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Recent unfavourable portrayals of TG characters on TV.
I was interested to see two recent transgender characters on TV. The first was the sister of Mimi on Shameless ( SBS) She was portrayed as a strong character who had fought to have her womanhood recognised and though she was rebuffed originally , her sister came round to her side.She was then ripped off by the trans woman, who came out looking pathetic as well as dishonest.
The second was a serial killer transvestite who was seeking revenge for his ( now dead), in the closet , gay lover on Wallander ( ABC ) last week.I found it interesting because I have been writing a series of short- stories for some years that deal with a wide range of transgender issues and characters. The thing is that I find it very hard to write serious positive outcomes in my stories as my experience and observations are that rarely does a TG life end in a rosy and ” storybook” outcome. It does happen I know but not in my experience. While I write strong and positive characters I cannot in all honesty bring myself to write a ‘ Pollyanna ” ending. The best I get is a dignified single life for my characters.
I guess that the average person would find it hard to accept a gay or trans boxer or policeman etc as a realistic positive character and so the writers of these TV series follow the mob and write unfavourably for their characters.
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16 Replies
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Wow! Unfavourable transgender characters featured in movies and TV stories. TV writers (no pun intended) have, perhaps had negative experiences with transgender people and find it difficult to portray them in a positive light. As for the average member of the public finding difficulty in accepting policemen, boxers or even gay characters as transgender, who’s fault is that? Let’s be honest, transgender folk are everywhere successfuly performing a wide variety of workplace roles. So, what can be done? Christine, as a writer, including myself, perhaps we ought to buckle down and start writing imaginative material which includes positive roles for transgender folk and, hopfully positive outcomes.
I’ve written material which included lesbian overtones with lesbian characters and was told in a critique that there should be more such writing. I viewed my characters as positive, genuine and caring people.
But I do know what you mean, disguised killers, disguised robbers, presented as unsavoury characters. But they’re not genuine transgender.
people. I would have considerd ‘Transamerica’ portraying someone positive, a movie I liked depsite some people giving it negative critique.
What do you think? -
Liz, I am aware of the long list of portrayals of Tg folk in a bad light as well as the ones in latter years that are positive portrayals. However , the programs I mentioned were in the same fortnight and so caught my attention.
I also know that TG folk fill a wide range of roles and places in Society, that was not my point.
What I think is that , in my writing , I try portray my characters as real people with faults as well as strengths. I also attempt to write realistic story lines and not try to extend the limits of plausibility too far. I am not saying that I think the portrayal of Tg characters has to be negative rather that it often is. In one story I wrote where the character was portrayed in what I thought was a positive way , after reading it to my brother , whose view I respect, he described it as ” preachy”. Perhaps it was .
My experience of an open TG life so far however is not one of happy ever after. As Eddie Izzard once said ‘” you have heard the story where a woman comes home and finds her husband in a dress, then leaves him? That’s my community!” While this view is bleak and perhaps a generalization, I believe it to be fairly accurate , in my world.Now , don’t get me wrong . I am not complaining . I am just reflecting how I think the world sees us and how this is reflected in the portrayals we sometimes see in fiction. As you say , we are free to write our own views of TG lives and some of those will differ in opinion from mine.
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Quote:My experience of an open TG life so far however is not one of happy ever after. As Eddie Izzard once said ‘” you have heard the story where a woman comes home and finds her husband in a dress, then leaves him? That’s my community!” While this view is bleak and perhaps a generalization, I believe it to be fairly accurate , in my world.
Now , don’t get me wrong . I am not complaining . I am just reflecting how I think the world sees us and how this is reflected in the portrayals we sometimes see in fiction. As you say , we are free to write our own views of TG lives and some of those will differ in opinion from mine.
Whilst the Eddy Izzard quote is close to the truth with me, I’d suggest writing my biography because my life is one that is positive on the whole and developments over the next 2 years (as well as the happenings of the last year) might give you the ‘happily ever after’ ending you are referring to.
Best regards,
Mhix
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Hi
I saw that episode of Wallander and was generally appalled to see another depiction of a trans* person as the psychopathic killer in a cop drama. Lazy plot writing and less than helpful at best.As for happily ever after, that’s a long time; longer than I’m likely to need. However, I can say I am very happy. I have lost little because of my transition and live a privileged middle class life style surrounded by a loving family and enjoy the company of good friends. Basically, life goes on and it’s basically good. A bit like the summation at this great doco you’re probably familiar with:
http://www.smh.com.au/tv/show/m2f/m2f-20111208-1okn4.html
I suppose that’s all a bit dull as a read, but it’s not too bad to live.
Cheers
Sarah -
Hi Sarah
Far from dull, this is wonderful! We hear so many sad stories, it’s great to know that for some of us it’s relatively smooth sailing. More power to you and your lovely family.
Sujay
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Let’s see. Who would like to see a program on tv or film or even a book that goes something like this?
There’s this guy who lives a relatively normal life with most of the “normal” problems. Secretly, he is trying to figure out what is wrong with him as he has these yearnings and leanings which cause him to secretly dress in women’s clothes resulting in a serious level of self loathing.
He then discovers the internet. During the secret early morning searches he discovers that his problem is that he has been fighting his whole life to prevent himself from becoming a woman. This whole prospect is terrifying as he “knows” what the consequences will be if he does this.
Then, after much torment, marriage and family breakdown, he starts to investigate in the “real world”. He discovers that he is not alone. There are others like him/her. That changing his life to become the woman he always “knew” she was was daunting but not impossible.
Finally, she changes her life completely. Easy to do after it was almost totally destroyed by this revelation. She goes on to blend into society. She keeps her job. The people at work are comfortable with her changes. She meets a man who understands her condition and can accept her history. And they go to work each day. They have 2 dogs to keep them company. He has his racing. She discovers the joys of cooking and helping to look after her aging parents.
And all the torment of the person she used to be fades to being a distant memory. And a screen shot showing the sun setting over the ocean while you see the silhouette of a man and a woman walking on the waters edge. Ahhhh.
It’s not exaclty 3D action drama big box office type stuff. Maybe suitable for Indy type film festivals but not general viewing.
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Portia
Always insightful , point well made the movie world and media will always search for the shock factor, not interested in the nicer side of life it doesn’t sell! -
I totally agree with Portia. These shows are drama.The writers are constantly trying to find new and gripping storylines. Fifty years of television has used up so many ideas, so this newly found transgender thing gives them some new scenarios.
We know that TG peple aren’t all psychopathic killers, but neither are all the other types of people portrayed as such in shows.
Give the poor writers a little slack. The plots in most of them are so far from reality anyhow.
Just my thoughts -
I am upset at the implication that SOME Tg folk ARE psychopaths!! In fact I resemble that remark!!!!!
Noone is complaining about the script writers , I was just remarking on two recent negative portrayals.
As far as general audiences go I just don’t think that a portrayal of a “normal” Tg person with a strong, positive and courageous life would ” gel” at the moment despite the fact that we all know that we exist. I am talking about how I perceive the way we are seen at present and I do find it hard to write a story where there is a “happy ever after ” ending in the way most people would see it. It depends , I guess on how one sees such things as courage and strength. I just think that most people would see that more in terms of a footy player rather than an open Tg person ( even if we all know that there must be some in on the Rugby field??)
This doesn’t preclude my characters from being interesting , I hope. -
Quote:As far as general audiences go I just don’t think that a portrayal of a “normal” Tg person with a strong, positive and courageous life would ” gel” at the moment despite the fact that we all know that we exist.At the core of this discussion is perhaps something that has been touched upon before in these forums – do we wish the media portrayal of gender diversity to be the contemporary reality or a santitised version of a dream future.
Contemporary reality is not a Mills & Boon romance. “Happy endings” are not typical in the gender diverse community. For a start many of us find it difficult to progress our plot towards an ending, leaving us thinking of a better future but never getting beyond Chapter 3. Then there is the hard reality that happiness is generally closely linked to acceptance, and acceptance by the general audience is pretty thin and patchy. Getting the audience to read beyond the first Chapter of most of our stories is a challenge.
But although an accurate depiction of reality in the media would not be happy – I question if it would be about psychopaths and rapists. The true themes would I think be broken relationships, misunderstanding, rejection, antisocial behavior and associated psychological baggage. I think there is enough material there to make a gender diverse character ‘interesting’.
Alternatively, some have argued that it would be better to feed the general audience a diet of happy ending stuff suitable for publication in light weight outlets like women’s magazines and soap drama.
If this is the best way to improve awareness and acceptance (I’m not convinced) then I would hope to see some balance in the plots chosen. The happy stories I see at the moment reflect the two extreme points of the gender diverse spectrum.
I see stories about people changing their born sex and living happily in society (the TS dream) and about husbands putting on a skirt as part of a healthy married relationship (the crossdresser dream).
If we are going to filter our portrayal in the media to reflect how we want life to be rather than what it is, then please let’s have a lot more ‘creative’ positive stories about the assumed majority who live a life in between these two minority end points.
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Quote:As far as general audiences go I just don’t think that a portrayal of a “normal” Tg person with a strong, positive and courageous life would ” gel” at the moment despite the fact that we all know that we exist.Quote:“Happy endings” are not typical in the gender diverse community. For a start many of us find it difficult to progress our plot towards an ending, leaving us thinking of a better future but never getting beyond Chapter 3. Then there is the hard reality that happiness is generally closely linked to acceptance, and acceptance by the general audience is pretty thin and patchy. Getting the audience to read beyond the first Chapter of most of our stories is a challenge.
What I take from both the above comments is that ‘normal’ Tg persons do exist. (I can’t claim to be normal but I do exist 😉 ). I don’t have enough experience to comment on the level of acceptance but I do know that if a ‘book is not to be judged by the cover’ then the book must be able to be read. If Tg stories are not able to be read (viewed) then they can never be understood & if they can’t be understood, they stand no chance of being accepted.
At the risk of sounding naive, I try to follow the principle of ‘just do it’ or ‘a brick a day’ or ‘build (write) it & they will come’. It seems very obvious that acceptance by the majority is a long way off but that is no reason to not tell the real stories – all versions, composite if need be. If the stories told are simply false or negative so shall be the outcome. Likewise if the stories told don’t represent the realities then any credibility is lost. I personally think it unrealistic that acceptance in our lifetime (I’m 47) will come easily but the ‘campaign’ must still proceed.I don’t profess to know about writing for entertainment but maybe Tg persons could more easily be realistically written into story lines if a moderate approach was taken i.e; don’t necessarily make them the key focus of the story, maybe write them into sub plots etc. Show that we exist, ‘good,bad & ugly’ but without necessarily being the focus.
I know ‘we’ focus on ‘us’ but most other people do not (& don’t want to). Quite frankly why should they? I am not dismissing our importance as human beings, just being realistic. We are sub plots to most people, infact making us the key focus is what most others do not want.
There is a scene in ‘The life of Brian’ where the entire crowd responds ‘en masse’ to Brian declaring ‘you’re all individuals’, their response is ‘yes, we’re all individuals’ but one person stands up & declares ‘I’m not’. It’s been my experience that sometimes minority groups i.e; ‘us’ tend to act & declare ‘one’ story, when infact there are as many stories as there are characters.
To be clear, I’m suggesting that many more Tg characters be written to increase awareness of our existence but those characters should represent all realities – not all negative & not all rosie. Though being a Tg person is not all fun, it’s not all bad (for me) & being Tg does not define every aspect of my life & every outcome.Quote:For a start many of us find it difficult to progress our plot towards an ending, leaving us thinking of a better future but never getting beyond Chapter 3At the risk of sounding all ‘beads & crystals’, we can’t live the future, thinking of it & maybe working toward an easier one for those who follow may be the best we can achieve.
Maybe another approach is to not (necessarily) finish the story for all Tg characters, leave it ‘up in the air’. Just a thought for those of you who write. -
Amanda Adrian and Chloe, by jove you’ve got it!! I see a big difference between trans fantasy stories and those that a wider audience would accept as ” real”. Transamerica for instance did not have a slick Hollywood ending but had a love event as well as positive portrayal of a noble TS woman. I think that most reasonable viewers would see that story in a positive light even if they could not understand the TG imperitive. While so many of us are in the closet and can’t accept their own selves, others will think that we are less than acceptable.
I have written a number of stories where the ending is left open as well as a couple where the protagonist has sex with a transgenger person ( sex scenes are hard to write I think. I feel like a voyeur on my own life experiences !) Neither had a happy ending ( except in a Thailand massage sense!!!)I actually try to live the sort of life ( and write about) that I think is the next best thing to a TG fantasy ( viz..happy ever after) but that life includes being single as I refuse to ask anyone for permission to be myself nor to compromise my gender expression just to have someone to cuddle. It is from this basis that I try to draw my characters.
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My story above is what really happened. Also, I do not compromise my gender expression. My relationship with my partner is a fulfillment of my gender expression. As far as sex is concerned, apart from the need to use a bit of slippery stuff, our sexual expression is completely natural.
We have reached the point where most woud call normal.
BUT, on that point, neither of us decided to arrive at this point. It was not a goal we had in mind to be attained. It just happened. And, neither of us see ourselves as being special, or different to anyone here or anywhere for that matter. My partner is CD, but that is a seperate issue to “our” sex life. People are different and there are many forms of personal expression.
I suppose in a way, I don’t understand why anyone would write about what most people do. People read books and watch movies to escape the humdrum and “normality”.
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Hi folks
Loving this discussion!
I watched the Wallander episode, and it was a very confused, ill-informed, and clumsy attempt at portraying gender and sexuality diversity. However, the take-home message for me was the toxic effect on people’s lives of living in the closet; the gay man’s internalised homophobia which made him keep his sexuality – and his partner – a ‘dirty secret’, which resulted in a psychologically fragile person becoming obsessed with visiting his anguish and rage on people who had secrets. A far-fetched storyline, but that’s why we watch TV shows!
I think there’s a trajectory in media portrayals of the ‘Other’, marginalised people (such as women, people of colour, people with disabilities, GLB people, and now Trans* people). It tends to move from complete invisibility, to portrayals as evil, sick, doomed, etc. (think Basic Instinct) to more sympathetic portrayals (think Will and Grace), to finally including the full variety of human experience, some good, some bad, just like ‘everyone else’ (think Brothers and Sisters). It’s not a straightforward trajectory, but I think movies like Normal and Transamerica, with all their faults and unhelpful stereotypes, are steps in the right direction. And I think there’s definitely a case for us to engage with media and congratulate them when they do well, and give them points for improvement when they don’t.
cheers!
Sujay
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Well I saw the Wallander episode and I was pleased that the baddy was a TV/TG. A bit hard to say exactly what because the character wasn’t fleshed out as well as it might have been. If the tranny had been the victim a stack of people would have been saying “OIh we’re always portrayed as limp wristed and helpless”. The only thing I found far fetched was her going to the John and getting changed and her makeup off before Wallender woke up to what was happening.
As for Transamerica. Felicity Huffman played a great role, as a woman playing a man playing a woman, not as a tranny. I was a bit annoyed by one scene where she’s putting on nail polish-she slaps it on like paint at a football club working bee. A tranny so close to surgery would be so sloppy?-only if that’s the stereotype you’re following.
But then, one person’s stereotype is another’s paradigm…
