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After producing such quality television like Celebrity Fit Club and Flavor of Love, VH1 announced its latest reality endeavor, Transform Me.
Transform Me is much like any other makeover series -- find a plain Jane, bring in a team of experts to humiliate her, and after a little blood, sweat, and eyeliner, the ugly duckling will turn into a beautiful swan. Transform Me’s gimmick comes in the form of its team of experts: rather than being hip fashionistas or flamboyant gay men, these experts are transgender women.
The transgender trio -- led by VH1 reality alum, Laverne Cox -- promises that rather than focusing solely on outer beauty like all of those other makeover hosts, they will set their sights on “overall transformations.” So instead of picking women who simply suffer from poor fashion sense, contestants will also be generally unpleasant or boring.
Using members of the LGBTQ community as part of a show’s gimmick is nothing new, and can certainly prove exceptionally successful. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy not only brought gay men into the homes of Middle America, but you could argue that without it we would have never seen Project Runway or What Not to Wear (whether that is a good or bad thing is entirely up to you).
My hesitation with producing a show aimed at exploiting transgender women for a primarily heterosexual audience is that we haven’t reached the level of visibility and acceptance for transgender people that we had for gays and lesbians when Queer Eye debuted. By the time Queer Eye premiered in 2003, Ellen had already come out of the closet, Will & Grace was a major hit, and Queer as Folk was breaking sexual boundaries on cable. But despite a few minor transgender characters on Ugly Betty and Nip/Tuck, we haven’t seen the explosion of representations that we did for gays and lesbians in the late 90s and early 2000s. Is a makeover reality series really the best vehicle for moving transgender acceptance and support forward?
On the other hand, despite being crucified by the LGBTQ community, presenting gay men as nonthreatening and loveable via Queer Eye is probably one of the many reasons more and more heterosexuals are now supporting LGBTQ rights. Having a platform to, not stand on your soapbox, but merely be entertaining has a positive effect on a lot of viewers. Even though I as a queer person might be apprehensive about Transform Me, perhaps this is exactly what straight, Middle America needs right now -- a trio of trans women who they can relate to and laugh with.
Transform Me will premiere on VH1 on Monday, April 19.
vanessaaishacoleman
| 3/7/10 02:02 PM
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