When I first heard about the new Amazon Prime series Transparent, I thought to myself, “I’ll have to watch that when I have time.” And as time passed, I got caught up in other shows and let it slip to the back of my mind. It wasn’t until my mom raved about how much she enjoyed the show that I decided to give it a try. I only wish I started watching sooner!
The title of the show is actually a really clever play on words, since it’s literally about a trans parent. The show follows the family of 2 daughters, 1 son, and a divorced mom, as they come to terms with their father, Maura, coming out as transgender. It follows Maura’s transition to female and the obstacles that her and her family face.
Although I’m only on Season 2, I’ve already seen such a huge progression of each of the children, Sarah, Ali, and Josh, in terms of their own personal growth and their acceptance of Maura, who they affectionately call “Moppa.” There are so many realistic situations that happen in this show that many families of transgender individuals encounter everyday.
The show has many other components to it as well and each character has their own complicated storyline (which can sometimes get overwhelming, not gonna lie.) There are a lot of different issues that are addressed that many viewers can identify with. Although Maura’s kids are older than me, they tend to be a little immature, so their reactions and decisions are definitely relatable.
My favorite thing about the show is its normalization and de-stigmatization of the trans community. There are many transgender characters who are unique and complex and not just seen as their identity. Out of all the shows that feature transgender characters, very few have any notable characteristics other than being trans, and that is not a very good representation.
I feel like I’ve learned so much about the everyday life of transgender people, since this show presents me with situations I have never encountered and never considered. I think this is a great show to help people wrap their head around being transgender, especially if they don’t personally know anyone that identifies as transgender or is transitioning.
I’m so happy that shows like this exist that acknowledge and support the LGBTQ+ community. There are many moments in the show that reflect on the history of LGBTQ+ rights and seeing how far we’ve come in society is both reassuring and motivating. I think there’s definitely progress to be made and I’m scared of the ways we could regress, especially in the U.S. The best way to help fight for a marginalized group is to educate yourself as much as possible on that group. Transparent is a great resource for that.