Bruce Jenner Interview

Anyone watching?

The interview was beyond amazing. Not sensational at all, Diane Sawyer asked very intelligent questions and covered every possible angle there could be. Bruce seemed to be very relaxed and at times relieved to have all of this weight from the years removed from him. Very touching...

He's always been so vacuous when it comes to politics, I wonder if it will ever occur to him that the old white men he supports in politics have done everything they can to stand in the way of all advances for people in his situation? On the other hand, maybe maybe maybe his telling people to keep an open mind will really get through to some of them?

I also would like to point out that it was Kanye West who reacted with insight and the empathy.

His step daughter Khloyieuy. Kim was stuck until Kanye told her his thoughts. The thing about his Republicanism comes through when he makes a REAL point to say he isn't/wasn't gay. And really, NO mention of "Can't Stop the Music"?

You wonder if he will ever make the connection between lack of funding for transgender youth suicide prevention and the people he votes for? Maybe one day he will realize his difficult struggle would have been much harder were he black and poor.

Between this and her recent Sound of Music special, Diane and her team are really hitting it out of the park.

Yeeeeeeeah I've seen the series, thanks.

I guess if Bruce looks at the film of him standing at the medal platform in the Olympics in 1976 and sees sadness, I don't think his presence in a movie filled with repressed gender non-conformists is any less interesting in the face of it.

What does he see when he looks at that? Probably far too tricky for him to imagine any sort of common ground with gay men. He's an Obama-hating conservative.

Updated On: 4/25/15 at 02:03 AM

Seriously, namo, what do you know about sexuality or gender?

Transparent is on Amazon, btw.

I was surprised at how much compassion and empathy I had for Jenner. Not because I wouldn't have compassion and empathy for him as a trans person, but because of that Kardashian side show he was (is?) a part of. I wondered if it was telling that not a single member of his Kardashian family appeared, and virtually every other kid of his did, but maybe those E! ladies have something in their contracts about not being on other networks.

I respect that he didn't reveal "her" name, but it did sound weird to keep referring to this "her" over and over.

Excellent interview all around.

Reading an Internet comments section and forming an opinion about humankind is inaccurate as reading a previews thread on an Internet Broadway site and forming an opinion about the quality and future success of a show. You just get a bunch of people crabbing whose voices seem disproportionately loud.

Better to judge by the show itself. Think about how many millions of people now heave listened to the heart of a trans person.

That is how progress happens: by people listening.

I would say the overall impression is "I hope he's happy...or should I say 'she'?"

And that's a good thing.

Namo landed on a telling nuance, noting the tone employed as Jenner balked at being gay. Yeah, we all fully understand the need to draw the distinction among trans people, with widespread ignorance reported about his revealing his "sexuality," when gender is entirely separate. Yet intentional or not, his insistence was oddly contentious in a way that couldn't help but conjure a Jindal/Pence-restricted America.

Anyone else see "Can't Stop the Music" at the Ziegfeld in NYC? I remember the cavernous barn with about 30 people spread out (like the shots of the house from the stage in "The Boyfriend.") It was a decidedly unique experience, watching it with so few New Yorkers on a warm Saturday afternoon.

On the way out, someone said "I never miss a Tammy Grimes Bruce Jenner movie."

Updated On: 4/25/15 at 11:21 AM

The actual story of his lifelong loneliness and confusion was moving. I agree with nyadgal about the specific responses from others -- especially his mother -- they all made me feel deep emotion.

I feel like he's got showbiz hucksterism in his blood. I'll attach a link to Frank Deford's excellent NPR piece about knowing Bruce since the '76 Olympics, which shows his mindset on how to capitalize on his remarkable Olympic achievement for the rest of his life. (His bit lipsynching the TV commentary was the one moment of unbridled "you better work" Bruce allowed himself in this entire show). As moved as I was by his story, my thoughts that the most recent family members weren't there because they don't do anything without getting paid for it. I'm sure this will be a hot topic with or without Bruce on their TV show, which translates to money for them.

And I also felt his holding back on what his new name will be, and leaving it to Diane to describe "her" in the beautiful black dress was not only reminiscent of holding back on the shark reveal in "Jaws," but was also specifically about Bruce's upcoming E! network show about his transition. On one level, all this talk of "the next year" was really a big commercial for that. I can't really say as I blame Bruce, a girl's gotta make a living. But it did put up a wall between him telling his story and me completely buying into his hoping this helps people and that's why he's talking. I also realize both things can be true at the same time.

Bruce Jenner clearing hurdles

The thing I can't abide by is his stupid politics, which have always been stupid for his entire public life. I mean, on this very special a Nixon speechwriter gasped, "You're a REPUBLICAN?" and that was glorious! Not for nothing did I think there was any reason other than his conservatism that he declared himself asexual and that his only desire is to have a "small group of friends" to sit around in the privacy of his home, talking and having dinner. We get it. You're not going to cause any trouble! You're not going to trouble the politicians you support with anything more than your "journey"… even if that means you become a lesbian. In fact, you'd rather say you're asexual.

He's living proof that every act is political, from what we name ourselves, to how we sell ourselves.

I'm grateful for the special. I'm grateful for him sharing the story. But it can be true at the same time that he's a shameless huckster and a political coward. May he have many years to prove me wrong. All THOSE things can be true simultaneously too.

PS Auggie, was writing this as you posted.

Updated On: 4/25/15 at 11:30 AM

It was almost Shakespearean the way two of the most important events happened off screen but were related to the audience. "Off camera, Bruce told me the story of the accident and it was devastating." "She was beautiful."

When he said he was a republican, my wife said, "That's it. You just lost me. I was there with you on being trans, I was looking over the Kardashian garbage, but being a republican is something I just can't forgive."

I thought it was an interesting study on how I could have empathy and find someone completely abhorrent and morally bankrupt at the same time.

That captured my feelings totally. It was really interesting and my heart was really being tugged for him, but then they got to his third wife and I remembered how I felt about him.

Updated On: 4/25/15 at 02:03 PM