Recommendation: Adam Torres – Transgender FTM Character
A reader recommends…
Degrassi: The Boiling Point , a TV show
Showing the life and struggles of a transgender character on a popular teen show is a big step in creating awareness and understanding of the trans community. As a female-to-male myself, I was amazed by how accurate the portrayal of Adam, originally Gracie, was.
Category: recommendations, tv 9 comments »
October 8th, 2010 at 11:40 am |
I don’t watch Degrassi myself, but I happened upon a video of an interview with the actress playing Adam & with the one of the writers? (maybe? I’m not sure), somewhere on the internet and was really impressed by what they said.
One thing they said was that they actually used YouTube – the channels of all those FtMs – as a source for seeing what a teen FtM might be thinking, etc.
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October 8th, 2010 at 2:05 pm |
I loved the two episodes that really focused on the character of Adam and his struggle. Totally made me bawl. Degrassi is a long-standing favorite of mine, and I thought their inclusion of a trans character made me love it more.
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October 8th, 2010 at 8:06 pm |
I started watching DeGrassi because of this character and am totally addicted : )
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sandra replied:
May 25th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
me too this FtM made degrassi my new fave show
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October 8th, 2010 at 9:55 pm |
My kids got into DeGrassi this summer, and I’d heard about Adam, so I kind of kept on eye on the show when they had it on … and before I knew it, I was HOOKED! That story line gave me a great chance to discuss some things about gender with my kids. I’m not sure that they realize that one of my friends they’ve met is trans, but they’ve met my androgynous lover and we’ve talked about androgyny.
I’m not a big TV fan, but I do love shows aimed at kids that introduce “controversial” subjects because they always lead to great conversations between me and my kids. It’s easier for me to launch into a conversation about gender identity from a tv show than to just randomly bring it up, and I think my kids respond to it better when it’s an offshoot of something they’ve watched.
[Bollocks, I just realized I missed the new season premiere tonight!]
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October 8th, 2010 at 10:21 pm |
I was never very much impressed by what I saw on Degrassi, but then I never give things on TV much time… I am impressed by what I hear they are doing in transgender issues. Reminds me of some important television that has been produced in Nicaragua – a soap opera that has quite a lot of themes in it about women’s rights issues… very ground breaking for Latin America and tremendously popular and important in getting people to think about these important topics. If Degrassi can do the same for TG topics in the N American market, I will be very glad.
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October 10th, 2010 at 11:40 am |
I watched these episodes and I was impressed. I thought they did a pretty good job dealing with these issues, and maybe, just maybe, some minds were opened.
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October 11th, 2010 at 1:42 pm |
God, I never thought that I would say that I cried watching Degrassi, but I just cried watching Degrassi.
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October 16th, 2010 at 11:31 pm |
When I figured out Adam’s FTM (which took a while, I seem to be physically unable to watch Degrassi episodes in order or anywhere near the time they came out) I was soooo happy. I was re-watchign ‘his episodes’ with my bestfriend and came out as bigender to her. We’re buying me a binder during AIDS walk tomorrow! (and her a pregnancy test -.-‘)
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