HOLLYWOOD’S CLOSET

As everyone knows, Hollywood is a hyper-liberal paradise, where every day, actors and directors and producers try to advance the cause of social justice. They’re particularly keen on advancing gay rights, and any other trendy social cause that pops onto the radar screen. And yet it’s still true that there isn’t a single openly gay lead actor in the business in 2001. Why? I can’t believe it’s because there isn’t one – or an aspiring one. The answer is surely that the big machers in Hollywood are scared of losing money if a romantic star – especially a man – gets a public reputation as gay. They’ll never admit this, of course. It makes them look like the discriminatory businessmen and women that they are. But every now and again, the truth gets blurted out. Here’s a quote from Tom Cruise’s lawyer as to why he’s suing a porn actor for a cool $100 million for claiming he had a relationship with Cruise: ”Losing the respect and enthusiasm of a substantial segment of the movie-going public would cost Cruise very substantial sums,” the libel suit states. ”While plaintiff believes in the right of others to follow their own sexual preference, vast numbers of the public throughout the world do not share that view and, believing that he had a homosexual affair and did so during his marriage, they will be less inclined to patronize Cruise’s films, particularly since he tends to play parts calling for heterosexual romance and action adventure.” So there you have it. I have no idea if Cruise is gay or not. He seems straight to me. But the rationale is clear enough: being gay could cost you fans and money, even if, like Cruise, you’re not exactly starving on Sunset Boulevard. This libel suit, whatever its merits, is in fact a mechanism whereby ostensibly liberal Hollywood sends a deliberate message to its gay stars and actors: Stay in the closet – or your career is toast. (And what exactly, by the way, is incompatible between being gay and “action adventure?” Is Cruise peddling stereotypes as well as urging gays in movies to stay closeted?) So next time Hollywood’s elites start prattling on about their pro-gay politics, don’t stifle a guffaw. They care about one thing only: the bottom line. That’s a defensible position. What’s indefensible is their liberal posturing at the same time.