“Transgeneration” , An analysis.

The documentary series “Transgeneration” by Jeremy Simmons is one of the first documentaries to tackle the problem on being transgender but also it does an excellent job of portraying the social and inner lives of four transgendered college students as they attempt to create and reconstruct their identities, both sexually and socially which is the primary reason for the series . It offers viewers an intimate look at the daily struggles transgender people face. Despite the rich portrait of their social, family, and college lives, the medical aspects of being a transgendered person are virtually ignored and are only discussed in terms of hormone therapies and ways for students in the series further reach their goal of becoming the opposite sex this is one of the primary reasons why the brilliancy of the show goes unnoticed.

While this is not a problem necessarily but “Transgeneration” should have included these elements for a more detailed representation . Perhaps if the families of these individuals, especially those without accepting mothers and fathers, understood the psychological facts and issues related to being a transgender person they might find ensue acceptance of their children to be easier which is something that has been focused on but not brought in detail for having to do so would impact the community on a much wider and larger scale than ever before in that year. Furthermore, for viewers theg may not be intimately aware of what being transgender means, which is another degree of immersion.

Although there is a great deal of discussion about medical procedures in the documentary, such as hormone therapies, gender reassignment surgery, and other medical methods used for transgendered persons to achieve their ideal gender, there is little to no explanation about what these procedures entail and perhaps more importantly, what the goal is aside from mere aesthetics or feeling like the other gender. Knowing the biological and medical benefits of such therapies and actions might help viewers further understand the desire to have gender reassignment surgery or to undergo hormone treatments—a need that was so great that one of the students got hormone drugs illegally.

Furthermore, by putting at least a few of the issues to light, might help viewers connect to what they’ve already learned about being transgender people because of the media attention to this very topic. In recent years there have been several attempts by mass media to explore the topic of what it means to be transgender. This discussion came in the wake of arguments and debates about the basis of homosexuality. To accurately represent the full scope rather than just presenting the daily lives of these four college students, could speak more widely on this topic and the reason I choose this documentary is for the aspects that one could hold as a cautionary tale in a journey as documentary filmmaker having to understand powerful topics and to influence the world for unity and equality among all. Something which this series fails to do

In short, despite some of the weaknesses discussed it is certainly true that this series shows how difficult it is to be accepted and to make one’s way without a firm sense of identity.