The Pro Wants To Be A Con

Cute Matt Bomer gets grilled by Details (January/February 2010). His answers are pretty dispiriting. Asked if it bothers him that it's speculated he's gay: 

"I don't care about that at all. I'm completely happy and fulfilled in my personal life."

Fair enough, but when pushed about not wanting to talk about it:

"I have a network and a show riding on my shoulders. I would say a big difference between my character and me is that i can be too trusting. And I've realized in this business, that's not necessarily the smartest thing to be. I definitely have a thing or two to learn from the con artists."

So he aspires to be more like a con artist regarding how out he is. Great!

Comments

[Christian]

i thought it was a classy response. He's obviously been told to keep it quiet. He didn't deny the fact but he didn't confirm it. Beyond that who cares? Why should he have to come out? Its not our business.

[Matthew Rettenmund]

Christian: I don't think "it's not our business" has meaning anymore; I think Facebook's founder is right about the irrelevance of privacy. Certainly, anyone who is a celebrity—anyone—is partly famous or liked or of interest based on who they are, how they behave, what we know about them that is "none of our business." Every performer, almost without exception, trots out highly personal details of their lives in order to help sell their projects. That opens the gate for people wanting to know more. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting gay people to say they're gay without being coy, and I don't think it's "classy" to keep quiet in exchange for money; I don't think it's pure evil, either, I just think it's disappointing and selfish. But then I also think it's delusional of closeted or semi-closeted stars to expect others not to speculate on their sexuality.

All that said, Bomer seems to have come out as much as he intends to for the time being, and it's a lot further out than most stars are willing to go. He seems to be an intelligent and likable enough person. And, of course, he's cute.

[Christian]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting gay people to come out. I support that notion 100% but i also don't expect others to conform to my belief. If he wants to live his life privately or only reveal portions of his life, that's fair enough. Its not selfish of him. In fact, I think its selfish to expect him to do so because its expecting him to live by anothers expectations. I also don't see him making any bones about it. He's not saying don't discuss it or speculate...he said he doesn't care and it doesn't affect him.
And you're right he is cute :)

[John]

I respect Bomer for not denying it. And, sad to say, that is pretty bold relative to other (semi-)closeted stars.

But to people who are all "it's nobody's business, that's his private stuff", how can homosexuality ever become a non-issue if it's treated differently to heterosexuality?

[Me]

I think his response confirms that the network wants him to be in the closet. I think if it were totally up to him he would be out.

[Vince Smetana]

You ignored the part about him saying he has a network and a show riding on his shoulders.

But, I suppose you've been in that position before?

[Matthew Rettenmund]

Vince: No, I can't say that I have had that pressure. But by saying, "Oh, that makes it all right to be 'discreet' about being gay," what you're saying is that money—a lot of it, not just a living—trumps honesty. That is a position I've been in before and no, I don't condone that. Does it make me think he's evil or a horrible person? No. I just think he's wrong. But more of an issue is that the media selectively chooses to shelter gay people in this way when they have no problem exposing the truth about many other aspects of people's lives, good bad or indifferent, any number of which could also cause jobs to be lost and shows to lose money.

It's an indefensible position.