Out Takes

15 Nov 2016

Transgenerational Trauma

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Amazon’s TRANSPARENT has recieved wide critical acclaim. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it ‘continues to transcend the parameters of comedic and dramatic television with sustained excellence’. But one of the more interesting themes that TRANSPARENT explores has gone largely unremarked on; that is, the idea that trauma, until it is processed, can be transmitted from one generation to another. TRANSPARENT uses dark humour and a tender kind of wisdom to locate the Pfefferman family in the context of eachother’s pain, and remind us of the effects of transgenerational trauma.

In this way, it taps into a broader body of filmic works that observes the lives of their characters through the lense of transgenerational trauma: think BEGINNERS and WALK ON WATER. These are films (and tv series) that locate LGBT characters, and much of their pain – as well as their happiness – in the context of their families’ trauma, and subtly observe the way that transgenreational trauma can shape identity – particularly the way we relate to people around us.

This week on OUT TAKES we explore the way that transgenerational trauma has been portrayed in queer film and television, and the way that LGBT characters have been positioned in the context of their families’ intergenerational trauma. It’s a big topic, so we’ve asked Alon Shwartz, the director of AIDA’S SECRETS, to join us. AIDA’S SECRETS is a compelling documentary that deals with the trangenerational effects of one woman’s secrets, and the pain that underscores those secrets. It screens this month, as part of the Jewish International Film Festival.