Miss Netherlands: The Battle for Acceptance & Understanding

How do you drown out the screaming? How do you arm yourself against other people’s judgment? How do you find reason in a divided society? That pretty much sums up Thursday evening. Natascha van Weezel and Sinan Can, journalists and friends, investigated Bridge over the fault line to centripetal voices in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Rikkie Kollé, the trans woman who was elected Miss Netherlands, is herself the source of conflict. In Rikkie Kollé, the most beautiful woman in the Netherlands she fights a lonely battle against the people who think she should not exist.

In the documentary about her we follow Rikkie Kollé (22) in the preparations for the Miss Universe election in El Salvador. A world stage where 84 Masses from as many countries have to shout their names and origins into the microphone to be heard above the noise of a frenzied crowd. They then show themselves in bikinis and evening dresses and after a few more rounds and an in-depth interview, the most beautiful woman in the world is chosen.

Yvette Kollé, Rikkie’s mother, passionately hopes that her daughter will win the world title not wins. “She has the whole of the Netherlands falling over her, then the whole world will fall over her.” It was already world news when she won the Dutch title this summer. ‘A man is the most beautiful woman?’ The hate reactions that resulted, from men and women. It makes you cold, my grandmother would say.

We see Rikkie Kollé as a guest on a talk show from Omroep Brabant. At the table she appears to be sitting opposite Rob Mutsaerts, auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Den Bosch, who believes that the “woke culture” is disrupting the country like an invisible virus. As far as he is concerned, gender change is an expression of that woke culture. The presenter asks whether the auxiliary bishop feels responsible for the mess that Rikkie Kollé has on her plate. No, says the man in the dress, he doesn’t feel guilty at all. Not an answer that will shock you. It scares me that you put a 22-year-old girl unprepared at the table with such a man.

Kollé wanted to seek understanding and recognition for her existence as a trans woman on the largest stage for ultra-feminine women. If the documentary shows anything, it is what a terrible event such a Miss pageant is. She didn’t win. Good thing, too.

War

In their documentary, Natascha van Weezel and Sinan Can visit people on both sides of the rift that the Palestinian-Israeli war has created in the Netherlands. They talk to those who speak out, take a stand, take a side. With Esther Voet, editor-in-chief of the New Israeli Weekly. With Stephan van Baarle, chairman of Denk. Those are voices we know.

But what they hope to find are the voices of people who, like them, choose not to make a choice. They themselves were and are being severely attacked for not speaking out for or against others. Hate mail and death threats, canceled friendships, no more public appearances without the police present. They told us that earlier in the evening Khalid & Sophie.

What they in Bridge over the fault line are very shaky rope bridges. Four young adults, two with a Jewish and two with a Muslim background, who bring the peace message ‘Share the pigeon’ to schools. Their logo of a dove of peace is returned by haters beheaded or wearing a bomb belt. The conversation between Natascha van Weezel and her mother, Anet Bleich, was beautiful. She sees no other option than to “sit on the floor and cry.” Such is the voice of the hopeless.

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2023-12-22 05:17:29


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