Reactions to story from Blogs | AfterEllen.com

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  Tilda Swinton Transcends Hollywood

  http://www.newnownext.com/2008/03/ive-always-thou.html
  178 days ago in NewNowNext Blog: Gay Pop Culture, Entertainment News, Music, Movies, Celebrities, Photos, and Videos - Served Fresh Daily · Authority: 156

  -- Dorothy Snarker from AfterEllen.com I’ve always thought Tilda Swinton was a fascinating woman, but ever since the Oscars, I’ve upgraded her to amazing. While the fashionistas ripped her makeup-free face and Hefty-bag chic, I though she was one of the most striking women on the red carpet (OK, fine, the trash bag was weird, but she still managed to almost pull it off). That blaze of red hair and those porcelain angles make it nearly impossible not to stop and stare. And have I mentioned the suits? Tilda graces the cover of Out magazine’s April “Transgender Issue.” While the Oscar-winning actress isn’t trans, she does delightfully blur the boundaries with her style, attitude and roles. Anyone who saw her in 1992’s avant garde epic Orlando knows she can gender-bend with the best of them. Also, sweet fancy Moses, does she ever look good in a suit. And what’s great about Tilda is that the more I read about her, the more amazing she becomes. Like, what did she want to eat during her Out interview? Mashed potatoes or “anything I can eat with a teaspoon, basically. I’m not really up to a fork.” How delightfully weird. But there’s nothing weird about Tilda’s take on making art. “I’ve never been comfortable calling myself an actress or an actor. It sounds pretentious to say, but it’s actually me trying not to be pretentious. I just don’t know how to act, particularly. I think of myself more as an artist’s model than anything.” That self-analysis may be one of the best descriptions of her I’ve ever read. Throughout her career, Tilda has tended to make art, and not necessarily entertainment. Her films are sometimes difficult to watch, sometimes bordering on awful. But she has this way of turning herself into a canvas where the character paints itself with bright, vibrant tones. While some of the tabloids recently tittered about her unconventional living arrangements, Tilda saw no reason to hide her relationships. She lives with her long-time artist husband, John Byrne, and went to the Oscars and other public events recently with her younger lover and fellow artist Sandro Kopp. How did she explain her relationships? “We ostensibly live in the same house, but I travel the world with another delightful painter.” Now that’s how you defuse gossip. In an industry that champions set gender roles, the fact that as androgynous an actress as Tilda has been able to work and thrive is pretty amazing in and of itself. She told Out that her inherent outsider status is one of the reasons she fees so connected to the gay community: “I think there is something very specific about a community of people who have by very virtue of their sexuality had to be self-determining, that early realization, that early decision, all the feelings of loneliness, all the feelings of pride -— all of that is my home. There are things that ... I take from my background with great gratitude — things like a love of nature, the idea of social responsibility, good manners, etc. — but I had to make a departure very, very early, and maybe that’s the real key to why I feel very much at home in the gay community.” Like I said, amazing.
• 

  The other Ellen

  http://dorothysurrenders.blogspot.com/2008/02/other-ellen.ht...
  192 days ago in Dorothy Surrenders · Authority: 140

  Well, now I’m simply dying to know. Is she or isn’t she? The Ellen Page conundrum continues to confound. That conundrum being the puzzle of a tomboyish girl with no discernible hetero dating history and a penchant for boys underwear who pings our collective gaydars like crazy. More astute Oscar watchers than I noticed that Ellen sat next to a rather handsome, somewhat-older blonde woman.*** [Image via Girlfriend is a Homo] Much discussion was had in the comments over at my AfterEllen Oscars post as to whether said handsome, somewhat-older blonde was indeed Ellen’s girlfriend. You see, she took the same woman as her guest to the Spirit Awards the previous day. That’s, like, two full dates. If she is indeed a lesbian the U-Haul has been loaded up and new pet kitten names have been picked out. Of course, the mystery woman could very well just be a friend. Or an agent. Or a “roommate.” What I know for sure is that the woman can’t be her mother, as Village Voice columnist Michael Musto mused this week while giving the first wider voice to the “Ellen Page is gay”-whispers making the rounds. Michael’s theory is that if she took her mother, it only furthers the gay talk because “for guys, that used to signify 100% gay, but for girls, it might just mean young and/or Canadian--or, um, gay.” Regardless, according to WireImage, this is Ellen’s mother, Martha Philpott. So, the mystery continues. From everything I’ve read about Ellen she is a very smart, very straightforward and very sensible (not to mention very deliciously sarcastic) young woman. So I’d really like to think that if she was indeed gay that it would be no big deal and she would just come out and say it. On the other hand, I also understand that she is just 21 with a career about to hit hyper drive, so she probably wants to keep what little parts of her life that are still private private. Perhaps, if she is gay, she’ll go the Jodie Foster route, never talking about it but living her life as normally as possible. All I know is what Ellen said herself about being a tomboy growing up:“(My parents) tried ballet, but it became evident what kind of kid I was going to be.” A tomboy? “I guess…That’s a funny word. A girl that didn’t play with Barbies.” Now, of course, not playing with Barbies doesn’t automatically make you gay. Nor does being sporty or mechanically inclined or awkward in dresses. Well, at least not automatically. So who knows. What I do know is the more I heard from Ellen Page, the more I like her. And I really like her when she talks about tequila. God, how cute is she? What else I know for sure is that -- baby dyke or not -- on Saturday night Ellen is going to be my date as I sit in my jammies, clutch the remote and enjoy the hell out of her hosting SNL. ***UPDATE: Mystery solved. Ellen’s “date” was her publicist, Kelly Bush. Sorry, make that her out lesbian publicist Kelly Bush. OK, so I was close with the agent thing. The firm she runs, ID PR, also handles that other Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres (and she was embroiled in the whole Iggygate brouhaha). Her other clients include A-Listers like Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire and the late Heath Ledger as well as a parade of my past Weekend Crushes like America Ferrera, Mary-Louise Parker and Diane Lane. And here is an interesting quote from her in a recent W feature on Hollywood’s lesbian power players:“Bush doesn’t believe that young lesbians need to define themselves by identity politics or limit themselves to a community of like minds. She never did. “I don’t think of myself in terms of straight or gay when I’m out in the world,” she says. “If people ask me, I’m honest, but I’m not political about it. I’m just a publicist. I’m not a gay publicist.” OK, but how about a publicist of gays? Fine, since we all know that just sitting next to a gay person doesn’t make you gay, we’ll let this one go. For now. Anyhow, here is Kelly at an event last year.

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