Is Mr. Sir a woman?

Is Mr. Sir a woman?, originally uploaded by The Earl of Steinway.

    I just finished watching the movie version of Holes. Although I have seen this movie many times, this time was special for me. Am I crazy or has anyone else wondered what Jon Voight's character really means when, in response to the comment, "I didn't know Marion was a man's name" he says, "It ain't."
    If it's not a man's name, does that mean he's not a man? And am I dense to even think that this is subtext? Is it one of those "this is for the parents" things?

    Consider that this line is not in the book. I checked. Mr. Sir pretty much disappears at the end of the book. But in the movie version, not only is Mr. Sir recognized and then outed as "Marion Sevillo" from El Paso, he is wearing pink satin pajamas when this happens. And he mentions "Girl Scout Camp" more often in the movie version. Also, following an eruption of Mr. Sir's anger, Mr. Pendanski says, "You see, Mr. Sir is a sensitive person, like all of us."
    Am I the only person to pick up on this? Would a real tough guy wear a leather bracelet/ watch, three turqouise rings and a straw hat?
    And if I'm right, what's the meaning of this subversive subtext of one of nation's cherished classics of young adult literature? Was Voigt just fighting on set boredom?

(Update- since I wrote this I've noticed numerous hits on my blog resulting from google searches "Is Mr. Sir a woman?" or "'Mr Sir' woman" so maybe I'm not just dense. Somebody leave a comment!)

Comments

[Lindsay Hires]

Oh my gosh. I read this and completeley FREAKED! It's something I've been in denial about for a long, long time, but it actually makes sense. I've had a kind of sick crush on Mr. Sir (for some reason I'll never fully understand), and this just totally shocked me out of it! Dude, it makes a lot of sense! Ack. And now I have really disturbing images of what he'd look like without the mustache and tight pants. *shutter*
Nice observation, dude.

[Michael]

WTF!? ARE YOU DUMB.. HE IS NOT A GIRL AND TO THINK YOUR SMART AND NOTICE SOMETHING THAT TINY AND DUMB IS OUTRAGUS. THEY put lines in the movie like that to add some sort of twist up or humor not to act like he's a girl.

[Rebecka]

hey i never thought that Mr. Sir would be a woman so im am freaked!

[Amber]

Michael needs to chill out.
I found this blog by searching for "Mr. Sir a woman." I just finished watching the movie and after that line "I ain't," I thought I would google it to find out.
I mean the name Mr. Sir even seems to be overkill like a woman desperately trying to be masculine.
Very curious, indeed. I would like to know if the Mr. Sir character is a transsexual.
Maybe we shall never know.

[Bayley D]

yeah after i watched the movie with the "i didnt know marion was a guy name"
and he's like "it aint"
i needed 2 know. but yeah when u go Mr SIR!
it was kinda obvious that he was tryin 2 become a man figure
and thats probably why he was mentioning girl scouts alot-maybe he was one

[callum]

We had to read this for english at school, and we were all really confused about this. The line isn't in the book so I agree with micheal that it's just some stupid twist they put in the movie. If you read the book you will find that it's a lot different from the movie!!! (like that line)

[Lala]

the author of the book was the same person who wrote the film's screenplay, so i don't think it's a random, unrelated twist

[daichan]

the line "it aint" could mean that like in the song a boy named Sue, that his parents just named him that

[MANAGEMENT]

dalchan
I thought the same thing, even down to the "boy named Sue" reference. If it was only that, it would be one thing, but when you add it to the other evidence, it seems to suggest that perhaos Voigt thought, hey this is a pretty mediocre kids movie, I think I'll make it interesting by playing it tranny. There is no way of knowing until Jon himself speaks up. And why am I (still) the only one on the internet commenting on this?

[Aishah Akhtar]

this is very useful.

[MANAGEMENT]

Aishah,
Are you being sarcastic?

[tom]

The first time I saw that, I noticed the line. It explains why Sigourney Weaver's character so abhors Voights. Loved that story, especially Henry Winkler as the dad, and the little guy as the Mr. Pendanski. He was in "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou", a great movie by the Coen brothers, I think.
If you liked HOles, you'd like this one.

[Tamara Quintero]

Well I think that this is absored,just because he is dressed up like this doesn't make him gay or a woman.Anyway he don't even look like a woman so what's the point?

[MANAGEMENT]

Tamara, I think you missed the point completely. Not only is this NOT absored, this is not even absurd, or absolved, even. As Aishah Akhtar put it (succinctly) whether or not Mr. Sir is Miss Ma'am or Mister Miss is "very useful." This is something that resulted in both Rebecka and Lindsay being "freaked." Are you going to say that they are just trying to add some sort of "twist" or "humor?"

[Vivi Swanye]

HE IS NOT A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[Vivi Swanye]

WTF!? ARE YOU DUMB? HE IS NOT A GIRL AND TO NOTICE SOMETHING THAT TINY AND DUMB IS Totally stupid. THEY put lines in the movie like that to add some sort of twist up or humor not to act like he's a girl.

[Chris Morris]

I'v been wondering the same thing since I read the book. I always wondered what the significance of the name Mr. Sir was, and I believe that Voight's character is indeed written deeper than we should take at face value

[h]

im reading this book in english nd i agree that it makes him seem like a girl, like a boy named marion yeh right

[KYLE]

OMG im so glad i found this website, I thought I was alone in wondering whether or not he is or was a woman. basically we will never know unless we ask the right people but in my opinion since im allowed to believe whatever i want, i think he used to be a woman and tried to cover it up by calling himself MR. SIR
At first i thought it was like in "a boy named sue" and that MR SIR was just a name to show a level of respect or something but really? Pink Satin Pajamas. what guys do you know that would wear those? Especially if respect/order is a big part of their life and their job.

[gg]

Enpowerment for women!

[gg]

mr sir is fit

[rasputia]

losers! get a life a girl or sumthing!

[TheAmethystRiddle]

xD
This is definitely funny.
I don't think he's a woman, and I don't think he's gay, but I obviously don't know. I'm not Louis Sachar. It is quite different in the book, if that's any consolation to those of you that are shocked. He's much more manly in the book- perhaps the joke in the movie has an entirely different connotation. Some on-set joke or something.

[ilovemeganandsaleena]

I love Mr.sir
Megan loves Mr. sir
saleena loves Mr. sir

i rest my case :)

have a nice day.

[fgher]

hehehehheheheh