Transparent

This article provides a brief introduction to the Transparent television series. The series is well-documented and well-reviewed on the web and in other media.

This television series has no connection to a 2006 documentary film of the same name.

Transparent is an American drama-comedy television series, written and directed by Jill Soloway, produced by Victor Hsu and Andrea Sperling, and distributed by Amazon Studios. The program premiered in February of 2014 and has been extended through at least the 2015-2016 US television season. The series stars veteran actor Jeffrey Tambor as Mort/Maura. Named featured players include Amy Landecker, Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass, and Judith Light.

Background

The series is loosely based upon a similar real life family, although the setting has been changed and many aspects have been dramatized and given considerable artistic liberty.

Plot Synopsis

The series revolves around the Pfefferman family, an upper middle class but dysfunctional Jewish-American family consisting of divorced parents Mort and Shelly and their three adult-age children. The main story line involves Mort coming out as Transgender and the impending Transition to Maura. In the pilot episode, Mort summons the siblings to dinner, intending to announce the transition. Upon finding the adult children distracted, self-obsessed, and consumed with other issues, Mort states that the big announcement is the sale of the family home. An eventual chain of events leads to Mort being "discovered" as Maura at the end of the episode.

Story arcs include themes of weight and body image, delayed coming of age, financial difficulties, and the more difficult topics of bisexuality and intergenerational sexuality.

Acclaim and Criticism

The series has, in general, been very well received both within the LGBT community and the general public. In particular the portrayal of the transgender individual is regarded as accurate and empathetic.

The series is regarded as being extremely well written and very well produced. The characters are well-developed and realistic.

The producers have been criticized for not actively seeking a transgender player for the part of Mort/Maura.

The roles of the adult children have been criticized as caricatures or parodies of their real-life counterparts.

Trivia

• Jeffrey Tambor previously played a transgender (crossdresser) character on the American TV police drama series Hill Street Blues.
• Several reviews, on-line and in print, spell the protagonist's name "Moira", which is incorrect.

External Links

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3233560/ Transparent IMDB entry