Gender wise

Manika Ahuja

Don’t let this web television series’ genre (read American comedy-drama), fool you into believing that it would be just another series with its fair share of funny moments and nothing beyond. This one seeks to disseminate a message and has a larger purpose to achieve- that of popularising the notion that transgenders are people too! The series predominantly traces the journey of Maura Pfefferman, a 71-year-old transgender woman with three adult children, who struggles for acceptance from her family.

Created by Jill Soloway, for Amazon Studios, Transparent caught all the more eyeballs when it became the first show produced by a streaming media service to win a Golden Globe for Best Series. Not only that, the show’s lead actor Jeffrey Tambor took home the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Lights, camera...action

The show, as Soloway puts it, touches upon the themes of ‘gender and identity.’ It is while accepting a Emmy for the show’s second season, not so long ago that Soloway, gave a peep into the show’s essence and what it achieves to do, “When you take women, people of colour, trans people, queer people and you put them at the centre of the story, these subjects, instead of the objects, you change the world, we found out. We found out!”

Soon came actor Jeffrey Tambor’s impassioned acceptance speech as he got on stage to collect the award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Maura Pfefferman in Transparent- a transgender woman, who struggles with her identity. “Please give transgender talent a chance. Give them auditions. Give them their story. Do that,” said Tambor.

We bet you didn’t know..

Pun intended

The title is a clever play on words. The word ‘transparent’ refers to Maura’s life, where she lets everyone see who she really is. But the real pun emerges when you break the title down into two- ‘trans’ and ‘parent.’ You guessed it right, trans is short for transgender, and yes, Maura is the transgender parent, that the title alludes to.

Real life connect

No, the show is not entirely based on fictitious situations. The show’s creator- Soloway, hinted at having drawn inspirations for the lead character from her father coming out as transgender at the age of 70, when she noted during one of her interviews, “The Pfeffermans are just very real people. The reason I wanted to cast Jeffrey (Tambor) is because he’s always reminded me of my parent.”

History repeats

Tambor had previously portrayed transgender judge Alan Wachtel on the police procedural television show Hill Street Blues in the 1980s.

Viewer speak

Convincing portrayal

What truly brings the show alive is the lead actor Tambor. Although he is a Cisgender, he is fantastic and so convincing. — Harman Singh, student, PU

The best

Transparent is one of the best shows on television. — Nikita Singla, UGC aspirant

Praiseworthy

Tambor’s heart-rending portrayal of a man embracing himself is worthy of appreciation. — Mugdha, teacher.