June 23, 2026
FILM: WE ARE PAT
DIRECTED BY: ROWAN HABER
RATING: 3 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I was watching in the 1990s when the character of Pat was first introduced and played by cast member Julia Sweeney on Saturday Night Live. In each of her sketches, other characters were confused about Pat’s gender and tried to figure it out. It became the basis for the laughs not only in the sketches but in a subsequent movie called It’s Pat. The documentary We Are Pat explores that character and the impact it had on the culture. Most interesting is that the people involved with the new film are either non-binary or transgender. Where there were many years when Sweeney essentially had to apologize for creating Pat, a whole new generation sees the character in a completely different light. There’s an embracing of Pat as the first gender ambiguous character to regularly appear on a TV series AND they are trying to reclaim Pat as a non-binary or trans icon.
Filmmaker Rowan Haber has really created a thought-provoking documentary for a new age by looking at Pat as a character that was ahead of its time. Haber begins the film with a bunch of performers preparing to play Pat in what they deem as a remake of It’s Pat. All of the actors are themselves non-binary or transgender and they seem to be really enjoying themselves. It’s not they don’t have questions about the effect the character might have had on 90s culture but rather they delve into those questions, debate them, and even invite Julia Sweeney to discuss their thoughts on Pat. Clearly, they are big fans, which is refreshing given the backlash Sweeney endured for years. Today these performers have Pat costumes, mugs, books and just about anything Pat related.
Haber interviews a wide variety of performers who are known for their gender non-conforming stage and screen work. These include Murray Hill (Somebody, Somewhere), Molly Kearney (the first non-binary cast member of Saturday Night Live) and Joey Soloway (creator of the series Transparent.) These and the many other performers interviewed offer great insights into how they felt upon first seeing Pat. They discuss the “joke” of the character and some of its more offensive features: drooling, being annoying, the wide unflattering glasses, and the character’s big eyebrows. But mostly there is an embracing of Pat as one that has spoken to their realities throughout their lives.
The film also features a history of trans performers dating back to early cinema and vaudeville to the present day conservative political movement against the transgender community. Of course, Haber also intercuts clips from Pat sketches as well as the It’s Pat movie which illustrate all of the good and bad associated with that portrayal. Sweeney is very open about her naivety when creating the character but how she’s also come to terms with Pat and acknowledges it will be the creation she will be most remembered for.
For a film about a character that was essentially a one-joke series of sketches, We Are Pat, is extremely insightful. It addresses how gender identity has been explored on screen and in comedy, the limitations of humor at various points in time, and how such art changes over the years. Several of the subjects in the film debate whether one could really remake Pat today and how the character would have to have evolved. It explores so much it’s almost exhausting by the end! I found my head spinning with whole new perspectives on the 30+ year old character that has taken on a surprising new meaning for an entire 21st Century community of LGBTQ+ people.
We Are Pat is now available to rent/buy on various streaming sites.
FILM: WE ARE PAT
DIRECTED BY: ROWAN HABER
RATING: 3 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I was watching in the 1990s when the character of Pat was first introduced and played by cast member Julia Sweeney on Saturday Night Live. In each of her sketches, other characters were confused about Pat’s gender and tried to figure it out. It became the basis for the laughs not only in the sketches but in a subsequent movie called It’s Pat. The documentary We Are Pat explores that character and the impact it had on the culture. Most interesting is that the people involved with the new film are either non-binary or transgender. Where there were many years when Sweeney essentially had to apologize for creating Pat, a whole new generation sees the character in a completely different light. There’s an embracing of Pat as the first gender ambiguous character to regularly appear on a TV series AND they are trying to reclaim Pat as a non-binary or trans icon.
Filmmaker Rowan Haber has really created a thought-provoking documentary for a new age by looking at Pat as a character that was ahead of its time. Haber begins the film with a bunch of performers preparing to play Pat in what they deem as a remake of It’s Pat. All of the actors are themselves non-binary or transgender and they seem to be really enjoying themselves. It’s not they don’t have questions about the effect the character might have had on 90s culture but rather they delve into those questions, debate them, and even invite Julia Sweeney to discuss their thoughts on Pat. Clearly, they are big fans, which is refreshing given the backlash Sweeney endured for years. Today these performers have Pat costumes, mugs, books and just about anything Pat related.
Haber interviews a wide variety of performers who are known for their gender non-conforming stage and screen work. These include Murray Hill (Somebody, Somewhere), Molly Kearney (the first non-binary cast member of Saturday Night Live) and Joey Soloway (creator of the series Transparent.) These and the many other performers interviewed offer great insights into how they felt upon first seeing Pat. They discuss the “joke” of the character and some of its more offensive features: drooling, being annoying, the wide unflattering glasses, and the character’s big eyebrows. But mostly there is an embracing of Pat as one that has spoken to their realities throughout their lives.
The film also features a history of trans performers dating back to early cinema and vaudeville to the present day conservative political movement against the transgender community. Of course, Haber also intercuts clips from Pat sketches as well as the It’s Pat movie which illustrate all of the good and bad associated with that portrayal. Sweeney is very open about her naivety when creating the character but how she’s also come to terms with Pat and acknowledges it will be the creation she will be most remembered for.
For a film about a character that was essentially a one-joke series of sketches, We Are Pat, is extremely insightful. It addresses how gender identity has been explored on screen and in comedy, the limitations of humor at various points in time, and how such art changes over the years. Several of the subjects in the film debate whether one could really remake Pat today and how the character would have to have evolved. It explores so much it’s almost exhausting by the end! I found my head spinning with whole new perspectives on the 30+ year old character that has taken on a surprising new meaning for an entire 21st Century community of LGBTQ+ people.
We Are Pat is now available to rent/buy on various streaming sites.