I have long been a fan of Ellen. She is both funny and self-deprecating. Even after she came out, now over a decade ago, she hasn’t politicized her identity as have many openly gay performers in the public eye. She just seems very comfortable in her own skin.
Her sexuality is, as it should be, incidental to her public persona.
Anyway, while working out today at the gym, I caught her on a commercial for Cover Girl makeup. I guess that makes her a lipstick lesbian now? I also thought of Ellen as a no-makeup kind of gal.
Whatever the case, Ellen’s becoming “the new face of Cover Girl” is just one more sign of how far as we’ve come as a society. (Following the link and note her reflections on lip liner. . . .) A celebrity can come out as or lesbian and still be featured in ads for a number of corporations.
(This was announced back in September and the campaign began last month.)
Kudos, Ellen!
“Her sexuality is… incidental to her public persona.”
-are you sure that you have the right Ellen DeGeneres?
Because you can’t be talking about the one who “came out” (as if she wasn’t already) on primetime…
with a two-hour broadcast special…
that was pre-announced in all of the major media publications…
and a broadcast advertisement blitz…
and included an all-star cast…
…could you?
I think the point that Dan is making is that unlike say, Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen has been openly gay but not stridently gay. Her big splash with coming out – the broadcast special – was actually an episode of her TV show and was likely as much about publicity for the show as anything else.
She and her wife make a better case for gay marriage than most other celebrities who are out. You get the sense that for Ellen, being gay is something that she is, but it does not totally define her existence.
DaveP, fair point. I think the one reason her sit-com tanked was that her character made her sexuality central to her character. She has changed since then. Recall, that was ten years ago.
So, for this post, to paraphrase the president at the time of her coming out, it does depend on the meaning of the word “is.”
So, it’s OK to admire Ellen and dislike Rosie? It’s OK to admire Michelangelo and dislike Michelangelo Signorile? It’s OK to like Mika and dislike Scissor Sisters? It’s OK to admire Lincoln and dislike Harvey Milk? It’s OK to admire St. Aelred and dislike Gene Robinson? In other words, it’s OK to look to quiet homosexuals as models and to reject strident homosexuals? I think the quietly homosexual are breaking much more ground, while the strident are simply causing unnecessary backlash.
Oh, Lord. Lincoln wasn’t gay. No serious historian believes that for a minute.
Great for Ellen. Drew Barrymore was the last cover girl, I think. That seems to have lasted about a week.
filtered
GPW, I haven’t used broadcast television in ten years and her show WAS the last I’d heard of her. Has she done anything else since then?
Dr. Nic, I have nothing against the woman… It was her life and her show, but I have always thought that it was a waste that she linked her identity to what she did in bed and not to how good she was at her avocation.
Ashpenaz, Sandoz Labs called about your endorsement deal…
DaveP, she now has a daytime talk show (which has won multiple Emmys). She’s very good, respectful of her guests, even when they’re Republicans. I recalled seeing her interview John McCain and then-President Bush’s daughter (I posted on that here).
If Lincoln wasn’t gay, then neither is Mika, so stop saying that!!!
Go Ellen! She has a rare talent these days… clever and funny without being crude.
I never liked her sitcom. One of the local radio hosts summed up the show for me. “Ellen was an unfunny show. Now it’s an unfunny show about a l-e-s-b-i-a-n.”
That said I do like her talk show when I see it. And she does have good taste in women 😉
Ashpenaz. I hate to tell you this, There is no Santa Claus, and he’s not gay either 😛
My point is this–what a wonderful world it would be if you could sleep in the same bed with a man for 20 years and have nobody care whether you were gay or not. That’s true freedom. Ellen is a return to the 19th century ideal where sexuality simply isn’t discussed. Her relationship is the equivalent of a “Boston marriage,” and I am grateful she is bringing those back.
I saw the ad tonight. The volume must have been down, Dan, because the ad was about some new schmutz to cover up lines and wrinkles. FYI: She’s 51 y/o.
She is also the main character of Ellen’s Energy Adventure film/ride at EPCOT.
http://tinyurl.com/bb32fz
I so agree with you, Ashpenaz. It isn’t just sex, though. Society was so much more civil and cordial before people felt the need to flaunt sexuality, as well as every personal dysfunction and family trauma in front of the world.
I agree about the closed doors, my roommate is a reality TV junkie. There’s a reason I have a wireless, so I can go somewhere else for her Survivor/Oprah/Big Brother/Dr. Phil love
12: bring back the 19th century? you might want to read a little more about the 19th century (especially attitudes on sexuality) before you yearn for those good ol’ days. I don’t think openness shouldn’t be confused with tackiness.
3: Funnily enough, that attraction has been around since ’94, but since then the advertising has changed (depending on how Disney seemed to view the reactions to Ellen at the time). I remember going the year or 2 after she came out on her show and you wouldn’t even know she was in it; all the ads only mentioned Bill Nye. Then, she re-gained her popularity by her awards show appearances, her talk show, and mostly her hit vocal performance in Finding Nemo. Now, it’s Ellen who’s name is menitoned in the all advertising….
12: bring back the 19th century? you might want to read a little more about the 19th century (especially attitudes on sexuality) before you yearn for those good ol’ days. I don’t think openness shouldn’t be confused with tackiness.
3: Funnily enough, that attraction has been around since ’94, but since then the advertising has changed (depending on how Disney seemed to view the reactions to Ellen at the time). I remember going the year or 2 after she came out on her show and you wouldn’t even know she was in it; all the ads only mentioned Bill Nye. Then, she re-gained her popularity by her awards show appearances, her talk show, and mostly her hit vocal performance in Finding Nemo. Now, it’s Ellen who’s name is menitoned in the all advertising….
So you would be the first to oppose gay “pride” parades?
Kevin,
That actually doesn’t surprise me so much. Happens with Movies all the time, as the popularity of the cast waxes and wanes.
Look at ‘Love Happy’ One of the last Marx Brothers movies. Now adays though the big comment is that they give billing to a little known at the time actress who’s first movie it was.
That Actress? Marilyn Monroe. (she was even a brunette!)
(Amusing aside, my mom and her partner have a Marilyn Monroe fetish. I got them Love Happy just to make them watch a Marx Brother’s movie)
Flaunting (anything)is always unneccessary and distasteful in my eyes. I’ve never though of Rosie as “flaunting” her gayness. She is just a loud and controversial person by nature. She is also a very kind hearted, compassionate woman who spends much of her income helping others . I am a big fan of Ellen’s and I think she lives the life that she wants to live, loving whom she wants to love without having to prove anything to anyone. She is courteous and real. She also has a terrific mom who supports her all the way.GOOD FOR HER!
I heard that Elle Degeneres would be the next judge in American Idol. Oh well, i love to watch Ellen in any show. Her own show is already super good.