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Calpernia Addams and Alec Mapa (Photo courtesy Logo)
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HOME > SOVO SCENE > TELEVISION
By: ROB BECK
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WITH “TRANSAMERICAN LOVE STORY,” Logo takes its latest foray into original reality programming, pitting eight guys against each other to win the hand of trans woman, activist, actress and entertainer Calpernia Addams.
Contestants vie for her attentions while gay comedian Alec Mapa hosts the show, which debuts Feb. 11. Addams’ friend and fellow trans activist Andrea James is also featured as a personal advisor during the challenges and eliminations.
The premise of the show is certainly a draw, but what makes it truly innovative is that it’s a reality show that manages to be respectful of its subjects, proving that the genre does not have to be exploitive to be entertaining.
That was a condition both Addams and Mapa insisted upon before agreeing to do the project.
“I went into it really wary of reality television, because it’s a genre that we’ve all seen, and we kind of know that there are deeper depths than there are higher highs,” Addams tells Southern Voice. “[The show’s producers] really convinced me that they were going to try to do something with the show that was a little more elevated and educational beside all the fun, and they really came through with that.”
Mapa tells us he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to be part of anything disrespectful to transgender people.
“I was like, ‘If this is going to be Jerry Springer-y or gross, count me out,” says Mapa, also known for his standup act and television roles on shows including “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty.”
Mapa need not have worried. As a preview of the Feb. 11 premiere shows, all the contestants begin the show with full disclosure of Addams’ status as a trans woman, rather than keeping them in the dark and staging a big reveal for dramatic effect.
According to Mapa, added drama was not necessary.
“[The guys] kind of created their own drama,” he says. “These weren’t people that you had to direct to be more interesting.”
But that’s not to say that the show is without its fun, salacious bits. As part of their first challenge, the guys don G-strings and worship Addams in a harem-like atmosphere, an act the usually demure, self-described southern belle seems to revel in for the moment.
Addams looks forward to moments like that to show there’s more to her than a painful past. She first hit the national spotlight when her boyfriend, Pvt. First Class Barry Winchell, was beaten to death in 1999 by fellow soldiers when they discovered his relationship with her. The Showtime movie “Soldier’s Girl” was based on their story.
“I just hope people can finally start to see the fun side of me, the funny and carefree side of me, because for so long I’ve been connected with activism and with tragedy,” she says. “The real me has always been a cut-up and a jokester and someone who really is going to laugh at herself and laugh at the world, and this show can finally give me something to talk about along those lines.”
She also hopes the show helps paint a flattering picture of transgender people.
“I just hope some people can see that trans women are more than just the clichés that they normally see in film and television,” Addams says, “that we’re worthy of love and we’re fully formed, interesting, and cool individuals who would make a good best friend or a good girlfriend.”
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