My Transparent Life (2022) User Reviews

Informative and emotional

[craige-84580 · 9/10 · 6 October 2022]

This is not perfect, but it is a difficult subject, and I believe that the people who made it did it for the right reasons and not to sensationalise. It is a documentary that helps people who don't understand the Trans community, but want too. I think that Serena asks the questions that ordinary people want to ask but really have no way of asking. I certainly learnt a lot from this documentary and it has given me an understanding of the Trans community, and the difficult lives they have to lead before they can truly become the people they have always wanted to be. This is a very good starting point for anyone who wants to understand rather than judge.

Open-hearted about it

[briannahjayde · 10/10 · 7 October 2022]

I think this movie's intention was to attempt to inform on the level of information that many people know or get when they're on their first journey to understand and become allies in the end. I think it's quite obvious that those who made this film came from a place of wanting to understand. I felt when Serena consistently explored the questions that a lot of people who come from different places in the world and mindsets may have, we also get to witness the moments of discovery to the uninformed; to an extent. There are so many transgender stories out there from many perspectives and this is just one of them that I don't think came from any place but love and friendship that these filmmakers have established with a community they do not directly identify with. Serena mentions at various times that she has had Trans friends way before this film was made and she was still learning. Ultimately, I also got out of it that we all need to learn that there are different types of transgender people in different parts of society, in different places in their lives, and that they are here and they are always fighting in their own paths. Although the film may not be perfect, it is indeed a catalyst and a conversation starter to learning either way you stand on your opinion the project. Jesse and Stassi were brilliant and beautiful and I'm sure they were aware of the intention of this piece. They were brave and infectious with courage for allowing us into only a pocket of their dynamic lives! Keeps you rooting for their future beyond till the end! Great watch, give it a try, and try to understand; all perspectives.

Great film - Totally changed my perspective

[moviebuff1429 · 10/10 · 8 October 2022]

I didnt know much about the trans community going into watching this film but Serena DC and the wonderful cast changed that. Jesse and Stassi were lovable and open people who shared their stories so well. It was very interesting to learn how hard life has been for them feeling like they were born in the wrong body. The pain and ridicule seemed intense and so horrible considering what sweet people they both seem to be. After watching the film I now feel a deep empathy for the transgender people of this world. Great flick! I hope it changes the minds of some people who watch it so that bigots can be more accepting of people who are trans.

I hope their film helps other families with transgender members to learn how to support them correctly.

[eddieandrewss · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

Watching this movie was very confronting for me because I have a brother who is transgender and while he was going through his childhood and expressing that he was a boy even though to me he was my sister I don't think that I was as supportive as I could have been. I used to tell him that he was crazy and to just relax and accept that he was a girl but now I see that I could have been much more supportive an I feel very lucky that he did not commit suicide or abandoned his family because we were basically rejecting him. The second the movie finished I called my brother and apologise to him for not being supportive and accepting him and now I want to do everything I can to rebuild his trust and let him know how much I love him. I hope their film helps other families with transgender members to learn how to support them correctly.

Inaccurate

[Janiceian1994 · 1/10 · 7 October 2022]

0 out of 10. This is NOT Transgender representation. This is a terribly edited "movie" if you can call it that. The constant cutting people off by Serena, and trying to get "dirt" feels very immature, and not the direction I was hoping to see. Why is the cover so inappropriate? That doesn't represent Stassi, it degrades everything she's worked for through this documentary. If I made a documentary on such a topic, I would simply have some compassion and NOT misgender someone WHILE FILMING especially. I feel for both Jesse and Stassi for having an opportunity to express, educate, and go into detail about their personal lives and it to be completely played off as some sort of social experiment. These are people, and their lives and truth are very real. Do better.

I am grateful to the film

[wallaceboyce · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

Transgender people seem to really struggle to be accepted which sucks because its 2022 people!! People should be able to do what they want and feel how they want. At the end of the day these people did not choose to be born in the wrong body. It happened to them and now they have to deal with it. Is having gender reassignment surgery the best possible option? I don't know. But what I do know after watching this film is that after having gender reassignment surgery people who are transgender feel a lot more comfortable in their bodies and this really helps them with their self esteem and also helps them to live normal lives as the gender that they were meant to be born as. I am grateful to the film makers for making this movie as it has really opened my eyes.

Misrepresentation

[georginabutch · 1/10 · 14 October 2022]

This is the most ridiculous excuse of a documentary I have ever seen. It's a narcissist's puff piece exploiting amazing trans representation with ignorance and a bunch of badly edited stock footage. Not only does the director misgender one of the stars - she misuses the word cisgender. She treats a mental health emergency like a sick opportunity to be entertained. She shows a friend a topless picture of one of the stars during her surgery without consent. WOULD YOU WANT SOMEONE SHOWING YOU TOPLESS IN SURGERY WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION? WHY WAS IT OKAY FOR YOU TO DO THAT TO A TRANS WOMAN?

She pretends to be on their side throughout intimate moments, even meeting one's child, watching their families cry - but little do they know she does not even believe in what they are doing. The head of an anti trans group gets more screen time than the stars during the climax of their journeys.

It feels like a queer person did not even touch this film. How can you claim to be a part of the community and misrepresent basic information and lack empathy? "Omg I have one trans friend, wanna make a movie?!" sounds about how all this started. The worst part is the director is too ignorant to even know what she has done to badly affect the community and everyone involved. You should be ashamed of yourself and burn every copy of this. I'm waiting for the cast to sue for misrepresentation.

P. S: The audio isn't in sync half the time. You misspelled the word psychologist. And by the way...there's also a typo in the opening text of the trailer. It's a complete joke.

I want to tell people to watch this so we can converse about how bad it is, but I don't want to give you the views.

Wow just wow!

[tylercipolla · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

Wow just wow! I had no idea about the struggle that people who are transgender go through every single day just to feel normal. From binding their breasts to taking hormones. From having traumatic surgeries to trying to get their parents and friends to accept them it seems to me that transgender people really live a life of struggle. The film is one of the most graphic things that I have seen in a long time but I think it was necessary so that viewers could really understand the epic struggle that transgender people face to become the sex that they believe that they should be. I have much more empathy for transgender people now and I hope millions of people around the world see this movie so that they can understand the transgender community better and support them anyway that they can.

Pleasantly surprised by the content in this film

[troyromaine · 10/10 · 17 October 2022]

I was pleasantly surprised by the content in this film as lots of filmmakers have tried to talk about this subject but I feel they have fallen short of telling the whole story. This film allows the transgender people to tell their stories and to see inside their private lives so you can make your own judgements on what it means to be a transgender person in 2022. There are a few graphic moments that I found a bit confronting. Seeing surgeries and being inside the actual operating theatre was a lot!! I liked it though because it was raw and real and honest. I feel really bad for the trans community and hope that it was help the world to be more accepting of people who are different.

Watch this movie if you have questions about being transgender

[stevesullivan-07368 · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

This film answered all of the questions that I have ever had about what it is like to be a transgender person. Jesse and Stassi were very nice people and great choices for this movie because they decided to be very open an share everything about their private lives which included letting us see inside the operating theatre when Stassi had her breast augmentation surgery. It was nice to see that even though some of the family members did not support Jesse and Stassi see some of them did. Stassi's sister and Jesse's sister were both too amazing characters in this film and if they ever read this I want them to know that I think they are amazing and I wish I had a sister like them. Watch this movie if you have questions about being transgender and if you want add to learn how to support your friends and family members that may be going through this situation.

Excited to see the next films that Elysium media and Serena have to bring out.

[williamglasper · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

This was such a beautiful movie and honestly it surprised me at how moved I was by the stories of both Jesse and Stassi. Whilst I've always been accepting of people in the LGBTQ a community I never really believed that transgender people were born in the wrong body but after watching this movie I am pretty much convinced that they are. I don't know much about religion or the Solon where it comes from but clearly something has gone wrong for these people and they are trapped in the wrong body's. I think it's great we live in a time where these people are able to access support and surgeries that can help them to look and feel the way that they believe they should always have looked and felt. Excited to see the next films that Elysium media and Serena have to bring out.

I do now support the transgender community after watching this film

[albertwest · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

I wasn't sure how I would feel after watching this movie because to be honest with you I have never really believed that trans gender people were born in the wrong body. Jesus doesn't make mistakes and so if you are born a boy even though you think you're a girl you are a boy. With that said however I can see that the people in this film really struggle with gender identity and even though I don't believe they should transition and have such invasive surgeries I can also see how desperate they are to feel normal and if having these surgeries is what they need to do then I guess that's what they need to do. I do now support the transgender community after watching this film because I believe that everybody deserves to be loved and supported especially by their family and their friends and it was sad to see that that didn't happen with Jesse and Stassi.

Really enjoyed watching this film

[kristopherplante · 10/10 · 17 October 2022]

Really enjoyed watching this film as it has helped me to understand the struggle that so many people who are transgender go through every single day just to feel like they are loved and to feel normal again. Jesse seems like such a nice man and it was hard to believe he was born a woman. He seems so comfortable in his skin now and I love that he can be a positive role model to his child and to other people around him.. I thought that Stassi was being a little naïve and maybe should have thought our her surgery decision more but she seemed happy in the end. Great movie. Highly recommend to anyone who wants to know more about trans people.

I want to send this movie to everybody in my town

[waynemilbourn · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

I live in a small town in Arkansas and over here everybody knows everybody and there are never any secrets so when we had a person transition in our town it was the number one thing that everybody was talking about and unfortunately instead of people being supportive for this transgender person that they we're very negative and made the transgender person feel very uncomfortable. I want to send this movie to everybody in my town so that they can understand what they did an the impact that it probably had on him. There is so much ignorance in the world surrounding transgender people and this movie really spells out that transgender people are just like everybody else except that they feel they were born in the wrong body but just like everybody else they deserve to be loved and protected.

I would be scared to be a transgender person living in 2022.

[danieldarnell · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

I would be scared to be a transgender person living in 2022. The world acts as though it is really woke an accepting of people in the LGBTQA community but I think for the most part that is not true. The statistics in the film show that there is so much violence against transgender people right now and that it is literally a death sent Since for most people that transition around the world. It is just not good enough and I hope that films like my transparent life are going to help change the minds of all of the bigots out there who are basically causing these poor transgender people to feel like monsters.

Films like this are so important

[julianswaim · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

The film makers really did a good job of explaining what it is like to be a transgender person. I feel like I really understand now that it can be very hard to actually transition and the more support these people can get the better. Films like this are so important because they help to change the way that people think about a situation that they have no knowledge of. I think that the surgery part was very confronting and I had to close my eyes during that part. But I am squeamish and I do think that it was good to be included in the film. I liked Serena a lot and think she has a lot of empathy for people in the transgender community.

An emotional story

[curtiscampana · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

Emotional story. This is not necessarily the best documentary I have seen, but the people being portrayed in it are extremely compelling and tremendously likable. I like features about piece of life stories, and this is a great movie for that type of narrative. The host serves as an audience surrogate asking the questions we want answered and navigating the narrative. Jesse seems to be such a great role model for this new generation. You can see that he's open to share his experience so people that feel like him, have someone they can look up to. Stassi has gone through a lot and her journey can be helpful to understand the nuances of transitioning.

It's interesting to see the trans community in a space that is so accepting.

[jameshotchkiss · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

It's interesting to see the trans community in a space that is so accepting. Living in the middle of the country, people who feel the same way that Stassi and Jesse feel, are afraid to express themselves. It's incredible that they can be free to be who they are without fear. Jesse even mentions that he knows he is fortunate to be in such a place. Where I live, I see people getting ridiculed for being different, and I hope the bullies can watch this movie to even try to begging to understand that insulting them it's not the answer and that feeling attracted to them doesn't affect their masculinity.

Transgender people are beautiful and courageous

[timothyhernandez · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

I am so sick of being a human being. After watching this movie I am disgusted at the way that friends and families treat their loved ones. Nobody in their right mind would ask to be born trans gender because it is clearly a very difficult way to live your life with lots of pain and ridicule and expenses to be who you want to be. People need to be more accepting and I hope that if they watched this film they will learn the impact that their bad behaviour has on other people. I think transgender people are beautiful and courageous and I am so glad I got to see inside their private lives so that I could understand that fully.

I'm so glad I watched this movie.

[harveypierce · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

I'm so glad I watched this movie. I recently became friends with someone transgender and I come from a very conservative upbringing. This movie answered so many questions I had and was afraid to ask my friend. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable because I have so little knowledge of what is appropriate to talk about. I still need to learn more about her, but at least now learning more about Jesse and Stassi's perspective on the subject, I believe a lot of my questions have been answered. The psychologist, Kathryn has clarified so much about how the psychology behind it is and she really broke it down to terms that are understandable.

The ending had me crying like a baby.

[eugenehamblin-61885 · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

The ending had me crying like a baby. This movie really makes you care for the people in it. Jesse and his kid are so adorable. They are parent and child relationship goals! Stassi is so gorgeous, I wish I had that body. It was extremely interesting to see their transition and to understand all that it takes to transition. The surgery part was insane, I was just as shocked as the host. I could really see the change in Stassi's self-esteem after she got her boobs. I wish more people could watch this movie to really see that trans people are just people, and if you're bothered by them go check yourself first.

Serena DC really embarked on a harrowing journey when she decided to make this film.

[robertschmidt-18689 · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

Serena DC really embarked on a harrowing journey when she decided to make this film. She asks a lot of the tough questions that a lot of other investigative journalists might avoid because they would fear the question would be too hard for people to answer but it is only when people like Serena go deep with their interviewees that audiences really get to learn how they think and how they feel. I am so grateful to have been able to witness Jesse and Stassi's amazing transformations and I wish them all the best in the future. I hope the world treats them as well as Serena did in this film. It has inspired me to become more of a outspoken person when it comes to supporting the transgender community.

This movie really gave me perspective on transgender community

[davidswayze · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

I normally don't really watch documentaries, but the poster got me intrigued. I don't really know much about the trans community because I don't know anyone that has transitioned. But this movie really gave me perspective on this community. My understanding of a trans person was completely different than it was presented in the movie. I can say that now I have a different opinion and perspective on what it means to be trans. Serena really asked questions that I was curious to know the answers to. It must be really hard to open up your life in front of the camera, but I'm glad I could witness Jesse and Stassi's transition.

Such an easy movie to watch. But very emotional.

[juanmoore-67348 · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

Such an easy movie to watch. But very emotional. Both Jesse and Stassi are so lovely and they deserve to live such a great life. Serena seems really interested in finding out more about the community and really shows the audience what they go through. I didn't know centers like FLUX existed, and I think that this is amazing. Briannah and Gunner are such great mentors. Their perspective really added to the understanding of the community. The section about drag queens was really interesting as I do see people confusing these two communities and they are definitely not the same. I do recommend this movie for people who want to know more about the trans community.

I didn't know there were organizations specifically for the trans community.

[josephmcadory · 10/10 · 9 November 2022]

I didn't know there were organizations specifically for the trans community. In my city there's only an LGBT center and they are so important. But I think if there was a center like FLUX the new generation of trans people would feel so much safer. I found Queen Victoria's words about violence against trans people and relationships so meaningful, and I would love to hear more from her. I'm so glad this movie is introducing this center to a broader audience, and this can be a first step for other organizations to be born and help the community, even more in spaces that are not as inclusive as Los Angeles.