Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Thought this was interesting :)

Trans Comedy have joined forces with BBC writersroom to launch The Trans Comedy Award: a talent search to encourage writers to promote a positive portrayal of Transgender people in mainstream comedy.

The Trans Comedy Award opens up an opportunity for the transgender community and members of the general public to portray transgender characters and the transgender experience in an affirming manner.

We are looking for original comedy sitcoms, comedy dramas or sketch shows featuring transgender characters and/or themes and written for television. An award of up to a maximum of £5000 will be shared between the selected writer(s) in order that they may develop a pilot or taster.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunities/transcomedy-award (http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunities/transcomedy-award)

That's great! Positive portrayals of transpeople in media is pretty rare, and nearly non-existent in comedy, so I hope this is a leap forward for transmen and transwomen in pop-culture.

I look forward to seeing the results.

Does comedy work with positive portrayals of any sort? All the best comic characters I can think of are deeply flawed.

Well, not comedy in the classical sense.

A "Will and Grace" with trans would be great.

Quote from: Orihime on February 18, 2013, 09:47:04 AM
A "Will and Grace" with trans would be great.

Oh...no. I don't think that will alleviate stereotypes at all.

Anywho, if they do make a trans-based comedy, I can guarantee that there's going to be an episode where someone's packer falls out in the middle of the street. That would be funny.  :laugh:

Well I think a Will and Grace is probably the best we could hope for out of the TV industry. While it did have its faults, it was popular and I think it helped in some small measure with acceptance.

If they have some sort of Jack McFarland on the show, count me in!  :laugh:

I love the idea!  I wonder if I would have accepted myself faster if I hadn't heard only negative things about our community while growing up?  I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out :).

Quote from: Pica Pica on February 18, 2013, 09:40:52 AM
Does comedy work with positive portrayals of any sort? All the best comic characters I can think of are deeply flawed.

Yeah, but most comedy, at least most good comedy, focuses on mocking people for their flaws, not for who they are. If the person being laughed at is a transperson, it should be because they're clumsy, or vain, or any variety of personal problems, but it shouldn't just be puerile finger-pointing and giggling just because that person is a transperson. Hope that clears up what I meant!

Quote from: CybilB on February 18, 2013, 10:39:57 AM
Yeah, but most comedy, at least most good comedy, focuses on mocking people for their flaws, not for who they are. If the person being laughed at is a transperson, it should be because they're clumsy, or vain, or any variety of personal problems, but it shouldn't just be puerile finger-pointing and giggling just because that person is a transperson. Hope that clears up what I meant!

As you say, it should be because of some other reason than being trans, but in reality, I'd bet that just being trans will be most of the joke material.

Sadly, that does sound fairly likely. Inclusion and progress are slow processes, so it'll likely take some time. But it looks like there are transpeople judging this, if I understand correctly, so with any luck, this specific project might be good. Time will tell, I suppose.

Quote from: crazy at the coast on February 18, 2013, 10:47:23 AM
As you say, it should be because of some other reason than being trans, but in reality, I'd bet that just being trans will be most of the joke material.

Well, they are specifically requesting material and concepts from Trans writers so I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt here and say it might produce something good.
At the very least, the fact that they're trying is a good sign.

I have an idea!! A sit-com about a trans-woman (the protagonist is post-op let's say) and her two best friends --- a cis-woman and a pre-op trans-woman.

No, the writers are not to ignore the fact that she's trans or make it some background issue that is irrelevant to the jokes. Instead, I propose a very *different* strategy for keeping the portrayal positive. The jokes (at least many of the jokes) are very relevant to her being trans --- but instead of the butt of the joke being on her or her two best friends --- instead, the butt of the joke can rest on the fools who have issue with her just being herself.

I love this idea!! And I see opportunity for it being a catalyst for positive social change. Take this idea for an episode, for example --- the main-protagonists cis best-friend tries to hook her up with a date. However, much to her frustration, all the men she tries to hook her up with have issue with dating someone who once lived as a man. And to make the episode funny - portray the men who have this objection as buffoons.

Oh --- and throw in there a ->-bleeped-<--->-bleeped-<- who tries to get in on the action -- yet the cis friend knows that the ->-bleeped-<--->-bleeped-<- is the wrong choice. (And show that this ->-bleeped-<--->-bleeped-<- is a disgusting lecher.)

The one challenge to this? Keep the ending of the episode up-beat enough to be appropriate for the sit-com genre - yet at the same time not having an ending that makes suspension-of-disbelief impossible for anyone who actually knows what it's like to live as a transwoman (such as one of the acceptable men opening his mind on his own) but also doesn't make it look like it's somehow okay that trans-women so often have to chose between dating a ->-bleeped-<--->-bleeped-<- or just not dating.

Here's how I'd think to end this episode ---- one of the guys who initially objects to dating a trans-woman finally opens his mind ---- but only after considerable pressure is put on him to do so by the cis friend.

I'd say that first, the main protagonist attempts *herself* to try and get the guy to open his mind -- and the attempt is unsuccessful --- just to show the audience that asking a trans-woman to stand up for *herself* in the dating arena is like advising someone accused of a crime to represent themselves in a court of law (and the saying goes that someone who does that has a fool for a client). Only after that fails does the cis woman step in and *herself* try opening the guy's mind. It's difficult, and she doesn't succeed right away --- but by the end of the episode, she succeeds.

Quote from: Rowan Rue on February 18, 2013, 11:51:44 AM
Well, they are specifically requesting material and concepts from Trans writers so I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt here and say it might produce something good.
At the very least, the fact that they're trying is a good sign.

I just think of the episode of Family Guy where Brian has this great drama and it gets totally warped by James Woods and the execs in charge...

Quote from: Pica Pica on February 18, 2013, 09:40:52 AM
Does comedy work with positive portrayals of any sort? All the best comic characters I can think of are deeply flawed.

I think its perfectly possible to have positive portrayals even of deeply flawed characters. It's all a matter of how hard you want to work as a writer. 

I think some of the worst comedies are about 'flawed', i.e. non-conforming, characters and how they don't fit into 'normal' society.  And I think some of the best comedies are about humanly flawed characters trying to get by in a deeply flawed society.  You can go for the easy laugh and write something like 'Ace Ventura' or you can go for the deep laugh and write something like M.A.S.H.
[Edit:  Sorry if this was confusing to some. The contrast I was going for was Ace Ventura=easy laugh=bad comedy; M.A.S.H. =deep laugh = good comedy]

A lot also depends on depth of character in the writing and how far you are willing to go to show not only the character's observable flaws but also the reasons and history behind those flaws.  Even villains can be sympathetic characters if you write them as human first and evil second.

Getting back to M.A.S.H. ...  by the end of the series I don't think that there was a single unsympathetic character on the show.  Even an antagonist like Frank Burns ended up with enough back story to achieve, if not likability then at least some sense of humanity and redemption.

Let's take a look at the classic trans 'gag', a transwoman pissing at a urinal.  Throw it in without any context and at it's worst its a cheap laugh and can be incredibly offensive.
Now let's add the backstory of having to really pee and agonizing over which restroom to use.  Everyone has had the experience of badly needing to pee... Having to pee is a comedy goldmine. How desperate would a cis-gendered woman need to be before using a public urinal?  Connect with that and create a sympathetic 'I can understand that need' feeling in the audience.  You can still play this situation as comedy... but in the context of a human being dealing, possibly in a flawed way, with a flawed situation.  Suddenly you no longer have a cheap 'gag, you have a humorous social commentary.

And yes... it won't be perfect.  Some folks will still insist on being offended by you not taking the trans topic seriously enough and some will still have a knee-jerk reaction against showing anything trans in a positive light.  But these folks aren't your target audience.  You're looking for that 60%, 70% or 80% of folks who might be open to looking at the issue in a new way... in a human way... and for whom a little comedy might help the new thoughts and social commentary a little easier to accept.

Quote from: Orihime on February 18, 2013, 09:47:04 AM
A "Will and Grace" with trans would be great.

Would it? I thought the show was stereotypical and...heterosexualized. Still, I suppose it did pave the way for other, better shows.

Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 01:52:48 PMI think some of the worst comedies are about 'flawed', i.e. non-conforming, characters and how they don't fit into 'normal' society.  And I think some of the best comedies are about humanly flawed characters trying to get by in a deeply flawed society.  You can go for the easy laugh and write something like 'Ace Ventura' or you can go for the deep laugh and write something like M.A.S.H.

I don't see how you can see *either* of those two examples as being anywhere in the same *galaxy* as a positive portrayal of trans-women.

As for M.A.S.H. --- Klinger, for one, isn't anywhere in even the broader transgender *spectrum*. He's just playing the part in hopes that he'll get fired from the army and therefore able to leave the war-zone. It's not a *negative* portrayal of transgender people -- or even a *neutral* portrayal --- but it isn't a *positive* one either. It plain and simply isn't a portrayal at *all* of trans people --- not positive, negative, or anywhere in-between.

As for Ace Ventura --- that movie is *extremely* *negative* and very *hurtful*. Scenes from that movie were etched into my brain so as to haunt me every time I even *considered* dating. The titular character, when he learns he kissed a trans-woman --- he burns the clothes he was wearing and puts a plunger to his mouth --- and to top that off, his extreme reaction is never shown as having been even slightly unreasonable -- but rather, it's portrayed as what a red-blooded straight guy would very *reasonably* do in that situation.

For years, this scene was etched in my brain every time I would even *think* about trying to date.

I found that movie to be not just deeply offensive --- but extremely hurtful.

Yes --- I'm all for showing cases where the men are shown acting overtly negative to the idea of being intimate with a trans-woman ---- but only if their adverse reaction is *portrayed* as being silly and unreasonable --- whether you portray that man as-a-whole to be a buffoon --- or whether you portray him as an otherwise-sensible guy who in this *instance* is acting *like* a buffoon (depending on what plans you have for the guy later in the plot).

Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 01:52:48 PMA lot also depends on depth of character in the writing and how far you are willing to go to show not only the character's observable flaws but also the reasons and history behind those flaws.  Even villains can be sympathetic characters if you write them as human first and evil second.

But if the portrayal is *positive* then it should be something that promotes breaking *down* barriers of exclusion that transgender people face ---- not *fortifying* those barriers the way Ace Ventura does.

You want a sympathetic-villain character? That sounds like an interesting idea too --- though I could see it more likely in a serial-drama than in a sit-com. Shakespeare had a pretty good formula for doing that as he demonstrated with another group that was very hated and maligned (and exiled from) England during his day --- Jews. Yes, Shylock is a very good example of a sympathetic villain. He is clearly an antagonist --- but he isn't inherently evil. Rather, he has the very-human motive of the fact that he's been so badly treated by many Christians in Venice, including Antonio ---- and he's just gotten so bitter that he's out for revenge. However --- though The Merchant of Venice is considered a "comedy", it is not so much by the modern sense of the word.

The transgender character on Ace Ventura, on the other hand, is far from a sympathetic villain. She is a deranged sociopath --- and the portrayal is not only offensive, but deeply hurtful.

Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 01:52:48 PMLet's take a look at the classic trans 'gag', a transwoman pissing at a urinal.  Throw it in without any context and at it's worst its a cheap laugh and can be incredibly offensive.
Now let's add the backstory of having to really pee and agonizing over which restroom to use.  Everyone has had the experience of badly needing to pee... Having to pee is a comedy goldmine. How desperate would a cis-gendered woman need to be before using a public urinal?  Connect with that and create a sympathetic 'I can understand that need' feeling in the audience.  You can still play this situation as comedy... but in the context of a human being dealing, possibly in a flawed way, with a flawed situation.  Suddenly you no longer have a cheap 'gag, you have a humorous social commentary.

Yes --- with that I can agree with you.

I think I would prefer some type of show that has a trans male or female as a lead character but they don't make that the main focus on the show. I think they should bring it up a few times throughout but I would rather them show them as a human being, no different than any other human being. I think if they make a show where they strongly emphasis the trans part of the individual, it will only hinder our image. That's my outlook on it at least.

Quote from: sophieoftn on February 18, 2013, 02:23:23 PM
I don't see how you can see *either* of those two examples as being anywhere in the same *galaxy* as a positive portrayal of trans-women.

I'm sorry if my comparison here wasn't clear.  The contrast between a easy laugh and a deep laugh is bad vs good. I.E. Ace Ventura =Bad, poorly written comedy vs M.A.S.H = good, well-written comedy. 

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone or triggered anything, but I think you are reading things into my comments that I didn't really say.

I also specifically didn't mention Corporal Klinger, but since we are going there...  No Corporal Klinger is not a trans character, but I consider him to be an incremental and sympathetic genderbending character that leads into some topics of gender.  And no... not a perfectly respectful representation of crossdressing or trans issues... but Corporal Klinger was an early humanization of crossdressing characters.  I think that was quite a feat for a 1970's show.

But again, I don't think I mentioned Klinger.

Quote from: EmmaS on February 18, 2013, 02:26:15 PM
I think I would prefer some type of show that has a trans male or female as a lead character but they don't make that the main focus on the show. I think they should bring it up a few times throughout but I would rather them show them as a human being, no different than any other human being.

But that risks candy-coating the reality that in many areas, trans people aren't allowed to go a day without it being made an issue by others.

Yes, I agree having a good-number of episodes where the obstacle-at-hand has nothing to do with being trans is good - even important --- and will help showing that this person is a full human being, not a "->-bleeped-<-". However, making such episodes the vast-majority to the point that the trans-ness is rarely even *mentioned* risks the candy-coating I mention.

I'd even say that if the protagonist isn't given flack on a regular basis for being trans then that will compromise the believability of the show --- at least for someone who has any idea what it's like to live as trans around here.

Quote from: EmmaS on February 18, 2013, 02:26:15 PMI think if they make a show where they strongly emphasis the trans part of the individual, it will only hinder our image. That's my outlook on it at least.

I'd say that this really depends on how it's done.

As I said --- I think the butt of the joke shouldn't be on the trans-woman - but on the dolts who stand in the way of her just living her life as her true self.

Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 03:02:43 PMI'm sorry if I've offended anyone or triggered anything, but I think you are reading things into my comments that I didn't really say.

Not so much an offense as really just a mis-understanding. Thanks for clarifying it.

Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 03:02:43 PMI also specifically didn't mention Corporal Klinger, but since we are going there...

Then I'm still not clear who you were referring to when you mentioned M.A.S.H.

Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 03:02:43 PMNo Corporal Klinger is not a trans character, but I consider him to be an incremental and sympathetic genderbending character that leads into some topics of gender.  And no... not a perfectly respectful representation of crossdressing or trans issues... but Corporal Klinger was an early humanization of crossdressing characters.  I think that was quite a feat for a 1970's show.

You could see Corporal Klinger as a way of poking fun at the bann of LGBT people serving in the military. I mean - the time when M.A.S.H ran was before even the days of "Don't Ask - Don't Tell". In those days, they could ask you - and compel you to tell.

Quote from: Pica Pica on February 18, 2013, 09:40:52 AM
Does comedy work with positive portrayals of any sort? All the best comic characters I can think of are deeply flawed.

I enjoyed the character of Mrs. Doubtfire.  She had a kind and loving heart.

Think of this in context though, it's a BBC competition for a sketch or sitcom or such. Which wouldn't include Ace Ventura or Mrs Doubtfire and only include the MASH TV series.

Also, British Comedy is full of flawed and potentially nasty people, take Basil Fawlty, Rigsby, Norman Stanley Fletcher - even Del Boy is selfish and often amoral.

So to write this sitcom for the competition, you'd have to have a flawed trans character (and it being a specifically trans competition, the focus has to be on the trans-ness) but have a positive portrayal and be funny...all in one episode.

Sounds like a competition set up to be impossible to me.

Quote from: sophieoftn on February 18, 2013, 04:59:58 PM
Then I'm still not clear who you were referring to when you mentioned M.A.S.H.
You could see Corporal Klinger as a way of poking fun at the bann of LGBT people serving in the military. I mean - the time when M.A.S.H ran was before even the days of "Don't Ask - Don't Tell". In those days, they could ask you - and compel you to tell.

I wasn't thinking of presenting a 'good' trans character in a comedy. As people have pointed out, they're practically non-existent.  I was thinking good comedy vs bad.  I used M.A.S.H. as an example because it represents some of the best of what comedy can be.  It was a social commentary on the Vietnam war disguised as a comedy about the Korean war.  It changed people's opinions about our relationship to war and allowed us to have a national conversation about topics and viewpoints that most Americans hadn't been exposed to.  I did think of Klinger but I specifically didn't mention him because although he's an incremental character he isn't a specifically 'trans' character.  I used 'Ace Ventura' as an example because it personally offends me and deserves a worst of comedy award whether we are talking trans characters or not.

While I didn't mean to contrast Klinger vs Einhorn directly as 'trans' characters, I still have some strong opinions regarding Klinger as an incremental character.

In terms of incremental characters...  Social change doesn't come as a revolution. It comes incrementally as people's minds and opinions changes.  Between Amos and Andy in the 30's and Cliff Huxtable in the 80's there were an number of incremental improvements in the representation of black characters.  The Nat King Cole Show, The Flip Wilson Show, Sanford and Son, the Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire...  Even if the characters weren't perfect and even if the early shows still had a tinge of racism, they were still stepping stones along the path to eventual acceptance.  Each show in turn knocked another stone out of the racial stereotype.

For the 1970's, Klinger was probably the closest thing we could get to a 'wholesome crossdresser' character.  He was human, generally liked and accepted by his peers and he was a responsible and dependable, if not very enthusiastic, soldier. He was not a 'reluctant crossdresser' or a 'pervy crossdresser' and his acceptance by his peers was not dependent on his passing as a woman.  He had episodes where he struggled with how people perceived him and how he perceived himself. He's not a trans character and he's not a perfect 'crossdressing' character... but like the black character of Rochester from the Jack Benny Show he was a good character for his time.

For a good trans character I could have used someone like Roberta Muldoon from 'The World according to GARP', but I didn't find GARP to be effective as either a comedy or as a social commentary.  For more recent crossdressing characters I could have gone with Tootsie or Mrs Doubtfire.  Good comedies but not the sort of transformative social comedy that I would be hoping for in a new series.

Quote from: Pica Pica on February 18, 2013, 06:20:27 PM
Sounds like a competition set up to be impossible to me.

I think it could work and if I read the initial posting correctly this could turn into a pilot for a longer series.

I probably shouldn't put her on the spot like this since she isn't in this thread, but Midgear has an excellent starting premise in her new web comic at mockgirl.com.  Flesh it out and tweak it for the british sense of humor and I think you'd have a good series.

'Material Girl' by Mike Schmit, (This is a "must read". Read it online at heartgearimagineers.com/materialgirl/ and then buy a dozen print copies from Amazon), would be a ready made entry for this competition.  Funny, good characters, good character evolution, hints of deeper conflicts to be explored.  Love, action, jealousy, violence... There is enough already going on in the 'Material Girl' premise to do a couple of seasons.

This is definitely doable for someone out there.

Quote from: SunKat on February 18, 2013, 09:05:51 PM
'Material Girl' by Mike Schmit, (This is a "must read". Read it online at heartgearimagineers.com/materialgirl/ and then buy a dozen print copies from Amazon), would be a ready made entry for this competition.  Funny, good characters, good character evolution, hints of deeper conflicts to be explored.  Love, action, jealousy, violence... There is enough already going on in the 'Material Girl' premise to do a couple of seasons.

SunKat, I assume it's not a coincidence you should mention Material Girl in the same thread as The Merchant of Venice? Noel is certainly cute as Portia. Anyway, I would second the recommendation of MG. As an aside, I was reading Mike Schmit's journal on DeviantArt when I realized I was in denial about being trans. As such, this holds a special place in my heart.

Quote from: JenSquid on February 20, 2013, 11:21:53 AM
SunKat, I assume it's not a coincidence you should mention Material Girl in the same thread as The Merchant of Venice? Noel is certainly cute as Portia.

Awwww.. waffling weasel wrists... I totally missed that...  [No wait... pretend it was on purpose.]

Thanks for the compliment JenSquid, but it was entirely coincidence. 

The character should be flawed in well rounded way so being trans is just a side point of their personality but also I'd suggest a main cast of a transperson and his/her family for example these tropes have been used a million times because they work just make them work with an tranperson in the cast simple.

You know there was a transsexual character on the soap opera All My Children back in 2006.

In the story Zarf was an international rock star and was played in a pretty trans positive way.  Zarf was shown going to the endocrinologist and to a support group (which was made up of real trans women).  At the end of the part of the story line Zarf and Bianca - one of the show's lesbian characters - go off together for a European performance tour.

Zarf was reintroduced to the story a few months later but I haven't seen those episodes.

There is more on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarf_%28All_My_Children%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarf_%28All_My_Children%29) and other sites.

Now the audience response was pretty negative but not exclusively so. 

I'm not sure if a sitcom would work to be honest given the amount of material that would be needed to sustain it. However I think that a one off or series of sketches could work and this could precede a sitcom.

This is not a new topic to me and is something that my actors have suggested (I'm a Fringe playwright working to develop a small theatre with professional actors). They're also trying to persuade me not to give up on my own acting and to try and become a transwoman actress. I keep my trans issues out of my work, to me it's my personal issue and not something I involve in my artistic work.

I think it would work as a situation comedy which highlights the potentially funny situations we have to go through when transitioning and which makes fun of some of the adverse reactions.

For example I tell people of the time I was knocked off my mountain bike by a car on a busy road in London. I was wearing implants at the time. After I landed I checked myself over and discovered that only the left implant stayed in my bra. I look up and a black taxi driver is walking towards me holding the other implant in his hand. 'I think this could be your's,' he said.

'Thank you,' I replied, 'Now I guess this means you know what it means to be feeling a right tit.' This brought laughter.

I think something along these lines would work and help raise public awareness about what we have to go through on a daily basis.