The World's Worst Sex Change Surgeon


Title: The World's Worst Sex Change Surgeon
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Documentary (Horror)
Director: Unknown

Whilst technically not a film but an old “Channel Four” special over here in the UK, with a title like this how could anyone whose seen live surgery - or at least a show with graphical depictions - pass up on it; the opportunity to witness how badly things could go wrong. Sadly, we don't see too much. I've seen a few of these 1am gorefests wrapped up in a “documentary” title and this one has most of the scenes removed, perhaps to help prevent alienating the male audience which makes up the majority of the fucked-up-shit fanbase as well as the demographic most attached to their penis so to speak. And indeed, if you decide to look up the World's Worst Sex Change Surgeon, his name comes up well before this documentary: John Ronald Brown. The man who couldn't take a fucking hint.

But despite the bias in the name, this 45 minute insight into his life tries to display both sides of the argument, and the testament from his lawyer and from “Mimi,” the success story that makes you wonder if – even now knowing she used to be a dude – after a couple of beers you still wouldn't jump at the chance. The fact that the 70s when he started his unconventional practice wasn't exactly known for opening their arms wide and accepting those who desire the operation (hell, women had only recently been allowed to vote) was a persuasive argument as well; a doctor is above all else seen as someone who wishes to help their patient, and when the official route failed, conventional plastic surgeons refused and costs were beyond their reach, they would turn to someone like Dr. Brown who would be willing to bend the rules for their patients (Dr. Cox from “Scrubs” anyone?)

Sadly, he wouldn't be known as the world's worst if he wasn't pretty freakin' bad at his job. Believing himself gifted, he came up with the very first successful sex change that retained the feeling, revolutionising the way the operations were performed, and indeed throughout the 70s he was known as the go-to man of the California area. Except for the fact he performed in garages, motel rooms, and didn't pass his surgical exam, which as you might expect made the board of doctors pretty worried, causing them to revoke his license to practice medicine. If all that didn't give him a hint, you'd have thought his prison sentence a few months later would have, but 18 months later he was back to his old self, with added super-glue and drawings from a 4 year olds colouring book. If you have ¾ hour to kill, learning about this guy is the best advert for medicare I've seen yet.

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