David Hyde Pierce is GAY???!??!?- Page 3

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 5/31/07 at 10:04pm

DG, You copied my post and responded to it. I think you meant to yell at someone else. Cause all I said was you don't get praise for doing nothing.

If you don't care about someone else's life, then it shouldn't matter to you when I say not to draw attention to them when they didn't ask for it.

[DG]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 1:34am

Touch - you're right. I think I was just so frustrated after reading through ANOTHER discussion like this, that I wasn't entirely objective when I read your post - it just happened to be the one at the end of the line.

And I'm sorry for 'yelling', by the way - no matter what I was feeling, there's really no reason to get so carried away.

Although, just for the record, the thoughts I expressed I still stand by (in a general sense.)

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 9:49am

i think it is funny when people get their panties in a bunch when someone expresses an opinion on a message board. what are we supposed to post on here, if not our opinions?

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 9:51am

A popular argument in favor of celebs not going on the record with their gayness is that these people deserve privacy, after all. "It’s nobody’s business but theirs," onlookers counter—usually while devouring a trashy tabloid.

It's true that stars are free to put up whatever walls they want in order to maintain boundaries with the public. But even at their most controlling, straight stars never seem to leave out the fact that they’re straight in interviews. Whenever a subject tells me, "I won’t discuss who I’m dating" or "I resent labels," I generally know not so much that they’re passionate about privacy but that they’re gay, gay, gay.


(Ibid)

Updated On: 6/1/07 at 09:51 AM

[DG]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 9:55am

Robbo - in my case, it's not a frustration with the fact that the opinion is expressed, it's frustration with the fact that the discussion exists at all.

And expressing that frustration is just another opinion being aired - which is, as you say, what the board is for.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 9:55am

"Whenever a subject tells me, "I won’t discuss who I’m dating" or "I resent labels," I generally know not so much that they’re passionate about privacy but that they’re gay, gay, gay."

That's rather obvious, no?

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:00am

Robbo - in my case, it's not a frustration with the fact that the opinion is expressed, it's frustration with the fact that the discussion exists at all.

But why? That's what I just don't get with this (and it's not just you DG. This is something that comes up time and again). If one is allowed to query blithely about the straight personal life of an actor and no one flips out, I don't understand the inherent offense in just asking if someone is gay or not.

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:01am

dg, i cannot negotiate that circle so i'm gonna get off at this exit...

[DG]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:03am

hmmmm - obviously I haven't been clear!

My problem is with the attitude that actors (or actresses) should somehow feel 'obligated' to come out - that their position as someone in the public eye places an expectation of 'setting an example' on them.

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:05am

now that i agree with.

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:07am

Oh, okay. But why don't you think the discussion should exist at all? Where's the detriment?

[DG]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:12am

Well, again I'm not being clear - but this time in my own thoughts, I guess

Obviously, any discussion can and should exist, if people wish to have it.

More to the point for me is that I wish the attitude itself didn't exist. But ther're MANY attitudes that I wish didn't exist! That doesn't seem to stop them

I ultimately think it's a baseless expectation, so I never understand what there is to discuss.

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:17am

i think it stems from the fact that we as a gay community have such few positive role models and it is natural to want to be able to point out well-known people to your friends, family and coworkers and say, "see, he/she is gay and you love him/her" so can you still love me?

in this age of celebrity saturation, people know everything about their movie/tv/broadway stars, so when you see or hear a celebrity being false it does sort of offend the same audience they are corting.

but do i think these people have the obligation to tell us everything? no but i can see why fans might be cynical when someone "proudly" comes out - kicking and screaming and clutching the closet the whole way.

[DG]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:25am

I get the frustration - I just think it's inappropriate to place that onto an actor. A poltician? Sure - their job is to represent. But an actor is only in the public eye because of what the media culture has become - it isn't tied directly to their job at all.

Hell, it wasn't that long ago in human history that actors were completely looked down upon - much less looked to as an example!

I just believe everyone has the right to make individual choices - and that includes the decision as to whether or not to be public about their sexuality. (As a side note, I actually don't understand why it has to be discussed or referenced at all - I prefer a bit more privacy in public discourse.)

And as a caveat, I also make a distinction between those who just prefer not to comment, and those who actively lie - two different things in my mind.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:32am

"So I totally respect an actor's right to privacy--but it's not like he/she has an ordinary job--these people bare their souls for us and we in turn give them love and support, both emotional and financial. Which doesn't buy us entry into their lives, but it also means their job doesn't stop just because the credits roll or the curtain falls."

This may be going offtopic here, lil, but I think you are contradicting yourself here a bit :) I personally think an actor's job DOES stop when the curtain falls.

"it seems to me that alot of stars enjoy being famous when it behooves them, like when going to pick up a swag bag in the hospitality suite but the same people aren't so keen to be famous when they are faced with something they'd rather not do, like sign autographs.."

See, I think if an actor doesn't feel like signing for whatever reason, they should not be "required" to do anything. I will note that DHP is known to be exceptionally gracious and pleasant to his fans (as well as a doll to worth with).

A few months ago, I went with a friend to see GREY GARDENS (yet again) and through a mutual friend went backstage. It was great to say hi to some cast members (sweeties, all of 'em) but it was clear to us that Christine, was drained - physically and emotionally exausted. "Do you want a picture?" she graciously asked us. "Nope" we replied. "You look beat. You should go home and rest!" "I can't," she said quietly. "I gotta go out there." And when we walked out the stage door we saw a mob of hungry fans waiting. We didn't stay.

Updated On: 6/1/07 at 10:32 AM

[DG]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:38am

"these people bare their souls for us and we in turn give them love and support, both emotional and financial."

I would argue that the 'soul-baring' is actually done for the project at hand, not to expose THEMSELVES to the public. What's presented is hopefully a character, not the actual person. This is the danger in people feeling that they 'know' an actor simply because they have identified so strongly with a character they've played.

And as for the public response, I think the emotional part should be to the piece, not the actor as a person - and as far as the financial end goes, you pay to experience the product, not to gain access to the creators' private lives.

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:50am

I get the frustration - I just think it's inappropriate to place that onto an actor.

I agree with you there. What gets me (and this is something that hasn't really happened on this thread, so perhaps that's progress) is the hysteria and hand-wringing that generally follows on this board when someone just asks whether or not someone is gay.

It's the fact that that is still a big deal that bugs me (although I accept that I'm probably conflating issues here).

Updated On: 6/1/07 at 10:50 AM

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:57am

i try never to conflat on fridays. at least not before noon!

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 10:59am

That's the first conflation I've attempted in a while.

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 12:10pm

so the rest of you won't have to look it up:

con·flate [kuhn-fleyt]
–verb (used with object), -flat·ed, -flat·ing.

to fuse into one entity; merge: to conflate dissenting voices into one protest.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 12:11pm

I find it disconcerting to see a big star on MTV Cribs. "Here's my bathroom, this is my dog, there's the pool I swim 20 laps in every morning, this is the coffee shop I stop at on the way to the studio, this is my assistant, that's my neighbor..." and you don't see a glimpse of the partner of 15 years. "I don't discuss my personal life."

Bull. Every time you go on Letterman, every interview you give you discuss your personal life, you just don't discuss that big huge elephant in the living room of your Bel Aire mansion- the fact that you are gay. And no, they don't "owe" it to us to be a role model but believe me, when you spend 20 minutes with Regis telling him about your colonoscopy but don't mention that your boyfriend was holding your hand the whole time, you ARE being a role model-- for closet cases.

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 12:15pm

What? Closet cases don't need role models, too? Jeez!

[eujenni]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 12:34pm

Since someone mentioned Kevin Spacey, I thought I'd post this link to a recent article with him. I thought it was interesting what he says about a persons right to privacy. It seems to me there's an assumption if someone doesn't talk about who they are dating, they must be hiding something and that's unfair.

http://www.gotham-magazine.com/cover.php

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 8:19pm

Back to the topic of his thread....DYP is gay? So....???? Does it change anything?

What someone's sexual orientation is tells you absolutely nothing about that person.....tells you nothing about that person. Are they a good person, a kind person, do they have good morals, etc...

Don't "get" why so many people are hung up on who a person sleeps with......??????? And, if DHY or other gay people choose not to discuss their private life, that's their business...not ours.





Updated On: 6/2/07 at 08:19 PM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 8:57pm

For years, Spacey kept mum about his private life, and that was fine. Like DHP everybody knew that he was gay and left him alone. It was only went he went out of his way to fein being straight (in an effort to win a second Oscar for AMERICAN BEAUTY) that many people grew weary of him (including myself) - and it was only then that the press went prowling after him and his boys.

Updated On: 6/2/07 at 08:57 PM