Not our words, those come from Sarah, one of the participants in last year's Channel 4 UK documentary series My Transsexual Summer. Sarah and the others went to a lot of effort to ensure that they were portrayed in a positive light by an industry notorious for portraying our community as a freak show, but again in her words: "And still we didn't get it perfectly right".
Concerned that following the success of MTS a host of other TV production companies are pursuing similar projects that might not treat us with such sensitivity, she's written some advice for anyone tempted to follow in her footsteps.
Trans on TV, A Word Of Caution, it's worth a read.
If you're interested in a good method for dealing with TV people, read Serrano's "Whipping Girl". I had the Dr. Oz show contact me and when I told them no before photos and no kids, they stopped calling. Weird.
ReplyDeleteI found it humorous that my blog is now in the cobwebs of this site...I feel all...dusty :D
Natacha, because of a bug in the new Blogger look, if we have more than 167 blogs in our list, it locks up. I found that we couldn't add or remove blogs from that list. I re-built the entire list and broke it down into two lists. The top list hovers at just below 167 and I update it daily as blogs are updated on the bottom list. Blogger, despite tons of complaints has, as far as I know, still not fixed the bug.
ReplyDeleteCalie
Ah yes, Serrano, a professional trans* person. How apropo. It's no wonder people like Natacha are apprehensive, counting down the days to.....who really knows. Her words, not mine. Why are there so many out there, that have never "been there, done that" telling the rest of us how it is.
ReplyDeleteThe doctors know the score, but are no longer allowed to practice good medicine because the "know-it-all know nothing" pols and activists are calling the shots. But then, it is a 'free' country isn't it? Too bad those who really do know what they are taling about are afraid to speak out for fear of being labeled at hater, or bigot, or worse, a transgenderist, or just plain trans*
Anon - My words out of context. I'm not apprehensive about surgery. And I brought up Serrano in relation to dealing with the media.
ReplyDeleteBut what's context to someone who has no context? You have no legitimate voice because you are not a legitimate person. Just some gathering of letters on the screen that claim to be real. You're like an angry trans chatbot. No ability to parse context. Just able enough to put words together to sound like a person.
What a joke you are.
Ahh, Nathacha. Perhaps your reference to a far left radical feminist was only in the context of how those in the trans* community should relate to the media. I must have missed that. Is attacking the messenger when you don't like the message, something that Serrano would recommend?
DeleteYour arguementative strategy of attempting to de-legitimitize those that hold differing views, only shines a bright light on the weakness of your non-position and makes one wonder from what angry ugly depth of trans*ness comes your vitiol and your bile.
Back to the topic...
ReplyDeleteI'm just confused as to which planet one would have to be on for MTS would be considered as being in any way a positive light? Because the narrator spoke in a soft voice? Because they didn't ask anyone to bite the head off a live chicken? Look! The only thing missing for it to be a full on freak show was a barker calling out "they walk, they talk, they crawl on their bellys like a reptile!"
If MTS is a positive light, then slamming one's hand in the car door is the acme of pleasure!
I would like to inquire of Miz-Know-It-All, why she finds MTS so offensive. After all, these transgendered folks have a right to proudly speak out about theirs choice of lifestyle. Just because it seems a bit wierd to the rest of us is no reason to make fun of them.
ReplyDeleteAnd who is this "Natasha"? She certainly seems stressed out. I tried to link from her avatar, but was directed to an exclusive private blog. How can she accuse others of being a joke or an angry trans chat-bot after the tongue lashing that she rained upon some anonymous commentator?
There is a huge difference between being proud and being trotted out for a lookie lou by the rubes! The whole premise of this "reality show" was that of a freakshow! From the weird corralling at "the house" on the weekends, to the do everything but charge em a nickle night at the pub... This enterprise was nothing more than a new age version of the freakshow! Am I calling those who appeared freaks? No! Used most cruelty perhaps but not freaks. But the show? How blind can you be to not see it for what it was? This did nothing to push things forward or give the public a new insight into the struggles of those who are trans. It was prurient pandering to the lowest common denominator for a few moments of entertainment. Period!
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