June 02, 2003

Out of the Closet and Back in the Closet

So Richard Chamberlain's is gay. That's got to be the least shocking news since... I don't know when. Let me just say I figured that out years ago -- for one thing, there was no, I mean no major gossip involving him with some other woman, ever. (Yes, I have been following his career on and off -- he's been one of my favorite actors since I can't remember when.) Anyway, that's always a big Hello Obviousman Here! moment when it comes to Hollywood people. And at least he didn't go out and get himself a beard like some other actors who shall not be named. (cough Tom Cruise cough.)

Another thing that doesn't surprise me is the revelation he gives about Hollywood's real attitude towards gay people. I can read between the lines: in liberal, caring Hollywood, it's not so much that they give a shit about who you shtup, it's whether or not money can be made off your psychosexual crisis. Sure he's got a book coming out (no pun intended) but he's no Ellen Degeneres. He's old, he's not even an exotic (and a scary Shakespearean vet) like Ian McKellan. His career is over, no one's going to pick him to star in The Thorn Birds 2, the Resurrection.

Update: my, someone's all bitter and judgmental. Weather a bit harsh on the high ground?

Posted by Andrea Harris at June 2, 2003 01:22 AM
Comments

Richard Chamberlain can't be gay! I just don't want him to be!

Posted by: Dean Esmay at June 2, 2003 at 02:20 AM

Tough titty! (Tough man-titty, I should say.)

Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 2, 2003 at 02:30 AM

Dean, I eagerly await your Christians and Richard Chamberlain discussion.

(Kidding -- the gays and Christians dialogue is one of the better ideas to come out of the blogosphere in the last year.)

Posted by: Matthew at June 2, 2003 at 04:17 AM

Huh That is n o w in the news? I mean, wasn't it obvious that he's gay since, I dunno, "Shogun" or something?

Posted by: Michelle at June 2, 2003 at 07:45 AM

Heck, I remember Dr. Kildare when I was a kid and didn't think he was anything but then. No surprise to me.

Elizabeth

Posted by: Elizabeth at June 2, 2003 at 09:41 AM

Doesn't Scientology consider homosexuality a huge aberration? That's why Tom can't admit membership in the Friends of Dorothy club, I think. At his level of membership, they'd kill him.

And I wonder why GLAAD hasn't gone after Scientology?

Posted by: Yahmdallah at June 2, 2003 at 10:39 AM

I don't fault Jon for his view, especially given that he's well aware of what it's like to grow up gay in a discriminatory environment (also known as "most of Alabama"). I do agree with him that it's interesting that Chamberlain is playing up the "I'm so gay" factor right before his memoirs hit the shelves.

Posted by: andy at June 2, 2003 at 10:40 AM

Come out, so we can shoot you down, eh? Sorry, I don't play that game. As for his coming out being a cynical ploy to sell his memoir, I would think that his memoir contains the fact that he's gay, so it would be sort of puzzling if he didn't mention it at all. (Though personally I think it would have been kind of funny if his reponse to shocked exclamations would have been: "What, you didn't know?")

Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 2, 2003 at 11:48 AM

Perhaps I'm more of a cynic when it comes to motives.

Posted by: andy at June 2, 2003 at 12:22 PM

Bitter, I may be.

Judgmental, possibly.

Witless enough to use variations on "since I don't know when" twice in one writing: Never.

Posted by: Jon Darby at June 2, 2003 at 01:57 PM

PS- Since when is being English "exotic"?

Posted by: Jon Darby at June 2, 2003 at 01:58 PM

If you live in Florida, anything north of the Mason-Dixon Line or west of the Rocky Mountains is exotic.

Posted by: The Dark Avenger at June 2, 2003 at 02:20 PM

You can take your bitter little attitude and fuck right off, Jon. And you, "Dark Avenger" can take your bigotry and shove it. My use of the term "exotic" was meant to be a sarcastic tweak on Hollywood's essential provincialism, but I guess it went over your heads.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 2, 2003 at 06:11 PM

My friend Janice had a huge crush on Dr. Kildare when we were in fifth grade. She planned to marry Richard Chamberlain when she grew up. I remember her discussing the age difference and concluding it would be workable. Poor Janice. It was not to be.

Posted by: Joanne Jacobs at June 3, 2003 at 05:17 AM

I thought D.A. was being intentionally humorous, since a great deal of Florida is composed of people originally from North of the Mason-Dixon Line or West of the Rockies.

So do I laugh at, instead of with?

Posted by: David Perron at June 3, 2003 at 03:31 PM