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Written by Nic Champion Wednesday, 20 January 2016 00:32

I loved Her Story as sincerely and thoroughly as someone could possibly like a six-episode web-series.

 

 

 

There are two problems with Her Story. There’s a minor character with a terrible fake British accent and, as for the show in its entirety, there’s not enough of it. Bam. Here’s a twist for you: despite my negativity in the opening sentence, I loved Her Story as sincerely and thoroughly as someone could possibly like a six-episode web-series. Assuming you, the reader, are open minded and sympathetic to LGBTQ issues, you would probably like it, too. The only downside is it leaves you wanting more.In the midst of transgender-centered media (from the widely acclaimed Tangerine to the Amazon series that I’m a personal fan of, Transparent, to the coming out of famous Olympian Caitlin Jenner) Her Story is the most relevant, honest, and important story about trans-folk around about now that I now know of, even though it’s very sadly abridged.

Each episode is roughly ten minutes and revolves around two transwomen, Violet and Paige. Allie, a lesbian journalist looking to use her career to promote social change, approaches Violet to do a story about the everyday lives of transgender women. Paige is pre-occupied with her career as a lawyer fighting LGBTQ discrimination cases but decides to start dating the charming and kind James and worries about how he will react when she tells him she is transgender. These main storylines alone provide sufficient tension and material to base an entire television series around, and yet Her Story still manages to include intriguing subplots, never failing to efficiently and effectively characterize all of its players. For such a short running time, the co-writers Jen Richards (who plays Violet) and Laura Zak are able to create the feeling of a fully fleshed out series that progresses organically. Director Sydney Freeland is also apt at condensing the events into a fast-progressing but still poignant and thoughtful storyline.

The tagline on the website is “A story about women”, and this really gets to the heart of the show. Despite being an LGBTQ centered story, it really is just about the varying perspectives of women at heart. There are some key scenes that describe the particular difficulties of living as a transgender woman, but there is a whole lot about the difficulty and sometimes danger of living as a woman, period. Violet goes through the same problems many cisgender women can encounter. She is in an abusive relationship with a straight, cisgender man. She is unsure how to feel when a charming, attractive woman like Allie comes along and challenges her perception of her sexual identity. Both Violet and Paige are navigating the complicated adult world balancing careers friendships, and romance. So, above all, Her Story just goes to show how transwomen are pretty much like all women. They’re just coming from a different place. It contains all the romance, humor, and drama of a smartly written TV series. It doesn’t feel as short at is it, and I mean that in a good way.

In addition to this relation of transwomen to all women, there are still important trans issues being portrayed here that haven’t really been touched on as much in other media. Specifically, the problem of trans-exclusionary-radical-feminism is depicted. TERFs are basically feminist women who disregard the status of transwomen as real women, and rather consider them males dressing like women for fetishistic purposes or as an excuse to invade female spaces. One of Allie’s friends is particularly hostile to Violet and Paige. The refusal of transwomen to be allowed into women’s shelters is also brought up. Because of this, Her Story really distinguishes itself in that it doesn’t play to the already-done storyline of a transwoman being persecuted by ignorant, patriarchal norms. Rather, it’s about the struggle of transwomen to find their place amongst other women, and the hostility they often face for doing so.

If Her Story was a television show, I’d watch it. It does a really good job of wrapping up the story lines and communicating what it wants to. I wonder why it wasn’t just made into a small-budget film. Maybe it was easier to get funding as a web-series. If you’re hoping to see more complex, honest media about trans issues, then take an hour out of your day to watch this. Maybe, if it gets enough attention, it can be expanded into a full series or a film. | Nic Champion