I am not sure if I would have necessarily watched and reviewed this series was it not for reading the derogatory sweeping statement in a previous review that gay audiences "just because the character is a transsexual is making this a good show in their eyes." This along with other sweeping statements, misleading stereotyping and selective memory aspects of other reviews made me very curious about the truth of this series. I am a 35 y.o. gay cinema and television professional with an extensive reference base.
The mistake is often made, but transgender and homosexuality has very little to do with each other except that we often share representation by the same minority group activists. Transgender people often don't change their sexual preference after they have completed their journey and quite often they remain with their partners, be it heterosexual or homosexual. To the point, Hit and Miss.
The show has very good points as well as a few flaws. The script is sometimes slow and it is directed a little more sombre than is necessary. The angst that the characters display would be far better suited for a 2 hour cinema production rather than a TV series. Though the characters are well rounded and defined, I don't yet feel any need to care about them. Since none of the characters are gay, I did not care for them from this premise, then again, I did not care for any of the characters in the L-Word or the American version of QAF either. Jonas Armstrong is possibly the only actor that has show a sense of movement and inner conflict that leads to change in his character.
The young son, Brian, does not try wearing woman's clothing in every scene as has been suggested, but this is rather a small C plot in one single episode.
The show has tremendous potential because the plot and characters has all the base work done for great development and the casting is excellent with good performances from the actors. The cinematography is exceptional and I have recently worked on a production that uses a similar style of camera-work. It is notable that European styles along with other global trends seem to indicate that because of the introduction of wide screen televisions into our homes we are also moving into a more cinematic style of shooting TV series rather than the old 4:3 ratio style (regardless of lens scope) with useless close-ups and shots that create a sense of false intimacy rather than telling the story. There have been countless arguments with producers and writers that are stuck in the old ways of doing things, but alas, if there is one universal truth I have come to accept it is that "the times will always be a changing".
The use of colour and frame, movement and shots in this series is definitely on par with the next level of television storytelling that we can expect over the next few years.
At times it seems that Chloë Sevigny is getting her character from Felicity Huffman in Transamerica and the plot hints very slightly towards a rip off of the American series Weeds. The execution is well thought through and once the producers and writers can decide where these characters are going on an interpersonal level, I am looking forward to see where this journey will be taking our heroin and her family (hopefully not copying Weeds).
The mistake is often made, but transgender and homosexuality has very little to do with each other except that we often share representation by the same minority group activists. Transgender people often don't change their sexual preference after they have completed their journey and quite often they remain with their partners, be it heterosexual or homosexual. To the point, Hit and Miss.
The show has very good points as well as a few flaws. The script is sometimes slow and it is directed a little more sombre than is necessary. The angst that the characters display would be far better suited for a 2 hour cinema production rather than a TV series. Though the characters are well rounded and defined, I don't yet feel any need to care about them. Since none of the characters are gay, I did not care for them from this premise, then again, I did not care for any of the characters in the L-Word or the American version of QAF either. Jonas Armstrong is possibly the only actor that has show a sense of movement and inner conflict that leads to change in his character.
The young son, Brian, does not try wearing woman's clothing in every scene as has been suggested, but this is rather a small C plot in one single episode.
The show has tremendous potential because the plot and characters has all the base work done for great development and the casting is excellent with good performances from the actors. The cinematography is exceptional and I have recently worked on a production that uses a similar style of camera-work. It is notable that European styles along with other global trends seem to indicate that because of the introduction of wide screen televisions into our homes we are also moving into a more cinematic style of shooting TV series rather than the old 4:3 ratio style (regardless of lens scope) with useless close-ups and shots that create a sense of false intimacy rather than telling the story. There have been countless arguments with producers and writers that are stuck in the old ways of doing things, but alas, if there is one universal truth I have come to accept it is that "the times will always be a changing".
The use of colour and frame, movement and shots in this series is definitely on par with the next level of television storytelling that we can expect over the next few years.
At times it seems that Chloë Sevigny is getting her character from Felicity Huffman in Transamerica and the plot hints very slightly towards a rip off of the American series Weeds. The execution is well thought through and once the producers and writers can decide where these characters are going on an interpersonal level, I am looking forward to see where this journey will be taking our heroin and her family (hopefully not copying Weeds).