As Caitlyn Jenner continues to live out her well-documented gender transition, there’s one area in which she has returned to her heyday as Bruce Jenner, Olympic champion. Once again, she’s a polished, effective pitchwoman, selling acceptance and transgender pride as capably as she once sold breakfast cereal.
Her new campaign continues today with the premiere of “I Am Cait,” a glossy, eight-episode documentary series on E!.
It’s the latest phase in a well-choreographed rollout that included a two-hour interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC, a Vanity Fair cover and an appearance at ESPN’s ESPY Awards.
Based on the first episode, “I Am Cait” smoothly extends the resounding success of Jenner’s public transformation and cultural crusade — it accomplishes its inspirational, educational and motivational goals.
It doesn’t totally succeed as dramatic reality television, but perhaps that’s to be expected given how high the stakes are for the transgender cause and Jenner’s personal brand.
Not a whole lot happens in the first hour of “I Am Cait,” and there’s not much to be learned for anyone who watched the ABC interview.
The main thing that’s new is the opportunity to see Jenner at length in full female hair, makeup and dress, and bounteous commentary is sure to ensue on her wardrobe choices — what do we think of the leopard number, the white pantsuit, the dark floral wrap?
In one of the episode’s comic highlights, Jenner pulls an item out of her closet and her stepdaughter, Kim Kardashian, notes Jenner’s former wife, Kris Kardashian, has the same dress.
This continues a trend in much of the coverage and presentation of Jenner, in which her appearance is the central focus, from her introduction as “the stunning Caitlyn Jenner” at the ESPYs to the scenes in “I Am Cait” of her in the makeup chair, her hair in curlers and of her mother, Esther, saying, “I think he’s a very good-looking woman.” In a choice that’s a corrective to this and a subtle affirmation of it, the show opens with Jenner in bed, looking great with no obvious makeup or styling.
The primary action of the premiere episode consists of a visit to Jenner’s ocean-view home by her mother and two sisters and a visit by Jenner to the parents of a transgender teenage boy who committed suicide in May.
There’s a lot of earnest, supportive conversation, enlivened by a paparazzi chase and by Kim Kardashian’s appearance along with her husband, Kanye West, who is faintly hilarious in the role of the dutiful, trying-to-please son-in-law.
What’s missing is any real conflict, and you can see the producers working to gin some up — Esther Jenner expresses some honest, affecting confusion and anguish (but no real opposition), and there are hints things might not go so well with Jenner’s male buddies and her stepchildren in future episodes.
The general narrative arc is from mild apprehension to full acceptance.
Other current shows about transgender people, such as TLC’s “I Am Jazz” (about the tremendously winning teenage girl Jazz Jennings) and ABC Family’s “Becoming Us,” also are generally upbeat but are more able to generate some tension and discord, perhaps because they focus on younger people and take place outside the celebrity bubble of affirmation.
Another factor is Caitlyn Jenner, on screen, maintains the public personality of Bruce Jenner.
That consistency is mentioned in the show — family members hope Jenner’s temperament won’t change — but no one talks about what exactly that entails.
The truth is Caitlyn and Bruce both appear to have some of the traits associated with athletic greatness: forcefulness combined with a lack of serious introspection, which just would be a distraction.
There’s no reason to doubt Jenner’s sincerity when she cites statistics about suicide among transgender teenagers or consoles a grieving parent, but you also can’t help noticing how she seems to be reading from a script.
She has the qualities of an excellent decathlete, spokeswoman and even leader, but as a reality star she could take a few lessons in openness and spontaneity from the Kardashians.
