Kevin Spacey 2017 Tony Awards Host- Page 5

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 10:59am

Also, I'd like to reiterate, that I think the more important conversation here is not whether or not Kevin Spacey is queer, but whether or not it is acceptable to allow a known(ish) sexual predator to host an awards show of this caliber.

Thank you for bringing this up.  I've also heard many, many rumors about this and it's the primary reason I am not thrilled with this hosting decision.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:11am

I would like to point out that the conversation about a celebrity being closeted and the conversation about alleged predatory behavior are not, in fact, separate conversations.   It is because a celebrity retains the power of the closet that he is able to get away with behavior that many of us would find distasteful, at best.  He has power as an A-lister, meaning he can dictate what the press can ask him or even report about him.  And because journalists STILL don't know how to cover closeted celebrities without outing them, they also cannot accurately report on any kind of bad behavior tied to his sexuality.  

I have never had any kind of interaction with Mr. Spacey.  I've heard some really great things about him, and some off things.  People are complicated, and power differentials don't necessarily lead to situations such as the most recent Best Actor Oscar Winner settled out of court.  So I tried to be generic in my comments above and not try to ascribe them to Mr. Spacey.  

[Kad]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:23am

Even more privacy-inclined heterosexual celebrities make references to relationships and loved ones and family. Who gets up-in-arms about privacy when someone asks who a straight celebrity is dating? Who bristles at the implication that Brad Pitt dates women or Jennifer Aniston dates men? Who gets on their soapbox and demands that they deserve privacy for their sexuality? 

It just creates a vicious cycle of "of course we accept you, but if you feel like you should hide it, you should!" that exists only for queer people.

 

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:24am

Exactly, Robbie. Advocating for his accountability in using his power to solicit sex with male partners but defending his closetedness are positions very much at odds with each other. But as newintown suggested earlier, that kind of cognitive dissonance is what’s put our country in the position it’s in now, further proof that willful ignorance doesn’t discriminate along political lines, I guess.

[hork]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:32am

What I find repellent is this notion that Spacey is hiding something or keeping secrets. It reminds me of those disgusting claims that trans people are hiding something. If a gay man is out to his friends and family, but no one at his work knows he's gay, is he hiding something? Or is he just keeping his personal life personal? I don't see why celebrities need to be beholden to a different standard. Maybe he just doesn't like to label himself as anything. Nobody here knows Spacey, as far as I know, so it's none of your damn business where he falls on the Kinsey scale. 

And passing on rumors that he's a sexual predator are likewise pretty repulsive. 

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:36am

 

Kad said: "It just creates a vicious cycle of "of course we accept you, but if you feel like you should hide it, you should!" that exists only for queer people."

Kad, my aunt used a similar, even more disgusting line of reasoning not long ago on Facebook, where, in her defense of Mike Pence as a not-LGBT-threatening politician, she said that gay conversion should at least be an option for people who struggle with their sexuality and feel like they want to change, and some people do, so what’s so wrong with that? (She would also tell me to my face, with love and sincerity in her heart, that she’s a supporter of the LGBT community... presumably because she doesn’t throw bricks at faggots in the street.)

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:37am

I'm also sitting here dumbfounded that people are still equating being gay with something that is (or should be) private.  Maybe it's simply that I've been out for so long, but my being gay is essential in knowing me.  I mean...people don't need to know if I'm a top or a bottom or vers.  THAT is private information.  But Jesus...I'm planning on marrying someday.  That is a public declaration of a relationship.  We no longer live in a time where the closet is useful or defensible for gay people in power.  

 

[newintown]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:40am

hork wrote, "I don't see why celebrities need to be beholden to a different standard. Maybe he just doesn't like to label himself as anything. Nobody here knows Spacey, as far as I know, so it's none of your damn business where he falls on the Kinsey scale."

It's been explained several tines in this thread, in very clear language, so if you still "don't see why" then you are probably just unable to, at this stage in your development.

But maybe one day the light will shine for you.

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:40am

SonofRobbieJ said: "I'm also sitting here dumbfounded that people are still equating being gay with something that is (or should be) private.  Maybe it's simply that I've been out for so long, but my being gay is essential in knowing me.  I mean...people don't need to know if I'm a top or a bottom or vers.  THAT is private information.  But Jesus...I'm planning on marrying someday.  That is a public declaration of a relationship.  We no longer live in a time where the closet is useful or defensible for gay people in power.  

 

 

"

Are people really saying that, or are they just acknowledging that Kevin spacey has never outted himself, so maybe its his desire to keep his sexual preference private?

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:41am

newintown said: "But maybe one day the light will shine for you."

Thank you for bestowing your holy knowledge unto us humble, pathetic plebeians. We pray every day to achieve a modicum of the enlightenment that you possess, though we are likely beyond help.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:41am

"Are people really saying that, or are they just acknowledging that Kevin spacey has never outted himself, so maybe its his desire to keep his sexual preference private?"

It's the SAME THING.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:43am

"Thank you for bestowing your holy knowledge unto us humble, pathetic plebeians. We pray every day to achieve a modicum of the enlightenment that you possess, though we are likely beyond help."

Childish sarcasm from an idiot is still nothing more than idiocy.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:45am

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:45am

newintown said: ""Are people really saying that, or are they just acknowledging that Kevin spacey has never outted himself, so maybe its his desire to keep his sexual preference private?"

It's the SAME THING.

 

LITERALLY.  And that's not the new use of that word meaning 'metaphorically.'  

 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:48am

So how many actors at Spacey's level are openly queer?
How many out gay men have been either nominated for acting Academy Awards?

[newintown]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:49am

"So how many actors at Spacey's level are openly queer? 
How many out gay men have been either nominated for acting Academy Awards?"

1) Define Spacey's "level."

2) Why?

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:54am

Ian McKellen was nommed the year before Spacey won for American Beauty.  

[newintown]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:58am

John Gielgud won in 1982. 

[newintown]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:58am

Here are some other successful out actors: Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, Jim Parsons, John Cameron Mitchell, Ricky Martin, Richard Chamberlain, Rupert Everett, Nathan Lane, David Hyde Pierce.

Updated On: 4/19/17 at 11:58 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 12:02pm

  Not to mention Cynthia Nixon, Cherry Jones, Holland Taylor, Sarah Paulson, and Portia de Rossi. 

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 12:09pm

And let's not forget the younger set like Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto and Jonathan Groff.  I won't argue that the world in 1995 (when the Usual Supsects came out) was a friendly world for an actor to be out.  But in 2017?  While playing one of the most compelling queer characters created on television in HOUSE OF CARDS?  Mary, please.  

In all seriousness, he can do whatever he wants.  I just wish he'd use the power of his celebrity for good in this instance.  I have a sh*t-ton of respect for him as an artist.  His dedication to the Old Vic has been utterly inspiring.  He could be personally inspiring as well.  

[Kad]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 12:11pm

Most of those people have very good television or stage acting careers. Not film (JCM clearly is a strong film director; Everett is an exception, or was). Who are the A-list Hollywood gay actors? Who are the gay actors that can have a movie advertised on the strength their name?

And the point is, in 89 Academy Award ceremonies and out of hundreds of nominees, we can name only two male actors who were openly gay at the time they were nominated or won. Representation is important and is lacking in a serious, serious way in an industry that purports itself to be liberal and is known to have many queer people working in it.

 

[newintown]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 12:15pm

Update - I see your point, Kad. Hiding in the closet will only keep that status quo going (or worse).

Adding - "Who are the A-list Hollywood gay actors? Who are the gay actors that can have a movie advertised on the strength their name?"

Spacey is currently on television. He hasn't led the cast of a movie (or sold one based on his name) since - what? Beyond The Sea in 2004? He's a character actor in supporting roles, not a leading star.

And going further (since I don't have a lot of interest in TV or films), who are what you would call the A-list Hollywood actors who sell movies on their name? Duane Johnson? Vin Diesel?

The highest grossing movies of 2016 were, reportedly:

Captain America: Civil War
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Finding Dory
Zootopia
The Jungle Book
The Secret Life of Pets
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Deadpool
Suicide Squad

Were any of those star-driven? At best, I'd give Ryan Reynolds a bit of credit for Deadpool. And they were all fantasy/cartoon-ish narratives. Sort of shows the level of the American mind...

Updated On: 4/19/17 at 12:15 PM

[JBC3]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 1:04pm

And a gentle reminder that my sexual orientation is not a preference.

[hork]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 1:12pm

newintown said: 

But maybe one day the light will shine for you.

 

Oh, you can go straight to hell for that. Believe it or not, when someone decides to become an actor, they don't sign a social contract stating they have to discuss their personal lives in public, or become a gay pride advocate if they're gay.

Man, I'd give anything to be able to go back to the early 20th century, when movie actors weren't credited and no one knew anything about them, not even their names.