Transgenders in the Media

Over the years, there have been controversies with depicting transgender people in the media. Many people are not accepting of the fact that some people cannot strictly identify with being male or female, and people are very discriminatory against this. In the media, transgender people have hit many milestones and have been celebrating their acceptance coming to life. Teen YouTube star, Jazz Jennings is getting her own TV show called "All That Jazz" which will give us an insight through the eyes of a transgender youth. This teen drama will be appearing on TLC, according to an announcement made last week. Jazz may be young, but she is an author and an activist for transgender people that is turning heads to how people view them. Even though Jazz was born a boy, she knew from the beginning that she was meant to be a girl. Having gender dysphoria at such a young age was obviously a struggle but Jazz made the most out of her childhood by not letting the teasing get her down, and became a very important advocate for the debate on transgender youth. She was even signed on as Clean & Clear's face for the "See the Real Me" campaign which shares a touching video describing the trials of being a transgender youth.

In addition to Jazz's incredible accomplishments, transgender people have been portrayed significantly more often on television than in the past. There are many shows that feature transgender actors such as Orange Is The New Black, and Discovery Life's New Girls on the Block. There are also shows where actors play transgender people such as in ABC Family's My Transparent Life or the Golden-Globe winning comedy, Transparent. Even though there has been a significant shift in the way some people view the lives of transgender humans, there is still a long way to go. There will always be hateful comments against people that are seen as different or out of place, but they deserve just as equality as everyone else does. The shows where actors are playing transgender people are great, but there are plenty of real transgender actors in the field that could have taken on those specific roles. Overall, the advocacy campaigns that have been pointed towards transgender awareness should be taken seriously, and even though they have completed certain milestones, there are many more mountains to climb for equal representation in the media.

The Arrested Development Pilot: One of the best pilots EVER

Arrested Development aired it's pilot on FOX on November 2nd, 2003. Since then, throughout its four seasons, the show has received 6 Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and recognition for being one of the funniest shows aired on television.

In my personal opinion, the pilot of this show is one of the strongest pilots for a television series I have ever seen. Typically, pilots are ruled out to not be considered the best, but this show breaks that rule. In this episode, you are introduced to every important character in the series. The main character, Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman, narrates the episode and gives a detailed description of his highly dysfunctional family members. The fast paced editing and highly saturated coloring make the episode even more intriguing to watch. Lower thirds are used as well as many graphics to point to certain things and create different vectors.

Another aspect that I found interesting is that when they go from one setting to another, they don't just cut it, they create two different boxes on the screen and then bring the next scene into full. I have never seen that done on a TV sitcom before. The dialogue that is used is absolutely hysterical and the conflicts that arrive are so coincidental and unrealistic that they make you laugh out loud. The killer cast of Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, and many more add hilarious antics with each of their lines. Overall, this pilot was incredible and really set a high standard for situational comedies.

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire is an HBO show created by Terence Winter. It is an American period style show based around the prohibition era of the U.S.A. It follows a group of characters that are involved in the illegal sale of alcohol throughout the New York/New Jersey area.

The show aired from September 19, 2010 to  October 26, 2014 having five seasons. I have not completed the series as of now, but am in the middle of the second season. I personally love the show. It is unique and the writers have done a good job crafting creative characters for the audience to interact with. My favorite character is Jimmy, played by Michael Pitt. Jimmy is a Young man that does what needs to be done, and also has an interesting past that is unknown to him in the first season. 

The show also incorporates real characters from history such as Al Capone played by Stephan Graham. 

The show expands on american history to help tell a fictional story that keeps its audience on the edge of their seat and wanting more with each episode.


HBO invested a lot into this show. The pilot episode alone cost around 18 million dollars according to wikipedia, and in my opinion it payed off. The series ended up winning 2 Golden Globes and 4 Emmy's.