Her Story Proves How Powerful Trans Voices Can Be

OK, so I've been waiting for Her Story to come out for a while now.  Some trans media that actually features trans people in major roles, written by trans people and produced with trans people in mind.  Sign me up.  Being honest, I would have watched this if it sucked.  I would have watched it twice. 

It didn't suck.  It was great.  In fact, the more I think about this piece the more I'm impressed by it.

Her Story is a webseries that explores dating and love (as well as a host of things I'll get into in a moment) from a trans and queer perspective.  The characters are (mostly) balanced and real - anyone could see themselves through their eyes.  They are alternatively powerful and weak, just like anyone else.  In terms of character writing these people act more like actual people than I'm used to seeing any filmed media portrayal.  Their reactions and their motives are kind of amazingly honest, and I'll get into some non-spoilery (as I can be) examples on down in the article.  But I just want to be clear - this is almost perfect from the perspective of character.

Alright, being unemotional I can understand some critique in the first bit.  The first episode or so of the series takes a bit of time to get out of narrative ruts we're used to seeing.  There is a likeable open-minded character who doesn't know anything (like the supposed audience) about the subject matter of the piece, and we can tell that one of the themes from the beginning is going to be her education. We also have another character who seems that they'll be ignoring those lessons, and we're at a basic level rewarded by being right in both cases. 

But after things are set up, any hint that the writers are going to rely on worn tropes is gone, and there are two big things this series gets right by leaving those behind.  They're two big concepts that other films and series' struggle to convey in hours or seasons, and they're the reason I think this is an extraordinary work.  They're also the reason I think only a trans person could have written it.

Identity

Vi's character in general is a great example of the real kinds of characters this show produces.  She hesitates to take Allie up on her offer for the interview, and then she hesitates to follow through on her instinct that she's attracted to her.  She has these lines that the character thinks of as throwaway lines, but are justifying a path she's afraid to take.  "There's really no normal, " she tells Allie in her first interview when she's asked about sexuality.  She flirts with her throughout the subsequent episodes, she feels guilty about being around her when her 'keeper' is involved.  All while not letting herself decide to be with her for reasons she reveals to Allie and the audience right away.  "When I'm with a man I have no doubt about my womanhood…this whole time some part of my mind has been noting how much bigger my hands are [than yours]."  Around cis girls she doubts her own identity.

And that's a part of any character from any story.  That's what makes this show not just about trans people.  While it applies in the extreme with us, this kind of comparison as a motivation is rarely explored seriously in cis media, and this story even makes it clear that this isn't an experience that all trans women experience equally.  Paige doesn't seem to have any quips about how attractive she is, she doesn't for a second seem to think that anyone is clocking her, or she doesn't care.  Either way, she confidently believes that if she doesn’t disclose no one will know that about her.  Possibly as a result of her past, for Paige identity is not mostly how others see you, it's how you see yourself. 

Allie, however, experiences herself in reflection of Vi.  She wonders about her own identity as a specifically lesbian woman.  Does an attraction to Vi call into question her identity?  There are plenty of people around to advise her about her identity, some less helpful than others.  And that's another important theme that the series touches on, who gets to define your identity?  Allie's friends alternatively tell her that a lesbian can't be with a trans woman or that they can.  Paige and Bad Penny both offer the idea to Vi that she's not living authentically as they see her.  These pushes influence each of these women to reevaluate themselves, to change their assumptions.

It is all too rare to see questions of identity explored in media in an honest, heartfelt way like this, and I think it's one of the things that a trans writer can bring to the table more easily.  Whereas many people struggle with their own identity, for a lot of trans people (especially people who transition later) identity is a crisis that must be dealt with.  We've explored our identities up and down, often even having tried to deny who we are to ourselves.  So we're much more willing to explore the uncomfortable place that puts us in.  We're much more open to the possibility that we may not be finished understanding who we are.  And we can see, much more easily, where those questions and struggles are manifesting themselves in the lives of others. 

Agency

And a sense of identity that changes is important to the second big victory that this show scores.  Everyone in this show is responsible for themselves and judged by their own agency.  The moment that I became aware of this as a viewer was the scene directly preceding Vi's abuse.  A weaker film would have shown Vi being hit, maybe in shadow.  It would have shown her pleading with him and crying while he washed a bloody hand.  It would have taken every step to make her helpless and him an inhuman character of cruelty.  But those things make them both seem like they were preprogrammed for these actions, she was made weak and helpless by her past mistakes, he was driven mad and became a kind of beast.

Instead we saw something much more interesting.  The scene cut out and we see what happens next.  We have her tell a story of a time when she felt less in control, when the people who should have defended her mocked her.  We find her saying that she can handle these things herself.  We hear a defense of her abuser that doesn't just sound like the dumb obedient wife character, but rather the motivations of a woman who acknowledges it all in context.  We see him as someone with anger issues, but not someone who is a bestial villain.  When she leaves him a thank you note we don't read a sarcastic tone and we don't think her weak for having left it. 

In fact, most of the problems the characters experience are in the loss of agency.  Paige's big moment relates to her being outed without consent - what's important, though, is how she handles that.  She doesn't fold and drop the case, she doesn't try to deny anything, she doesn't threaten a lawsuit.  She goes and handles the problem by having honest conversations - even in the face of such a breach of trust she maintains composure.  And that seems to be Allie's breaking point with her friend Lisa who has been anything but sympathetic throughout the show.  Her biggest issue wasn't all of the crap things she said, it was taking Paige's agency, even if only for a moment.

Again we see a theme that could appear in any story.  For a lot of cis writers power is a zero sum game - there's a give and take in many stories, but it's usually just constant displays of dominance.  In this we can see that people never truly lose their power, that even in the face of betrayal and abuse we can be strong and willful.  As Vi reflects on her past in sex work she says "I never felt attractive before, but the money…it was proof I was worth something."  No one could call that her ideal situation, but she found power in it still. 

This is why we need trans art(ists)

And this is the real argument for including more variety in our storytelling.  It isn't about equality or making sure everyone has something that's built for them.  That's all fine and good, and a great side effect or whatever.  The thing about having trans people writing, directing or acting in your productions is that they are going to bring a different look at life with them.  They've seen things in an honest torn apart way that cis people never even have to consider.   This is the same argument for greater variety in all of our story telling.  You want racially diverse and socially diverse people involved in your companies and your art across the nation because they're going to see things in a new way, to make everyone think in a way that's novel and challenging. 

I think this is the best example I've witnessed of trans art telling a new story, and these are the kinds of stories we need as a nation.  They're great for the trans community, but I truly hope others get to see what kind of value there is in stories like these.