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Jodie Foster comes out... finally

After guarding her private life fiercely for 15 years, Hollywood actress Jodie Foster has publicly acknowledged her lesbian partner.

The Oscar-winning actress thanked "my beautiful Cydney" after winning an award at the Women in Entertainment Power 100 breakfast in Los Angeles.

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There you have it folks, my entertainment story for the quarter.

I like Jodie Foster - I'm not quite sure why though I suspect it has to do with her role in Silence of the Lambs. She pulled off "rural and southern" without making it "redneck"

Reply#1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:49 AM EST

I like her too. She always comes across as a beautiful and intelligent lady. And perhaps I like her best BECAUSE she tries to stay out of the limelight and separates her personal life from the politics and sleeze of her professional one.

#1.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:13 AM EST

I like her too, and I think even now she's one of the more gorgeous and intelligent leading women around.

#1.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:30 AM EST

She has quite a bit of integrity. Anyone who went through making Taxi Driver and having a president almost killed in her honor has to have had a few ethical quandries over the years and she's always handled it well. So Killfile, this means your next entertainment story wil, er, come out in March? (Marking my calendar)

#1.3 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:33 AM EST

Probably something like that Scott. I don't tend to seed stuff to Entertainment mostly because it would be inappropriate to seed most of the content from What Would Tyler Durden Do (http://www.wwtdd.com)

#1.4 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:36 AM EST
I like Jodie Foster

Dang it. I have always HATED Jodie Foster. But now it is just going to look like it is because she is gay. ;-) Is it now a hate crime to dislike Jodie as an actress?

#1.5 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:01 PM EST
Is it now a hate crime to dislike Jodie as an actress?

As long as you don't whack her repeatedly in the head with a baseball bat screaming "Bull dyke," no.

Sexual orientation has nothing to do with their talents. Hell, I'm pretty much bisexual and yet I can't stand Rosie O'Donnell.

#1.6 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:36 PM EST
Reply

Good for her. I suspected, as many did, not that there's anything wrong with that. I love her acting ability, I'm never disappointed when I catch one of her films...

Reply#2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:56 AM EST

I wondered why she didn't come out before, but I've never thought actors' personal lives were any of my business. Still, the more we seem "normal" and not the scary unknown, the more people may accept us.

Reply#3 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:15 AM EST

In the second person -- but that was my thought as well. Gays and Lesbians are "othered" by society and that's bad. Openess about sexual preferance makes it less stigmatised and more generally accecpted by society - all of which goes a long way towards equal rights etc.

Normally I'd agree - not only is an actor's personal life none of my business, but it doesn't really matter anyway. Cases like this are the exception rather than the rule and, with any luck, someone somewhere may realize that gay people are people too.

It's a start.

#3.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:32 AM EST

hmm, so it is isn't a natural gift, to realise queers, who look just like others are people. Do we have to recognise heterosexual people as people too? Maybe we are all chimpanzees. The last time I checked my arms were getting longer, who are these bigots?

Perhaps I should make my comparison based on my experience as a possible chimpanzee, hmm, it seems humans have the ability to recognise shapes and can even read at a basic level. Maybe the humans will soon recognise the folly of their politics and prejudices and embrace a knitpicking government based on pandynamics, then perhaps the trees will be more welcoming.

Wait our intelligence spies tell us they still cannot tell that gays, lesbians and blacks and women are a part of the same race. I guess we will have wait another hundred years before we can help them understand the advanced nature of 'chimping'

#3.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:01 PM EST
Reply

I hadn't a clue about this. Good on her.

Reply#4 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:15 AM EST

I didn't either! I't doesn't make any difference though, I still like her.....

#4.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:55 AM EST

I was of course totally in the dark also about Jodi. However I totally respect her and admire that she has been able to lead a private life and not have every little detail of her life photographed and talked about. She is a excellent actress.

#4.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:03 PM EST
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Jeez, everyone's known Jodie Foster and Cydney Bernard were an item for many, many years.

Reply#5 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:40 AM EST

Yes, but the point is, she has never come out about it. She has never acknowledged her partner publicly. And now she has, and that's significant.

Yes, we can say that it's nobody's business, and everyone has a right to a private life. But on Oscar night, we expect that Denzel is there with his wife, and Julia Roberts is there with her husband, and George Clooney's there with his girlfriend, and we don't always know their names, but it's nothing major that there they all are. Most of them don't have to hide their loved ones at home on special occasions, when all the others are showing up as couples.

It's not just important because of what other people know, or because she can be a role model for people, or whatever. It's important because now she has decided to stop hiding it, and now she can take those next steps.

#5.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:32 PM EST
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Personally, it's not anyone's business but hers and her partners. This is exactly why the government won't stay out of the bedroom, etc. I understand she came out, but it's this fascination with other people's private lives that leads to the nanny state.

Reply#6 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:51 AM EST

I'm not following your logic, enigma, as far as your "nanny state" conclusion. However, I agree that Ms. Foster is entitled to her privacy.

I really don't give a hoot about someone's sexual proclivities. While I can appreciate the fact that the "personal is political," the choice to come out of the closet or remain within should be up to the individual.

By the way:

The actress later gave birth to sons Charles, 9, and Kit, 6.

Those terms of gestation must have made for some mighty uncomfortable bouts of labor!

:-O

Reply#7 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:04 AM EST

I do,
I am complete normal, everything i do my friends do or atleast accept what i do. I am 1000% the bar of averagidity. Or atleast in my minds eye. I find out my neighbours that are perfectly normal outstanding citzens that never break the law, like to dress up as their favorite fruit and get all freaky in the whipe cream... er wait that sounds kinda cool.. ok they get naked and roll in nails (ok that doesnnt sound cool).. to me it is bizzarre, it is an a front to my advergae world and for god's sake i dont want my kids emulating them.. and you know kids defy their parents in everything..
WE must have a law banning this extremely lewd behavoir that i cant see, have never seen but heard about cause i dont want my kid rolling arround naked in nails.
While outlandish, point is people do some really freaky stuff int he bed room, stuff i can only dream about and often do, but there is even some stuff that would make an open mind like mine go "no f'n way" and while i think what i do is normal, there is probably someone out there that thinks what i od is a bit too freaky. And if they found out i did it, they too may campaign for a law against my entertainments.

#7.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:25 PM EST

Hah, Joules. You're too funny. However, I beg to differ with your self-assessment about being the "1000% the bar of averagidity."

You're far better than even 1000% of normal and I have a feeling you know it.

;-)

#7.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:21 PM EST
Reply

I wonder why it took so long. I think our society has been fairly accepting of gays for at least a few years now. It's not the career-killer it once was.

Reply#8 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:10 AM EST

Really?

Name an openly gay actor or actress who's been cast as a heterosexual romantic lead in movies.

#8.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:47 PM EST

Just because they may not be cast in leading romantic roles doesn't mean their careers are dead.

Wasn't coming out the reason Rosie O' Donell's talk show got canned?

The episode of Ellen DeGeneres' half-hour sitcom in which she announced she was gay was the most-watched episode of its run (duh) and it wasn't until the following season that her show got canceled. Now she has a hit talk show and she is considered one of the funniest and most loved comedians in the country (though not by me since she crossed the picket line).

And why would a homosexual want to be the leads in hetero romantic films anyway? Are straights eager to play gay leads in movies?

#8.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:54 PM EST
Are straights eager to play gay leads in movies?

Ask Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal

#8.3 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:03 PM EST
And why would a homosexual want to be the leads in hetero romantic films anyway?

There are several reasons, but the big one is MONEY!

#8.4 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:15 PM EST
Name an openly gay actor or actress who's been cast as a heterosexual romantic lead in movies.

Hasn't Ann Heche been cast in heterosexual roles? Or does bisexual count? Of course, you have a point, Pev. Most Hollywood actors/actresses--particularly in the old days--preferred to keep their sexual orientation (if it departed from the "norm") quiet. Who would have thought that "Old Ironsides" (aka Raymond Burr) had a gay lover?

No need to take me up on the link below. But somehow it seems appropriate in this forum--although I have to confess that it's a (slightly?) obnoxious stab at self-promotion:

http://rebecca-yarowsky.newsvine.com/_news/2007/07/17/841751-dragging-them-out-of-the-closet

#8.5 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:32 PM EST
Reply

Uh, ok.

Has anyone told John Hinckley Jr.? D'oh!

Reply#9 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:11 AM EST

he's workign on a sex change as we speak.

#9.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:26 PM EST
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All the "I knew it" comments make me wonder...do y'all ruminate over all celebrities' sexual orientations?

Reply#10 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:47 PM EST

Not all of them.

just the ones I think are gay.

and Angeline Jolie, I mean not so much the "orientation" as the execution and participation in..... wait, TMI.

#10.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:26 PM EST

I don't care about a particular celebs sexual orientation but I do have fun playing the game "Toupee or not toupee" with a lot of celebs. I'm going to put Ms. Foster in the "Not Toupee" column for now.

#10.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:42 PM EST
Reply

Yay for coming out!!!

Reply#11 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:53 PM EST

Your turn!

#11.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:22 PM EST

Ha! I'm already out, doofus!

#11.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:47 PM EST

I could make a corney joke about strap-ons right about now...

:)

#11.3 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:04 AM EST

Is that one of those things that magically turns the lights on & off?

#11.4 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 6:31 AM EST

Turns the volume up or down

#11.5 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:51 AM EST

Now THATS The Clapper folks.

Such a nice gift.

#11.6 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:56 AM EST

I'm too young for this incidious line of conversation. ;)

#11.7 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:18 PM EST
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It shouldn't even be a story....

Reply#12 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:56 PM EST

Good for her, hopefully she feels better about letting it out in the open and being able to publically be with her girlfriend.

The "Closet" is a truely horrendeous thing. I've known people who said they've been in that state of purgatory for years and it's almost like not breathing, not being able to fully be yourself around anyone, even your family and friends.

So, it's always good to hear when people step out of it. It helps to show to the rest of the world that the GLBT community is just like themselves, with fears and loves.

Jodie truely is a "Brave One." ...That was a horrible pun. I apologize, I couldn't resist.

Reply#13 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:18 PM EST

Good for her, I totally support freedom of all people to love as they please.

Reply#14 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:10 PM EST

I have to agree with you on that one.

#14.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:47 PM EST

It is her life, I will be glad when this stuff stops making the news ! Its crazy, who really cares ? She is a fine woman, a excellent actress. That is what matters.

#14.2 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:07 PM EST
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What I wonder is that why this topic is here in the first place?
Who cares others than Rush, Sean, Bill, etc.
She is a human being.
End of story!
This should have never been news!
Why should we care?
Unless if you are male and jealous?
Or "Christian" and offended. Or is it Muslim or Jewish.
WGAF!

Reply#15 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:00 PM EST

I think it's news because it raises awareness. Too many people in this country think of gays and lesbians as "them." When prominent individuals - people we've idolized and looked up to - say "ya know what? I'm gay!" it has the potential to open minds to the idea that "they" are really "us."

Foster's coming out of the closet tells millions of women that it's ok to be a lesbian - and with the likes of Rush, Sean, and Bill out there that message is needed in this country.

#15.1 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:14 PM EST
Foster's coming out of the closet tells millions of women that it's ok to be a lesbian -

I thought we got to that point when Hollywood stopped shunning Ellen Degeneres. Ellen came out on her old sitcom in like the 80's, got tossed out of the media darling ranks, came back stronger than ever. She's got a top show and big name advertiser support, the purest measures of American value$ and acceptance.

#15.2 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:00 AM EST
Reply

The point is...?

Reply#16 - Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:44 PM EST

There is no limit to the American public's fascination with how strangers, privately opt to enjoy body parts.

#16.1 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:04 AM EST
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sorry, this doesn't cut it..... she needs to declare clearly and publicly that she is a lesbian..... she needs to say clearly I AM A HOMOSEXUAL.

jesus christ, as if anyone gives two @!$%#s and has any doubt,

come on jodie just say you are a lesbian.

@!$%# !

Reply#17 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:05 AM EST

And who appointed you the Czar of Coming Out Etiquette?

#17.1 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 6:33 AM EST

The Pope ?

#17.2 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:11 AM EST
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Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Jodie raised by a gay mom and her lesbian partner?

I did not know who Cydney Bernard was, they met on the set of Sommersby, one of Jodie's movies.

I have always liked Rosie and Jodie and I am sure I still will. I have never seen a Jodie Foster movie I did not like, except the scifi ones which I have chosen not to see since I am not a big scifi fan.

Personally, I would rather not know who is gay and who isn't.

I am SICK of the subject. I had a student accuse ME of being gay because I wear sensible shoes.

Too bad I rarely swear, now would be a good time.

roflmao

Reply#18 - Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:28 AM EST