Transparent = visibility

In a surprising new trend among non-traditional television outlets, transgender characters are gaining not only increasing visibility in programming, but prominence within show plot-lines, reports Huffington Post

“Most recently, writer Jill Soloway announced that she is creating a new pilot for Amazon titled “Transparent,” which is set to cast “Arrested Development” star Jeffrey Tambor in the leading role.

“The show, which will begin filming in September, reportedly centers around a “middle-aged parent who sits his three adult children down for a revealing, personal conversation. Mort has been secretly living a double-life as a woman, and is eager to introduce the family to their new, authentic parent.”

“Tambor recently starred in Netflix’s non-network revival of the popular television comedy “Arrested Development,” as well as played the head of a news network in another Amazon pilot for Onion News Empire, which has not yet been green-lighted for production. The actor also filmed four episodes of an NBC series titled “Next Caller” alongside Dane Cook, though the network cancelled the show before the season finished filming.

“In the past, trans visibility on network television has proven to be fairly problematic, with representation of the trans community usually presented in an extremely narrow, limited understanding of the vast plethora of identities encompassed by this signifier. Last year, GLAAD published a study that examined ten years of transgender representation on television and found that “more then half [of the portrayals] were negative or defamatory.”

More at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/08/jeffrey-tambor-transparent_n_3726212.html

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