Transparent (2014) – Amazon’s Entry into the TV Drama Scene is a Rousting, Mind-bending Success

It took me a little bit of time to fully dive into Transparent, but Jeffrey Tambour’s performance was so incredible and all the writing was so perfect that I thoroughly enjoyed it end to end. What I especially appreciated is how this film did not overly sympathise with the protagonist as it exposes the multiple issues in all of his childrens’ sexuality and relationships which is not directly due to his gender change but rather the instability they all felt as they were growing up. Each of the children (as adults of course) is portrayed with brutal realism. There are moments of high comedy here but also of great drama. I learned a lot of things that I really did not realise before – particularly the difference between transvestites (men who love men but wish to dress as women) and transgender (men who love women and want to change sex and become lesbians). The show never panders to sentimentality but rather offers us no excuses and no remorse but great acting and a fascinating, original plot. A must see from 2014.