What happened to my piece of the cake?

I am watching me become a creature who cries a lot, a creature who must cry a lot, for it almost seems that pity is necessary before kindness is possible. And I know I have not come this far in life to become pitiful.

— The Bridge Across Forever

I spent a bit of time trying to find the name of a particular 80's sitcom. I didn't really remember very much about the show, but I recalled that it had a widower father who was a cop, who had some number of daughters. Turns out the show was called Gimme a Break, and I had completely forgotten the show's star, Nell Carter. Embarrassing. But watching the opening credits on YouTube jogged a lot of memories.

According to Wikipedia, the show changed a lot in later seasons -- Dolph Sweet died, and the show ended up being retooled a lot to try to adjust to his absence. But this all happened after I went off to university and stopped watching TV regularly.

It wasn't a show that I watched regularly -- I think I recall bits of two episodes, one of which involved a transsexual character, which is why I was trying to remember the name of the show.

In the late 90s, I had a few interactions with a professor who did research in queer theory and gender identity, and I recall him interviewing me in regards to a paper he was writing about the role of television portrayals of trans characters in helping form queer identification. And that show was one of the several trans portrayals that I still remember to this day. That, and Night Court and the unseen Rafkin character on Too Close for Comfort.

For my part, I disliked most of these depictions. Obviously, I can't speak for all trans people everywhere. One person posted this on a trans board out there:

In an episode entitled "Best of Friends," one of the lead characters, a hypersexed prosecutor named Dan Fielding gets a visit from an old friend who happens to be a post-op MtF. Surprisingly enough, the most sympathetic and sane characters in the story are Charlene, the lady in question, and her fiancee. While it contains inaccuracies and misconceptions, it is probably one of, if not the most trans friendly stories I have ever seen. The fact that it was filmed in the 1980's and broadcast on national television makes it all the more amazing to me.

What I remember most about that episode, was Charlene begging for acceptance. And I hated that.

My hat, it has no corners; no corners has my hat.

Aaagh. I'm wasting too much time looking up theme songs of shows from my childhood. YouTube can be like TVTropes that way.

I remember the first time I went to Minneapolis, and discovered that there was a statue of Mary Tyler Moore inside a building -- she's tossing her beret up into the air. And I thought, "hey, I'm wearing a beret!"

Sometimes life tempts us in unexpected ways.

Electra-awesome!

I can't believe that no one told me that they made an Electra Woman and Dyna Girl pilot back in 2001.

A Moment

So I was in Florida, hangin' out with the blue hairs, and my grandmother says, "Did you feel like reading a book, or something?"

"Not right now," I reply.

"When your mother was here the other week, she bought a book. I think she left it behind in the room you're in."

"It's okay. I brought a coupl'a books down with me."

"Someone told her it was a good book so she bought it from the store up the road."

"I don't feel like reading just now," I say.

Later, when I wandered into the bedroom, I noticed the book sitting on the end table. The Help. Sigh.