We unterrupt our regular scheduling program for something that rocked my world this morning: at the 2013 Golden Globes, Jodie Foster came out as a lesbian. For those of you who don't care a bit about Jodie Foster's life and to whom this news is absolutely useless, good on you. I'm so happy less and less of you give a crap about someone's sexuality. As a lesbian, as someone who grew up knowing Jodie was gay but never hearing her 'admit' it, it's a big deal that she stood on that stage tonight and proclaimed it for all the world to hear. After 47 years in the film industry, the beautiful 50 year old--in her own, graceful, and very private way--came out.
"Well, for all of you 'SNL' fans, I’m 50! I’m 50! You know, I need to do that without this dress on, but you know, maybe later at Trader Vic’s, boys and girls. What do you say? I’m 50! You know, I was going to bring my walker tonight but it just didn’t go with the cleavage.
"Robert [Downey Jr.], I want to thank you for everything: for your bat-crazed, rapid-fire brain, the sweet intro. I love you and Susan and I am so grateful that you continually talk me off the ledge when I go on and foam at the mouth and say, 'I’m done with acting, I’m done with acting, I’m really done, I’m done, I’m done.'
"Trust me, 47 years in the film business is a long time. You just ask those Golden Globes, because you crazy kids, you’ve been around here forever. You know, Phil you’re a nut, Aida, Scott — thank you for honoring me tonight. It is the most fun party of the year, and tonight I feel like the prom queen.
"Thank you. Looking at all those clips, you know, the hairdos and the freaky platform shoes, it’s like a home-movie nightmare that just won’t end, and all of these people sitting here at these tables, they’re my family of sorts, you know. Fathers mostly. Executives, producers, the directors, my fellow actors out there, we’ve giggled through love scenes, we’ve punched and cried and spit and vomited and blown snot all over one another — and those are just the costars I liked. But you know more than anyone else I share my most special memories with members of the crew. Blood-shaking friendships, brothers and sisters. We made movies together, and you can’t get more intimate than that.
"So while I’m here being all confessional, I guess I have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public. So, a declaration that I’m a little nervous about but maybe not quite as nervous as my publicist right now, huh Jennifer? But I’m just going to put it out there, right? Loud and proud, right? So I’m going to need your support on this.
"I am single. Yes I am, I am single. No, I’m kidding — but I mean I’m not really kidding, but I’m kind of kidding. I mean, thank you for the enthusiasm. Can I get a wolf whistle or something? Jesus. Seriously, I hope you won't disappointed there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met. But now I’m told, apparently that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show.
"You know, you guys might be surprised, but I am not Honey Boo Boo Child. No, I’m sorry, that’s just not me. It never was and it never will be. Please don’t cry because my reality show would be so boring. I would have to make out with Marion Cotillard or I’d have to spank Daniel Craig’s bottom just to stay on the air. It’s not bad work if you can get it, though.
"But seriously, if you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you’d had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you too might value privacy above all else. Privacy. Some day, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was.
"I have given everything up there from the time that I was 3 years old. That’s reality-show enough, don’t you think?
"There are a few secrets to keeping your psyche intact over such a long career. The first, love people and stay beside them. That table over there, 222, way out in Idaho, Paris, Stockholm, that one, next to the bathroom with all the unfamous faces, the very same faces for all these years. My acting agent, Joe Funicello — Joe, do you believe it, 38 years we’ve been working together? Even though he doesn’t count the first eight.
"Matt Saver, Pat Kingsley, Jennifer Allen, Grant Niman and his uncle Jerry Borack, may he rest in peace. Lifers. My family and friends here tonight and at home, and of course, Mel Gibson. You know you save me too.
"There is no way I could ever stand here without acknowledging one of the deepest loves of my life, my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but righteous soul sister in life, my confessor, ski buddy, consigliere, most beloved BFF of 20 years, Cydney Bernard. Thank you, Cyd. I am so proud of our modern family. Our amazing sons, Charlie and Kit, who are my reason to breathe and to evolve, my blood and soul. And boys, in case you didn’t know it, this song, all of this, this song is for you.
"This brings me to the greatest influence of my life, my amazing mother, Evelyn. Mom, I know you’re inside those blue eyes somewhere and that there are so many things that you won’t understand tonight. But this is the only important one to take in: I love you, I love you, I love you. And I hope that if I say this three times, it will magically and perfectly enter into your soul, fill you with grace and the joy of knowing that you did good in this life. You’re a great mom. Please take that with you when you’re finally OK to go.
"You see, Charlie and Kit, sometimes your mom loses it too. I can’t help but get moony, you know. This feels like the end of one era and the beginning of something else. Scary and exciting and now what? Well, I may never be up on this stage again, on any stage for that matter. Change, you gotta love it. I will continue to tell stories, to move people by being moved, the greatest job in the world. It’s just that from now on, I may be holding a different talking stick. And maybe it won’t be as sparkly, maybe it won’t open on 3,000 screens, maybe it will be so quiet and delicate that only dogs can hear it whistle. But it will be my writing on the wall. Jodie Foster was here, I still am, and I want to be seen, to be understood deeply and to be not so very lonely.
"Thank you, all of you, for the company. Here’s to the next 50 years."
Jodie foster was a celebrity--a very public figure--in the time when Ellen came out. She was a very public figure when Ellen's career crashed and burned because of it, and she was up there, in the spotlights, for everyone who came after her that was boo-ed off of the stage, the screen, or whatever else a lesbian, gay man, or bisexual person could get boo-ed off of. Everyone in the lesbian community knew Jodie Foster is gay. There have been hints, pictures of her with Cydney, simple gaydar. We knew. For years. While there was outcry for her to finally come out once or twice, we--as a group--always respected her privacy in not doing so. In just living her life--20 years of that with a woman and the two kids they raised together--Jodie was a poster child for many of us. Many of us little lesbians grew up looking at her and thinking 'if she's gay, if people love her that much, they must love me too, no matter what my sexuality is'. I was one of those.
If Jodie had decided to never publicly acknowledge her sexuality, I would have loved her all the same. No one should be forced out of the closet, or dragged from it kicking and screaming. It was always up to Jodie to decide if she wanted that type of exposure. The bravery of getting up there and announcing to the world, something so fucking scary--especially in a time of assholes fighting gay marriage and blaming everything bad on 'homosexuals' (Gods, I hate that term)--is mind boggling. It's also heartbreaking.
There was so much fear in that speech, that I felt my own heart pounding. I recognize that fear. I still have it, every time I come out about my sexuality or religion. It's the very human fear of people taking something so beautiful and personal and stomping all over it out of fear, hate, or ignorance. It's happening less and less frequently, but it happens. For Jodie, it might mean she never works on a big budget movie again. It will be blamed on her age, on the market, on everything but her sexuality--but it will be because of her sexuality. That's why it's so prevalent in her speech: Jodie knows this, and has known it for many, many years.
The film industry is full of entitled white men, who don't like women who declare so publicly that--in essence--they will never sleep with them, and that a big chunk of (in this case) America won't watch a movie with them in it because these depraved souls might influence their precious children. Let me tell you something: Jodie's precious children are fine. Those look like happy, supportive, intelligent boys to me. If anything, more children should benefit from the poise, the charm, the intelligence and the skill Jodie has in spades, instead of watching Honey Boo Boo Child.
I applaud Ms. Foster with every fiber of my being. I applaud her, I fear for her, I cry for her, because I know what it's like. Not on her scale, but I know what it's like, regardless. Everyone who comes out about something does. People can be assholes, but there is a lot of love in the world as well. I hope the Gods send a lot of that love Jodie's way, because she so, so, so deserves it.
Transcript from LA Times
