This distinguished actor has come under media fire recently for saying that, had actor Kevin Spacey, and director Bryan Singer not been so "in the closet," they would not have been sexual abusers. He is on to the right track of the dangers of the closeted gay, but I would like to clear something up.
And I am sure Mr. McKellen would agree with me. Not all closeted gays are sexual abusers. But all of them are damaging and damaged.
To not live your life openly as a gay man is bowing to society's conformist pressures. The closeted gay, when he encounters those living lives honestly and openly, actually envies them the courage he does not have, but must conceal this by putting them down, every chance he gets. In the American workplace, closet cases abound. I have dealt with several, whom I wish I could tell you about, and maybe will. But I will send a message to them right away--those of us who are out and open see right through you, Your transparency is so telling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been a peripheral member of the New York theater community for over thirty years. I remember when Kevin Spacey first came on the scene; I first saw him as Oswald, in a production of Ibsen's "Ghosts," with Liv Ullmann. How many of you remember that? And, even then, I knew Spacey was gay. We all heard stories. But, then, as his film career climbed, when he started bringing Mother to the Oscars I knew. He thought he was fooling everyone, like Liberace, but COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the closest cases out there--stay away from us! We have not harmed any women or children by trying to conform to social norms! We have tried to live our lives honestly, and none of you can prevent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps you should own up, or else be burned, like the Salem Witches!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One facet that gets lost in these discussions is how the repellent behavior of these fools devalues good works they have done in the past, besmirching them with a "Scarlett Letter". In this age of borderline-psychotic social justice warriors, many with agendas even more twisted than those they condemn, we risk these works being erased from the cultural archives right along with their problematic authors. This is a complicated, nuanced situation that is being handled with the sledgehammer binary bluntness of social media. We no longer have the luxury of time to think out considered reactions to how we should feel about the works of tainted creators, and that scares me.
ReplyDeleteKevin Spacey has put in some brilliant performances, some which could not be replicated with quite the same impact by any other actor. Ironically, he's often at his best playing repressed, devious closet cases (Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil, House Of Cards). HOC would simply not work with any other actor playing the lead, and in fact fell completely apart in its recent final season (shortened and rushed after his dismissal). And what of "The Usual Suspects", the cult film of a generation? Are we to sweep these all out with the trash?
A lot of SJW types conveniently forget Bryan Singer's amazing achievement in forging a superhero franchise with a metaphorical subtext for LBGT oppression, and not only getting away with it but having it become a massive global success (the original X-men trilogy, made a decade before the tedious "woke" generation began lecturing us all to death). The subconscious persuasion to accept difference and be tolerant of the "other" drummed into millions of teenagers over several years was certainly beneficial. Not that any of that excuses Singer's alleged offenses, but the achievement should not be forgotten either.
There's also a difference in M.O. to be considered among various offenders. Spacey is just basically a closeted asshole who gets drunk and then lusts after anything that moves. Most of his ruination stems from the Anthony Rapp episode, but he wasn't preying on Rapp specifically as a child molester: it could have been anyone male at that party. Rapp was simply sitting in the wrong bedroom at the wrong time when a drunk jackass lech with no boundaries stumbled in. Spacey's long history shows a marked predilection for hitting on adult straight men, not kids. That other "teen" he supposedly "groped into PTSD" in a crowded bar was the very aware and hip 17 going on 18 son of a TV news anchor. He knew the score and was playing Spacey for free drinks and bragging rights (texting pics of the hand on his thigh to his girlfriend, and not complaining about it at all until just recently). Offensive? Perhaps, but not an inherent kiddie predator.
The Singer allegations, if true, are a different kettle of fish. Here you have a pattern of youth-specific offenses, along the lines Corey Feldman's oft-repeated stories. All offenses are disgusting, but offenses that repeatedly target vulnerable kids are beyond the pale.
ReplyDeleteThe return of the once-brilliant "Better Things" series on cable last week drove home the creative loss we suffer when otherwise-talented men throw their careers away with incredibly stupid inappropriate sexual behavior. Pamela Adlon produced the first two seasons in partnership with Louis CK, after helping him turn his eponymous "Louie" into the most influential comedy series of the decade. Together, they made magic, but after the network cut all ties with Louis and Twitter put a gun to Adlon's head to abandon him, she was forced to soldier on alone. The result is a trainwreck with zero entertainment or insight: millennial critics are falling all over themselves to say its even better without CKs involvement, but deep down they know thats a lie (and Adlon certainly does, reading between the lines of her recent interviews). This is a really strange case, given that every woman Louie worked with for years was apparently aware of his pathetic antics but paid it no mind until it became a public spectacle. Doubly ironic after he's spent more than ten years pushing feminism and Hillary Clinton harder than Huffington Post.
With so many creative men imploding due to their uncontrolled base impulses, Hollywood is hurtling toward the same extended talent drought suffered by the fashion industry when AIDS wiped out a generation of designers in the late '80s. Not a pleasant prospect. At all.
ReplyDeleteDarling,
I think it is horrible Spacey and Singer
should lose careers because of this. It
is comparable to the MNcCarthy movement
of the Fifties, and Jane Fonda's treatment
during the Sixties.
However, closest cases are one of the LGBQT
community's biggest problems. I could never
have lived that way if I had tried. So why
do these guys want to conform? They think
it will net them material happiness, but,
even with a house and a pool, they will still
be empty inside.
Because of these types, gay discrimination is
still in practice. We still have a long way to
go, and I, for one, will not stand for hypocrisy!
As you point out, the arts are suffering again.
Which leaves us with what?