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Actor's and the rumor mill

Author: Superdrewby
Date: 2001

You know that one of the most intriguing things about fame and stardom is the rumor mill and the wild accusations about their personal life, often without any basis in reality. Take for example the old rumor about Richard Gere and the gerbil. Supposedly he was rushed to a hospital in the early eighties with an expired gerbil stuffed up his ass in a condom. The rumor made the rounds for years and still surfaces every now and then.

Whether the rumor is true or not is partially irrelevant, instead the importance of the rumor is more to do with whether the star, musician or other famous person has actually made it.

I have a belief that you haven't made it as a male star until you have some sort of rumor making the rounds questioning your sexuality. Tom Cruise has been hounded for years by rumors that he is gay and that his marriages to Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman were shams to bolster his appeal as a "straight" male actor.

Whilst some actors such as Keanu Reeves have freely admitted their bisexuality, and it certainly hasn't done him any harm, many other gay actors remain deeply embedded in the closet in their public persona and many straight actors are "outed".

Fame and stardom are a funny intangible thing. You open your life to the world and the gutter trash media tries to dig up any dirt they can on you, sometimes just repeating blatant unsubstantiated rumors. But how important are the rumors to the fame.

In my humble opinion until the rumors questioning a male star's sexuality have surfaced he hasn't really made an impact on the world. It's almost like the subversive (tongue in cheek) gay community falls in love with some actor and then claims him as one of their own. Is it wishful thinking or is it jealousy, or is it even a ploy by the he publicists to make the guy more appealing to the gay community.

Trends and fashion are often led by the gay community, take techno and dance music, or the ubiquitous gay uniform of the nineties and eighties, the blue levi jeans and the skin tight white T shirt. Both where pioneered in the gay community and quickly spread to the wider community as a whole. The list of trends led by the gay community is endless, Disco, Party Drugs, the male obsession with body beautiful and the list goes on and on.

However sometimes there is a certain amount of hypocrisy in the denials of being gay or being attracted to both men and women. Take an Australian actor who will remain nameless, because we have a mutual friend. He is openly gay in person and plays a gay character on an award winning television series. His character plays an actor who is gay but pretends to the public that he is straight. Very confusing!

I happened to pick up a magazine last week while I was waiting for my haircut and found an article on the males stars of this show including him. I read the article and discovered a funny thing. He was asked who he would most like to sleep with from the cast, knowing he was gay I expected him to say one of the cute guys (and there is a young blonde hotty in the show at the moment). But no, instead he picked one of the female leads!

Now this threw me for a six so I continued reading, he was asked what it was like playing a gay actor and did he murmur or um and ah about his own sexuality? No sir, he played it straight down the line as if he were straight! Now this sort of total hypocrisy gets right up my nose. Yes I know that it is his right be open about his sexuality, but to out and out lie, especially since his own character on the show seems to be mirroring what he is doing in real life, well that is just laughable and damn funny!

Yes it might not be the best of career moves for a young male actor trying to break into the big time to come out and admit that he is gay. I can understand all the reasonings behind it, but the whole article smelt of bullshit and hypocrisy. You can bet your bottom dollar that I will mention this to our mutual friend!

Oh and by the way is it just a rumor he is gay? No not really we have first hand evidence of his sexual orientation, cause I know the guy!