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by Christine Benvenuto
Leading up to the much anticipated second season of the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, the show’s transgender actress Laverne Cox, who plays (transgender) inmate Sophia, has gotten a lot of media buzz. As I wrote in “Moving Pictures,” my essay on portrayals of trans families in film and television, Orange went where such fictional portrayals have rarely gone before, daring to care not only about Sophia and her right to womanhood, but about the wife and son who suffer the fallout of her self-actualization project, as well.
Sophia’s story is one of many sidelines in the Netflix show, but in February, Amazon offered a pilot for a potential series that places the drama of a transgender father center stage. Set in Los Angeles, the show, called Transparent, stars actor Jeffrey Tambor as Mort, the middle-aged father of three adult children. Mort invites his offspring to dinner with the intention of giving them the big news–that is, that he’s decided to transition – then fails to speak. Maybe he’s daunted by their cheerful, chatty self-absorption, maybe he’s just chicken. After his son and older daughter have left, we watch him write a check to keep his younger, unemployed daughter afloat. Perhaps by way of explaining to himself (or viewers) his willingness to support her, Mort tells her, “Out of all my kids…you can see me most clearly.” The next day, taking part in a support group, we hear Mort declare that his children are “so selfish” and wonder how he “could have raised three people who can’t see beyond themselves.” We can only imagine that what he means by this condemnation is that when his children look at him they only see their father–not the woman he means to become.
By referencing the need of trans parents to be “seen” by those around them, particularly by their children, and by raising the question of selfishness, the show has–knowingly? inadvertently?–touched upon two of the stickiest issues that come up when a parent decides to upend his/her gender, and a family along with it. Is Transparent being ironic when it has this dad accuse his children of selfishness? By making Mort a long-divorced father of adults, the show sidesteps the knottier issues of coming out as transgender in the context of a family. But even treating this demographic and operating within the acerbic parameters of satire, the show can choose to explore the issues its pilot raises. These young adults indeed appear entirely shallow – is their dad any different? His ex-wife refers to his penchant for young girlfriends. Has he been a good husband and father? If not, will his trans status afford him a moral pass, or will he be held accountable for his failings? And while we’re on the subject of selfishness, what about Mort’s need to be “seen”? Is that a realistic–and healthy–expectation of the parent-child relationship? What do these offspring owe Mort in exchange for those checks?
The pilot generated interest among viewers and is slated for development. Where will Transparent go from here? The show has a bracingly dark sense of humor, but it remains to be seen exactly how it will apply its sly wit.
It should be fun to watch what Mort and family will get up to next.
Christine Benvenuto is the author of SEX CHANGES: A Memoir of Marriage, Gender, and Moving On (St. Martin’s Press, 2012) and SHIKSA: The Gentile Woman in the Jewish World (St. Martin’s Press, 2004). Her fiction and essays have appeared in many publications.
Top art from Transparent, courtesy of Amazon.
