At an award show on Tuesday, Jodie Foster thanked her longtime companion as she accepted the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award. So, in effect she came out. I don't know that anyone was surprised by this news. I think it's been well-known that she was a lesbian. Ray at The Rec turned me on to the story. He wrote that she may have been forced into the closet by Hollywood for fear it would hold her back from future career opportunities. While I have been very skeptical and critical of Hollywood, I might argue that Jodie kept her sexuality quiet because she just didn't think it was anyones business. I think if she would have masqueraded as a heterosexual for all these years, I might wonder about her motives, but instead, I just believe she wanted to be known as a great actress and nothing else. And its twice as impressive when you realize that she began her acting career as a child.
At a time when the Britneys and the Lohans of the world believe that their success is based on tabloid headlines and not good performances, I applaud Jodie for doing it her way. She has proven that her career is based on her talent on the screen rather than her picture on the front page.
Good for you Jodie.
At a time when the Britneys and the Lohans of the world believe that their success is based on tabloid headlines and not good performances, I applaud Jodie for doing it her way. She has proven that her career is based on her talent on the screen rather than her picture on the front page.
Good for you Jodie.
It's hard to say which one is more accurate. I would like to believe that Jodie is so fiercely independent that she chose to keep her sexuality a secret, but ... we all know what it would have done for her career had she brought it up years ago.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, Ray, that she's had such a long and successful career in which there certainly were times that to actively come out might have damaged her career.
ReplyDeleteBut I feel as though she's always handled stories about her personal life with a lot of tact and grace in the media. She's never been tabloid fodder, and she especially could have been - as Piper points out - because she was a child star growing up under the harsh lights and temptations of Hollywood.
Overall, I'd say she's balanced her career and private lives well, much better than a lot of others. She deserves all the respect that she's earned.
And just because I can't resist bringing this back down to a much more shallow level, I'd just like to point out the gleeful return of the left nav Unknowing Lazy Eye Sponsor. Tiger Nuts. Heh heh heh. Funny.
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ReplyDeleteIt's entirely possible that she didn't come out for fear it would hurt her career. What I admire about her is that she didn't skirt the issue or get defensive. She just felt it wasn't about her career so she wouldn't talk about it.
ReplyDeleteShe might have kept it secret to save her career at first and then later to keep her sexual preference from stealing the headlines that she'd rather be about her acting.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post.