“I Saw the TV Glow” Is a Profound Vision of the Trans Experience | The New Yorker
The new movie by Jane Schoenbrun, “I Saw the TV Glow,” is among the most nocturnal films I’ve seen. Even in the handful of scenes that take place in daytime, the sun seems dark, shadowed by the dominant form of light in Schoenbrun’s world: the screen. There are cell-phone screens, computer screens, arcade games, glimpses of movies at multiplexes, and, of course, above all, televisions. Schoenbrun’s first dramatic feature, “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” (2021), revealed the artistry of a notable new filmmaker who developed a distinctive central theme—the obsessive power of media for troubled teen-agers—and an original aesthetic with which to express it. There’s something in Schoenbrun’s sense of style that captures the alluring yet alienating essence of screen-centered lives: the feeling of not being where one is, the feeling that what’s happening elsewhere, on those screens, is more important, even more real, than one’s own life. Schoenbrun’s earlier film, set around the time th
Save this story Save this story The new movie by Jane Schoenbrun, “I Saw the TV Glow,” is among the most nocturnal films I’ve seen. Even in the handful of scenes that take place in daytime, the sun seems dark, shadowed by the dominant form of light in Schoenbrun’s world: the screen. There are cell-phone screens, computer screens, arcade games, glimpses of movies at multiplexes, and, of course, above all, televisions. Schoenbrun’s first dramatic feature, “ We’re All Going to the World’s Fair ” (2021), revealed the artistry of a notable new filmmaker who developed a distinctive central theme—the
Explore this link on the map →related reading
- Am I Trans for the Right Reasons? Does it Matter?drdevonprice.substack.com
- More Real Than Life | Gabriel Winslow-Yost | The New York Review of Booksnybooks.com
- The Life and Times of an American Tween | The New Yorkernewyorker.com
- No One Wants It | Affidavitaffidavit.art
- My Self-Imposed Humiliation Ritual: Is It Transgressive to be the First Trans Film Critic to Review Actors?weard.substack.com
- Toby Shorintobyshorin.com
- The repulsive crust - by Sam Kriss - Numb at the Lodgesamkriss.substack.com
- Hard to See — Real Lifereallifemag.com
- Jennie Livingston on Paris Is Burning 30 Years Laterhyperallergic.com
- American Diner Gothic - The New Atlantisthenewatlantis.com
- All Good Sex Is Body Horror | The New Yorkernewyorker.com
- Reflections from watching 100 movies + favorites from 2025altered.substack.com