The family is not without a transsexual They say that someone else’s soul is dark, and life constantly proves this to us – remember at least numerous stories about serial killers hiding under the guises of charming men, prosperous family men, good husbands, attentive fathers, reliable workers, polite people, interesting interlocutors, pleasant neighbors who never cause trouble, in general, people who could safely be placed on the board of honor of exemplary citizens. And if a person can keep such a dark secret, such a crazy attraction that takes a lot of time and energy, and not plant even the slightest reason to suspect something wrong with their loved ones, how many more innocent secrets are hidden in each of us and how much do we really know about those we call our family? This was the thought of the three characters of the new drama from Jill Solway, who you may know as the author of scripts for episodes of such television projects as “The Client is Always Dead”, “How to Succeed in America” and “United States of Tara”, as well as the director of the film “Middle Nega”. This time, Jill Solway went further and created the series “Obvious”, telling about already grown children who learn that their father really all his life felt not a man, but a woman and in his old sixty-eight years decided to finally become himself.
On the one hand, "Obvious" is a story about the difficulties that are an integral part of the life of members of the LGBT community, which we recently hear from the screens of cinemas, televisions and our monitors quite often - the author of the series, along with his hero, goes through almost all stages of transformation from one person to a completely different person, a lot of talking about the problems that accompany them. Here you have all the highlights of a transsexual’s life, from the most fundamental ones like the fear of opening up — first to oneself, then to complete strangers, and then to family and friends, those whose reactions can hurt the most, to small things like disapproving looks on the streets. However, on the other hand, “Obvious” is much more than a classic story about the life of a person associated with the LGBT community, which will not surprise anyone, and some even bother – at a time when a father who wants to become a mother begins to take the first decisive steps to fulfill his dreams, his children also experience decisive moments in their lives. The eldest daughter falls in love in a childish way and realizes that she can no longer live in marriage with her husband, since she is intended for a completely different person, the middle son, on the contrary, thinks for the first time about completing a rampant bachelor life and connecting her life with someone, if not forever, then very long, and the younger sister of the above-mentioned characters solves for herself the classic dilemmas of a person her age, trying to find herself in this changeable world. Therefore, “Obvious” is primarily not a story about tolerance or an educational series, but the story of relations between members of the same family, which, although it turned out to be very unusual, but lives according to the same laws and is subject to the same ailments as any other.
The first series of Jill Solway appeared thanks to the site Amazon, which, like Netflix, in recent years, has engaged in creating its own content, having achieved some success in creating comedy series, becoming along with HBO one of the few suppliers of products that have reached a higher level than classic sitcoms, and has also a strong dramatic component, or analyzes current topics and problems, or, more simply, gives food for thought. “The Obvious” won’t make you skating on the floor with laughter, although the characters of the series constantly get into ridiculous situations, it is a series that will easily tell you about very serious things, and you can decide for yourself whether you will delve into the story and try to understand the true feelings of the characters or decide to perceive this project as a story about one strange but very funny family. And regardless of which option you choose, one thing will remain the same – “Obvious” will introduce you to a world where it does not matter who you were born, who you feel most importantly, and no matter what gender you love, the main thing is that you love, and in this crazy place people of different religions and beliefs, ages and orientations, who, like the characters of many other films and TV shows, will try to tell you that you cannot escape from your essence, no matter how hard it is to accept and defend it.