Can't you
see the 28-year-old junior development executive --
"We've had reality dating shows with a
bi, a gay, and a ghetto girl...how about a
transgender person?" A year or so later we have
Logo's Transamerican Love Story. And as it
turns out, it wasn't such a bad idea.
Reality dating
shows are always good for networks because they're
cheap to produce and garner decent ratings. The
trouble comes with the inherent exploitation, when the
audience is asked to laugh at the star and his/her
suitors. There's usually some vague racism or sexism
thrown in as part of the appeal, though the
28-year-old executives would swear that's not the
case.
TLS bucks this trend. It's as fun as A Shot
at Love With Tila Tequila, Boy Meets Boy, or
the 18 Flavor Flav shows, but it remains guilt-free because
the stars of the show -- trans bachelorette Calpernia
Addams, Calpernia's best friend Andrea James,
and host Alec Mapa -- are visibly winking at the
reality genre, and we're laughing with, not at, them. All
the same, TLS nourishes viewers with the necessary
doses of drama -- it's the Scream of
reality dating shows. (Full disclosure: Calpernia,
Andrea, and Alec are all friends of mine and this
magazine -- Alec's a regular columnist.)
Calpernia is best
known as the onetime girlfriend of murdered soldier
Barry Winchell; their relationship was dramatized in the
beloved Showtime film Soldier's Girl.
She has since moved to Los Angeles to act, write, and
advise productions on trans roles.
On TLS
she's an affable and quick-witted star, game
for this whole silly setup -- one single trans girl searches
for love among eight eligible bachelors/total strangers.
When Calpernia first meets her beaus, she's
preening on a horse-drawn carriage. We intermittently
see her dreamily smelling flowers, spinning in front of a
mirror, and splashing in a bubble bath. When the usually
animated Alec communicates with the men, he's
as dead serious as The Bachelor's host Chris
Harrison, who acts like he's presiding over the
election of a prime minister.
It's not
clear where the suitors' heads are at. They all claim
they're looking for a partner, but most have
never dated a trans woman. Some seem sincere, like the
youthful, innocent Peter, and some look they were
cherry-picked by a casting agent for their
"outrageous" demeanor. Case in point is
Mark, a New Yawk wrestler who speaks to Calpernia through
her chest.
After a revealing
meet-and-greet with the guys -- where one guy drops a
major bombshell --Calpernia throws a harem party while
wearing what looks like Carrie Fisher's gold
metallic bikini from Star Wars. She orders the boys
to feed and fan her, and some happily oblige while
others grow self-conscious (you'd think reality
show contestants would have a high threshold for
embarrassment). After she's sated, Calpernia retires
to a secret room with Andrea to spy on the
boys via closed-circuit cameras -- many are
flirting shamelessly with the harem's belly dancers.
The next day,
Calpernia chooses the seven suitors who will stay and
compete for her affection. As she picks between the last
two, she drags out her speech like a handful of
Valiums just kicked in. "The guy I would like
to stay. With me. And. Get to know better.
Is..." This is quite intentional and quite
funny. She then tells the chosen bachelor that he's
an incorrigible flirt and that she's certain he
doesn't know what incorrigible means (he
doesn't). We get the obligatory limousine ride to the
airport with the loser and the survivors sipping
champagne with our heroine. A preview of next week's
episode follows, and we see one of our beaus flirting
with Calpernia as he holds a two-foot-long
sausage in his hand. Now, if that was on TheBachelorette, they'd have me as a
viewer.
