#transparent tv

[leda-asuddenblow]

Kathryn fucking Hahn

[glazolina]

Shelly: You ridicule me. You bond with each other behind my back. You roll your eyes at me.

[emilyjeanstone]

Transparent (2014 – ) created by Jill Soloway

[mandronia]

[ilanaglazers]

Ali + water | S02E02, S03E10, S04E09

[ode-to-simplicity]

“Maybe it runs in the family.” (Transparent, Season 4)

[thecinephale]

I watched all of season 4 of Transparent on Friday. It’s a show I have trouble speaking about because of how immensely important it has been to my life. I’m an upper middle class Jewish trans woman from Los Angeles so my personal connections to this series run very deep.

The first season finale left me buzzing with excitement. I felt like I’d just witnessed a truly singular work of art. I felt such a deep connection to the material but I was able to write this off as just my Judaism and LA-ness.

The second season finale left me sobbing unlike any TV show or movie ever had. I was sitting next to my parents and my mom jokingly asked if I had something to tell them. I responded no, an answer I believed to be truthful. I had no idea why I was so deeply affected. I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself yet let alone the two of them.

The third season finale left me unsatisfied. I’d devoured the ten episodes and desperately wanted more. I had no idea why I felt so anxious. I decided that it meant I should get more in touch with my Judaism and I went to High Holiday services for the first time since my Bar Mitzvah. I enjoyed it, but the desperate itch Transparent gave me hadn’t been scratched. And it wouldn’t until I finally admitted the truth to myself and began transitioning several months later.

The fourth season finale left me grateful. Watching the show now, two weeks until I’m going to come out to my parents, and therefore be more or less out completely (except at work… that’ll be a different process…), I felt so lucky to have this show in my life. Because beyond the personal connections and the importance in my own journey, Transparent is just a remarkably accomplished work of art. 

Jill Soloway has proved that the effort to be actively inclusive results in better creative expression. Jeffrey Tambor is fine, but the moments last season where Trace Lysette was the focus or this season when Alexandra Billings was the focus were unique in their power. There’s a reason why the flashbacks to middle aged Maura were more powerful this season now that there was an actor representing young Maura as well as young Mort. 

There’s a line this season that feels worthy of writing down because of how painfully true it feels: “Secrets are kind of like a perfect stand-in for boundaries.”

[neutrois]

In the time since Transparent began, creator Jill Soloway has gone through a transition, with a recent genderqueer coming out of their own.