Caitlyn Jenner’s place in the mainstream is very different from that of Sean Baker’s Tangerine. The similarities between the two begin and end at the word “transgender”: Jenner reigns supreme as the mainstream’s de facto glam queen of the trans community, while Tangerine is Baker’s scrappy, iPhone-shot film explores the underground trans community operating in what amounts to the red-light district of Los Angeles. But, as it turns out, the two of them, though seemingly very dissimilar, were able to form a connection.
The Guardian reports that Jenner has come out strongly in support of Tangerine, saying specifically of the film, “Real trans women playing real roles, while tackling a big issue in this community – it was great.” The film’s star, Mya Taylor, expressed gratitude for Jenner’s bringing the transgender community into the spotlight, saying, “[Without her] it would be a great film thrown on somebody’s bookshelf at the back with some dust and some roaches on it.”
Huh. Isn’t it great when people get along, and great work is promoted? It doesn’t happen all of the time. Even stars of franchises diss their own franchises, as seen in this recent, brief Samuel L. Jackson interview where he gives the most diplomatic possible answer when asked how he felt about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
But back to the positive stuff: Vulture asked a bunch of writers which books affected them most when they were growing up, and there’s some very interesting insight given by people like Chuck Palahniuk and Alexander Chee.
It’s a nice way to honor the artists that have helped shape the way they were formed by other artists. But homage has been a thing for years and years, and will probably always be a thing. Hell, even today Fall Out Boy and Demi Lovato released a video that paid homage to NSYNC’s classic video for “It’s Gonna Be Me,” where they were toys that escaped from their packaging and their Florida-based taskmaster. But wait — is this homage, or satire? Is Pete Wentz mocking Justin Timberlake? Is this a feud?
No, probably not. It’s not as if the video openly derides the ‘SYNC the way these (fake?) Father John Misty Pandora ads mock the hell out of all the silly ads that proliferate streaming services. Now if that is how FOB and Demi treated the ‘SYNC, we might have a real problem on our hands.