several tribes in the "less civilised parts of the world" where it is seen as perfectly normal for men to make themselves look pretty for their wives. They do not see it as "unmanly" at all. He also points out that cars and airplanes were once seen as weird and threatening, but are now an essential part of today's society.
** The movie has quite a bit of ValuesDissonance of its own. See FairForItsDay for more details.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Every single time Bela Lugosi appears, he is sitting in a chair in a room full of horror-movie props, while giving bizarre monologues with very little relation to the previous scene. During the notorious "pull the string!" moment, there is also StockFootage of stampeding buffalo superimposed over Lugosi.

* SoBadItsGood: In large part thanks to Creator/BelaLugosi's monologues.

* {{Narm}}: This movie is ''loaded'' with it.

** The portrayal of indigenous people can also come of as rather racist, as they are treated as more "primitive" than the "normal" people in the civilized world. Though while Dr. Alton sees them as less civilized, he doesn't look down on them for that, and actually argues that - in certain ways - they may be more "natural" than people in modern societies have become.

* EvilIsSexy: {{Satan}}, while taking the form of Barbara.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Some of the more surreal parts of the film qualify. Nobody is going to accuse you for wondering if Lugosi was reading from a script or was actually high and trying to warn the crew of a dragon he was hallucinating about.

* WTHCastingAgency: As ''Look Back in Angora'' stated, "Only Creator/EdWood would have cast [[Film/Dracula1931 Dracula]]...as ''God''!"
** Though in fairness, Lugosi does a pretty good job. The problem is that his scenes are utterly bizarre and that his character only seems to exist to give him somebody to play.

* VindicatedByHistory: To a certain extent. It is still not seen as a good movie, but it is at least somewhat appreciated for having a very brave message that was ahead of its time.

** Glen's story ending with him "curing" his crossdressing comes of as rather ignorant today, but [[CureYourGays unlike other, similar examples of this trope]] it is said that this should only be done under certain circumstances and with the patient's consent. His "condition" is also treated more akin to a drug addiction than a mental illness, and is seen more as a symptom of a problem than a problem in and of itself, which mostly explains the portrayal of crossdressing in the film -- that is, the movie argues that crossdressing is usually harmless, but if it is hurting you and/or the people closest to you, you should stop it. Considering that Ed Wood himself continued to crossdress long after making this film, one can also imagine that he would probably have shown Glen continuing to do so if he could, but the political climate of the time (and possibly also the studio) simply wouldn't permit it.

* HarsherInHindsight: The ending, where Glen and Barbara - played by Creator/EdWood and his real-life girlfriend Dolores Fuller - get married and live HappilyEverAfter becomes this when you consider that Ed and Dolores never got married, and separated a few years later. Then a few years after that, Wood married Norma [=McCarty=], with that marriage not even lasting a full year, in no small part due to Wood's cross-dressing (albeit primarily because of his alcoholism).

** Glen's story ending with him "curing" his crossdressing comes of as rather ignorant today, but [[CureYourGays unlike other, similar examples of this trope]] it is said that this should only be done under certain cicumstances and with the patient's consent. His "condition" is also treated more akin to a drug addiction than a mental illness, and is seen more as a symptom of a problem than a problem in and of itself, which mostly explains the portrayal of crossdressing in the film -- that is, the movie argues that crossdressing is usually harmless, but if it is hurting you and/or the people closest to you, you should stop it. Considering that Ed Wood himself continued to crossdress long after making this film, one can also imagine that he would probably have shown Glen continuing to do so if he could, but the political climate of the time (and possibly also the studio) simply wouldn't permit it.

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* SoBadItsGood: In large part thanks to Bela Lugosi's monologues.
* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Ed Wood, of course. He took what could have been a simple exploitation film and tried to turn it into a great, character-driven story with a plead for acceptance, but he didn't quite have the talent or the budget to really pull it off.

* WTHCastingAgency: As ''Look Back in Angora'' stated, "Only Ed Wood would have cast Dracula... as ''God''!"

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** Crossdressers are often perfectly nice people who deserve to be treated with respect, not looked down upon or laughed at.
** It is better to stay true to who you truly are inside, than to live a lie.

* VindicatedByHistory: To a certain extent. It is still not seen as a good movie, but it is at least somewhat appreciated for having [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped a very brave message that was ahead of its time.]]

** Anne's story, which has her leave the army and becoming a housewife has some strong StayInTheKitchen vibes, but it is still a clearly positive portrayal of a {{transgender}} woman, and Dr. Alton feels that letting her transition was the best solution to her problems. Considering that the movie was made around the time when the fact that sex changes ''existed'' was front page news, this is quite remarkable.

* FairForItsDay: The movie has a fair share of ValuesDissonance, though considering when it was made, it was actually very forward-thinking.
** It manages to avert TransEqualsGay, a trope that is still persistant to this day, but does so in a way that implies that homosexuality isn't "normal," but crossdressing is.

* HarsherInHindisght: The ending, where Glen and Barbara - played by Creator/EdWood and his real-life girlfriend Dolores Fuller - get married and live HappilyEverAfter becomes this when you consider that Ed and Dolores never got married, and separated a few years later. Then a few years after that, Wood married Norma [=McCarty=], with that marriage not even lasting a full year, in no small part due to Wood's cross-dressing (albeit primarily because of his alcoholism).

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The ending, where Glen and Barbara - played by Creator/EdWood and his real-life girlfriend Dolores Fuller - get married and live HappilyEverAfter becomes this when you consider that Ed and Dolores never got married, and separated a few years later.

** The speech about the Big Green Dragon actually becomes rather creepy when it is said by {{Satan}}, who stares at the viewer and apparentely communicates with them telepathically.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Crossdressers are often perfectly nice people who deserve to be treated with respect, not looked down upon or laughed at.

* VindicatedByHistory: To a certain extent. It is still not seen as a good movie, but it is a least somewhat appreciated for having [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped a very brave message that was ahead of its time.]]

** It's better to stay true to who you truly are inside than to live a lie.

* ValuesDissonance: The trope is Discussed InUniverse when Dr. Alton points out that there exists several tribes in the "less civilised parts of the world" where it's seen as perfectly normal for men to make themselves look pretty for their wives and not see it as "unmanly" at all. He also points out that cars and airplanes were once seen as weird and threatening, but are now an essential part of today's society.

** The suicide scene arguably hits harder today than it did back then. The movie portrayals Patrick/Patricia as a JustifiedCriminal who really didn't deserve to die like that, but a modern audience might see him/her more like a victim of discrimination who couldn't take it any more.
** In general, the portrayal of crossdressing is rather nuanced. It's said that people do it for a variety of different reasons, and that they should be judged on a case-by-case basis, as even people who seem very similar can require completely different kinds of help.
* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Some of the more surreal parts of the film qualify. Nobody's gonna fault you for wondering if Lugosi was reading from a script or was actually high and trying to warn the crew of a dragon he was hallucinating.

** It manges to avert TransEqualsGay, a trope that is still persistant to this day, but does so in a way that implies that homosexuality isn't "normal," but crossdressing is.
** Glen's story ending with him "curing" his crossdressing comes of as rather ignorant today, but [[CureYourGays unlike other, similar examples of this trope]] it is said that this should only be done under certain cicumstances and with the patients consent. His "condition" is also treated more akin to a drug addiction than a mental illness, and is seen more as a symptom of a problem than a problem in and of itself, which mostly explains the portrayal of crossdressing in the film -- that is, the movie argues that crossdressing is usually harmless, but if it's hurting you and/or the people closest to you, you should stop it. Considering that Ed Wood himself continued to crossdress long after making this film, one can also imagine that he would probably have shown Glen continuing to do so if he could, but the political climate of the time (and possibly also the studio) simply wouldn't permit it.

* AccidentalInnuendo: Dr. Alton's description of Anne's anatomy is rather... detailed. It can give the impression that Alton had a crush on her, and make you wonder just far he went in teaching her to be a woman in ''every'' way.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Every single time Bela Lugosi appears, he's sitting in a chair in a room full of horror-movie props while giving bizarre monologues with very little relation to the previous scene. During the notorious "pull the string!" moment, there's also StockFootage of stampeding buffalo superimposed over Lugosi.

** Anne's story, which has her leave the army and becoming a housewife has some strong StayInTheKitchen vibes, but it is still a clearly positive portrayal of a transgendered woman, and Dr. Alton feels that letting her transition was the best solution to her problems. Considering that the movie was made around the time when the fact that sex changes ''existed'' was front page news, this is quite remarkable.
** The portrayal of indigenous people can also come of as rather racist, as they are treated as more "primitive" than the "normal" people in the civilised world. Though while Dr. Alton sees them as less civilised, he doesn't look down on them for that, and actually argues that - in certain ways - they may be more "natural" than people in modern societies have become.