01-10-2014, 03:54 AM
I hope these comments on the series don't dissuade anyone from enjoying the movie. You don't have to read on.
Wife and I finished watching the series “Transparent” tonight. I've heard that the program is getting favorable reviews, and I have to agree it is good drama with a bit of humor thrown in. I look forward to next season.
While watching the program, I was interested in how the TS protagonist, Maura, would be depicted. I may have expressed my disappointment in the past about how transgenders are often treated in many Hollywood films, and I was hoping to finally see a movie that cast TGs in a more favorable, respectful light. In the few reviews of the movie that I've read, the subject of transgenderism is said to be treated with sensitivity. I'd say that's true, but I also have to say that the movie disturbed me, as well.
It was not an uplifting portrayal of life as a transsexual. Okay, maybe that's the reality of it, but it seemed to reinforce the stigma society places on trans people. There was nothing in the movie that would reassure the family of a trans parent that this is something to welcome and embrace. There wasn’t anyone in the Pfefferman family who accepted Maura without reservation. The one line in the movie where a trans friend of Maura warned her that her entire family would abandon her in time, was particularly depressing.
The fact that transgenderism is presented along side a lot of other messed up family dynamics does nothing to avoid the impression that coming out trans is just another screwed up human condition. I can't believe that was an objective of Jill Soloway, the creator of the series.
I do think that Jeffrey Tambor does a excellent job playing Maura. Her portrayal as one of the few well-grounded, rationale people in the movie was heartening. Other aspects of transgenderism, for example male cross dressing, were hit pretty hard.
Clara
Wife and I finished watching the series “Transparent” tonight. I've heard that the program is getting favorable reviews, and I have to agree it is good drama with a bit of humor thrown in. I look forward to next season.
While watching the program, I was interested in how the TS protagonist, Maura, would be depicted. I may have expressed my disappointment in the past about how transgenders are often treated in many Hollywood films, and I was hoping to finally see a movie that cast TGs in a more favorable, respectful light. In the few reviews of the movie that I've read, the subject of transgenderism is said to be treated with sensitivity. I'd say that's true, but I also have to say that the movie disturbed me, as well.
It was not an uplifting portrayal of life as a transsexual. Okay, maybe that's the reality of it, but it seemed to reinforce the stigma society places on trans people. There was nothing in the movie that would reassure the family of a trans parent that this is something to welcome and embrace. There wasn’t anyone in the Pfefferman family who accepted Maura without reservation. The one line in the movie where a trans friend of Maura warned her that her entire family would abandon her in time, was particularly depressing.
The fact that transgenderism is presented along side a lot of other messed up family dynamics does nothing to avoid the impression that coming out trans is just another screwed up human condition. I can't believe that was an objective of Jill Soloway, the creator of the series.
I do think that Jeffrey Tambor does a excellent job playing Maura. Her portrayal as one of the few well-grounded, rationale people in the movie was heartening. Other aspects of transgenderism, for example male cross dressing, were hit pretty hard.
Clara