The Amazon program Transparent has received much attention for its portrayal of a man transitioning to a woman. But University of Michigan Professor Jonathan Freedman says it also tells a story of Jewish identity.
Freedman, a professor of English and American Culture will speak Wednesday night at 7:00 at Kalamazoo College in the Olmstead Room at Mandelle Hall. His address is called Jews and Other Others: Transparent and the Remaking of Jewish Identities.
The central plot of Transparent is the transition of retired professor Mort Pfefferman from a man to a woman. But Freedman says as the show takes us through Mort’s journey to becoming Maura Pfefferman it also examines the idea of Jewish identity in the United States.
Transparent shows the intersection of Jewish culture and the LGBT community. Freedman says the show also explores Jewish history and various “traumas and historical catastrophes” and how those work out in the current generation.
Freedman says Transparent also explores the complications of being Jewish and transgender or Jewish and gay. He says that focuses the show on the story of Jewishness as much as it focuses on gender identity.
Freedman will also be part of a discussion Thursday night after a production of Bad Jews at the Festival Playhouse. The play is scheduled to begin at 7:30 Thursday night.
