Jodie Foster: One of the greatest speeches of all time.

[Ledge Moderators]

Let's please stay on topic & desist any further personal attacks. Disagreements of a personal nature need to be kept in private messaging.

[Jondalar]

By the way, I thought it was great of Jodi to actually champion privacy. It's almost like people think they have a right to know all your business. She is right-one day we'll wake up and realize that we have none. It's getting soo ridiculous. She doesn't owe people anything. If you choose to watch her movies, that's up to you. Doesn't mean you have to know who she sleeps with.

[BombaySapphire3]

I really would not describe Jodie as having "cowered in the closet" she just never really comfirmed or denied her sexual orientation publically until the Globes.Apparently she was out to family and friends .Anyone with an iota of gaydar could have clocked her decades ago.In Candleshoe you she looks and acts much more like a boy than a girl .A real closet case will marry a member of the opposite sex and pretend that are hetero..she never did that.As for her friendship with Mel that is a bit of a mystery.I do however think that she is just a loyal person.She is one of the few who tried to help Robert Downey Jr. when he was at his worst.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

I really would not describe Jodie as having "cowered in the closet" she just never really comfirmed or denied her sexual orientation publically until the Globes.Apparently she was out to family and friends .Anyone with an iota of gaydar could have clocked her decades ago.In Candleshoe you she looks and acts much more like a boy than a girl .A real closet case will marry a member of the opposite sex and pretend that are hetero..she never did that.As for her friendship with Mel that is a bit of a mystery.I do however think that she is just a loyal person.She is one of the few who tried to help Robert Downey Jr. when he was at his worst.

She reminds me of Kristy McNichol. It took her years to come out too and she was in a relationship for years.

About Mel and Robert - I think Jodie's motto is don't kick a person while their down.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

By the way, I thought it was great of Jodi to actually champion privacy. It's almost like people think they have a right to know all your business. She is right-one day we'll wake up and realize that we have none. It's getting soo ridiculous. She doesn't owe people anything. If you choose to watch her movies, that's up to you. Doesn't mean you have to know who she sleeps with.

Well, she may sneer down her nose at Honey Boo Boo, but Jodie has been anything but "private" over the years.



Of course she played the fame game just like any other actor in Hollywood; nobody was twisting her arm to do these interviews. But I suppose it's okay when Jodie Foster puts her life out there (selectively), but it's utterly tacky when Honey Boo Boo does it. It's basically the same thing. True, she doesn't owe anyone an explanation of her sexuality. But, IMHO, there comes a point where it just gets ridiculous. It's not the fact that Jodie Foster was in the closet; virtually all GLBT celebrities have been there at some point. It's the fact that she was in there for such a long time- far longer than any of today's mainstream GLBT celebrities. Perhaps, back when her career was more prominent, her coming out could have been incredibly powerful. Instead of taking the opportunity to be among the first actresses to come out, she has chosen to come out, a bit defiantly/bitterly/sheepishly, only after the Gallup Polls and the Democratic Party said it was safe. The ruse with Jodie Foster has been going on for such a long time that she may as well have stayed in the closet. I don't think she is doing herself or the GLBT community any favors by doing this now.

[BombaySapphire3]

One question:How many prominent out and proud gay celebrities were nearly murdered by not one but two stalkers while they were an 18 year old college freshmanI woud think that might influence someones desire for privacy.

[WildHearted]

Well, of course she has done interviews. That comes with the territory of being an actress. In my mind there's nothing wrong with selectively sharing details of your life. You should be able to share some things about yourself without revealing everything under the sun. It shouldn't be assumed that you are supposed to put forward a certain amount of information in order for it to be acceptable. Everyone has a right to their privacy, and a right to choose (for the most part) what the public knows and does not know about your lifestyle.

If she wants to talk about her kids, that's wonderful. If she didn't want to talk about her kids, that would have been fine too. If she wants to talk about what she had for dinner the past week, go for it. If she'd rather not, that's her prerogative. Just like it's fine that she didn't care to talk about her sexuality. She doesn't owe the public a huge grandiose coming out speech (no one does). I will never understand the idea that those who don't share to display their sexual orientation in neon flashing lights are somehow cowardly. As if it was their job to make a statement or something. Of course, they could have. Many people have and more power to them. But they are not required too. And they certainly shouldn't be looked down upon if they don't. I'm sure she came out many moons ago to her friends and family (the people that actually matter in her life). I don't feel that it's "ridiculous" to not want to bring public attention to your romantic/personal life. Plenty of people keep theirs private (as much as possible), regardless of whether they are gay or straight. We don't chastise straight people for not telling us the intimate details of their dating life. If she wanted to make a tongue-in-cheek (that's how I saw it anyway) statement about her sexuality (which has obviously been speculated on for quite some time) during a speech for a Lifetime Achievement award that she was honored with, then that's her business.

Anyways, doing interviews for magazines is not at all the same thing as being on a reality show. I don't even see how the two can be equated.

Just my two cents, of course.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Well, she may sneer down her nose at Honey Boo Boo, but Jodie has been anything but "private" over the years.



Of course she played the fame game just like any other actor in Hollywood; nobody was twisting her arm to do these interviews. But I suppose it's okay when Jodie Foster puts her life out there (selectively), but it's utterly tacky when Honey Boo Boo does it. It's basically the same thing. True, she doesn't owe anyone an explanation of her sexuality. But, IMHO, there comes a point where it just gets ridiculous. It's not the fact that Jodie Foster was in the closet; virtually all GLBT celebrities have been there at some point. It's the fact that she was in there for such a long time- far longer than any of today's mainstream GLBT celebrities. Perhaps, back when her career was more prominent, her coming out could have been incredibly powerful. Instead of taking the opportunity to be among the first actresses to come out, she has chosen to come out, a bit defiantly/bitterly/sheepishly, only after the Gallup Polls and the Democratic Party said it was safe. The ruse with Jodie Foster has been going on for such a long time that she may as well have stayed in the closet. I don't think she is doing herself or the GLBT community any favors by doing this now.

Yep, she should stayed in the closet where she was totally accepted. This post is zoo wrong.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

She doesn't owe the public a huge grandiose coming out speech (no one does).

Of course she doesn't. And that's why she should have just stayed mum on the topic... for privacy's sake. I'm sure Richard Simmons, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis and Kevin Spacey would agree.

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Of course she doesn't. And that's why she should have just stayed mum on the topic... for privacy's sake. I'm sure Richard Simmons, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis and Kevin Spacey would agree.

I don't agree at all. And in my mind other people who have "stayed mum" have no relevance to the discussion, because they are not Jodie Foster. She is the only person who matters in this equation. No one has any right to judge what she "should" do. She has the right to say whatever she wants about her personal life, whether that's complete silence, a huge speech, or simply an insinuation.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

One question:How many prominent out and proud gay celebrities were nearly murdered by not one but two stalkers while they were an 18 year old college freshmanI woud think that might influence someones desire for privacy.

Ding-Ding-Ding. Bingo.

I mean good grief - the assasination attempt on Reagan was all a stunt to impress Jodie Foster. It's no wonder she's tried to keep her personal life under wraps.

We have fans on this board who will vehemently defend Stevie's right to privacy, but Jodie is somehow supposed to be treated differently? I don't get it.

I think the whole point Jodie was making is that most people assume she is gay. What's the point in "coming out" and confirming it? It's pointless. It has nothing to do with her job as an actress or director. Many like to think that all celebrities are supposed to fill some holier-than-thou shoes as role-model for the rest of us, but the fact is that for most of them, it's just a *job* with a lot of press coverage, and what she does when she's not working is no one's business. She (or any celebrity for that matter) has no obligation to any of us to keep us informed regarding the details of their affairs of the heart.

[Macfanforever]

I always like Jodie .She's a great actress.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

Ding-Ding-Ding. Bingo.

I mean good grief - the assasination attempt on Reagan was all a stunt to impress Jodie Foster. It's no wonder she's tried to keep her personal life under wraps.

We have fans on this board who will vehemently defend Stevie's right to privacy, but Jodie is somehow supposed to be treated differently? I don't get it.

I think the whole point Jodie was making is that most people assume she is gay. What's the point in "coming out" and confirming it? It's pointless. It has nothing to do with her job as an actress or director. Many like to think that all celebrities are supposed to fill some holier-than-thou shoes as role-model for the rest of us, but the fact is that for most of them, it's just a *job* with a lot of press coverage, and what she does when she's not working is no one's business. She (or any celebrity for that matter) has no obligation to any of us to keep us informed regarding the details of their affairs of the heart.

Um... I'm not sure what maintaining Jodie's privacy has to do with the fact that John Hinckley Jr. wanted to impress her. If anything, don't you think if she had made it known that she was not into dudes, he would have been less inclined to seek her affections? Just saying...

I agree that her private life is her business. But I think she took such pains to keep this one aspect of her life under wraps, that it only served to intensify the scrutiny of it. And by refusing to acknowledge or talk about it back when it was already common knowledge, she seemed to give off the impression that it was some kind of shameful, dark secret, which added yet more fuel to the flames of curiosity. She could have so easily nipped this in the bud decades ago if she had just owned it and moved on. Like it or not, this is what you sign on for when you enter this line of work. It seems rather precious for someone to pursue a career in the limelight and then balk at the notion that people would want to know more about her as a person. Those are the rules of the fame game. People assume that her career would have ended if she'd come out years ago, but that assumption is not really supported by any actual anecodotes. Ask Elton John, Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris or Ian McKellan how their careers fared after coming out.

[BombaySapphire3]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Um... I'm not sure what maintaining Jodie's privacy has to do with the fact that John Hinckley Jr. wanted to impress her. If anything, don't you think if she had made it known that she was not into dudes, he would have been less inclined to seek her affections? Just saying...

He not only shot Reagan to try and impress her. He stalked her for weeks on the Yale campus and had planned to kill her but then decided to kill Reagan instead.This inspired a copycat psycho to attend a play she was in at Yale packing a gun.He too decided not to shoot at the last minute because she was "too beautiful to kill"It is kind of preposterous to suggest that her being an out lesbian could have prevented this.These men were/are both insane so that information could have just as easily prompted them to pull the trigger.Unless you or any of the others you cited in your post have been through something like this it is pretty unfair to judge.

[GODDESS6]

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

I always like Jodie .She's a great actress.

me too, love her work~