Jody Foster
Click to viewI posted this comment on someone's else's journal in a conversation about Jody Foster's speech last night, then decided to post it to my own journal because I feel so strongly about it:
I thought Jody's speech was great, but maybe some people don't remember or are too young to remember the fact that not only has she been a celebrity since she was 3 years old (Coppertone lotion commercials), but while she was quietly trying to live a normal life going to college at Yale, she was being stalked and terrorized by a crazy person who went on to attempt to assassinate the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES due to his obsession with her. And you, LGBT community, want her to come out and be the poster child for the gay movement?
Do you realize John Hinkley Jr is not in jail, and is allowed out of his psychiatric facility for overnight visits to his parents? What do you think a declaration of her sexuality would do to him? It's got to be in the back of her mind at all times. And now she has children to think of also. Jody has lived her private life as an out and proud lesbian, hell, her kids last names are Benard Foster! She's never hidden anything. But why should someone who has been a victim of such a crazy and f**ked up situation not be fiercely protective of her privacy? I remember back then that the right wing press was blaming her for Reagan being shot, bringing up the provocative movies she had been in as a child. Can you imagine what a pariah she would be to right wing conservatives if she made an official, clear declaration of her sexuality?
I think Jody is a woman to be admired and respected, not because of her sexuality or her fame, but because she survived childhood celebrity and an exploitative mother to become a smart, capable, woman, actress, businesswoman, director, and mother, on her own terms, in her own time. It was unheard of in the 80's for an actress of her caliber to take a break from her career and go to college, but she has inspired other actresses such as Natalie Portman to realize they can do the same thing and still have viable careers. When she came back to acting, she took difficult and unwanted parts and made them a triumph. She runs her own production company, finances her own movies that she directs, all without succumbing to a Tatum O'Neal/Lindsey Lohan type breakdown. And, she does all this while pretty much staying out of the tabloid spotlight. Pretty amazing, I think.