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Cate Blanchett: “Coolest Straight Person” of 2007Covers of The Advocate are a tricky business. When I first came out in the late 1980s, the covers always featured men in kind of porn-y poses. The Advocate began featuring women sporadically in the early '90s and eventually moved to a sort of equal balance in recent years. Still, with the exception of 2005, most women featured on the cover of The Advocate are straight — or at least ostensibly straight. (This year, there hasn't been an out lesbian on the cover since February.) When I got my most recent Advocate in the mail, however, I was not unhappy with the straight woman featured on the cover.
It seems that The Advocate has declared Cate Blanchett (also known as No. 48 on the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 list) the Coolest Straight [Person] of 2007. And I'm not going to argue with that. (AfterElton.com gave a sneak peak of this cover a while back.) Except for Todd Haynes' gushing (“She's just so cool she calls 'straight' completely into question ... and you can quote me on that.”) about Blanchett's gender-bending turn in I'm Not There, it's not really clear why she warrants specific consideration by The Advocate.
It's a little bit like Jennifer Aniston's GLAAD Vanguard Award —she's certainly friendly and definitely not an enemy, but did she actually do anything? (And I'm sure for some lesbians, Blanchett's turn as the ephebophilic object of a deranged lesbian's desires in Notes on a Scandal does not warrant her winning GLBT accolades.)
But I find Blanchett to be both lovely and one of the best actresses working today. Hence, I'm happy to see her coolth lauded. And she was certainly gracious and pleased to be recognized:
For the record, Blanchett was not the only woman recognized. Elizabeth Edwards was dubbed “Cool Politico” for being so cool about same-sex marriage.
And Arianna Huffington was dubbed the “Cool Pundit” for her site, HuffingtonPost.com, as well as general progressive punditry.
When I lived in California, Huffington was still a conservative married to a closeted man, so I've had a hard time seeing her differently. But it's good that others don't view her quite so myopically, as she's apparently done a great deal of good. And, of course, a bunch of boys were recognized: Phillipe Cousteau (grandson of Jacques and “Cool Environmentalist”), Aaron Toleos (“Cool Gay Rights Activist”), Frank Rich (“Cool Columnist”) and Common (“Cool Rapper”). Now that we know who The Advocate picked, who would you pick as the Coolest Straight Person of 2007? Submitted by on November 20, 2007 - 11:04am. |
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hmmm...
Hands down
Maeve "I'm too sexy for my shirt" Quinlan. Can you really think of anyone better?
Yup
You beat me to the punch.
Maeve Quinlan undoubtedly is the Coolest Straight Person of 2007.
I concur.
Maeve definitely deserves the prize.
~It means pride.~
Agree!
Definately agree with you there! I like her middle name in that too lol
Tina Fey!!
Tina Fey, for obvious reasons. (Intelligence, talent, personality, cuteness, bi-curious shoes, mentioning the afterellen hotlist, writing the lesbian-date-episode of 30 rock, putting on a live show in NYC to benefit the WGA strike, and a bunch more...)
Yep, Tina Fey
I am...
...with you on the whole Tina Fey thing... She's cool :D
I do not know who I would
I do not know who I would call THE coolest but at the moment I am impressed with Alison Krauss! For, as a bluegrass country singer, choosing to not change pronouns on her latest cd! And when questioned on it just saying it's about artistic integrety!
I mean, to, in the whole country enviroment, not add any remarks asserting her heterosexuality, is pretty "cool" in my book!
"call me old fashioned but I prefer feminism that leaves a little something to the imagination!"
cross dressing
I think the best choice of the three is Edwards, just because she spoke out about gay marriage in disagreement with a husband running for president. That's pretty damn cool.
But I think Cate Blanchett is worthy, too. The cross-dressing as Dylan thing may be her only qualification, but that is a HUGE one. I can't remember anything like it ever being done before. There have been a few films about women cross-dressing, such as Victor/Victoria, Sylvia Scarlet, etc., but I can't remember any in which a woman actually played a man, not a cross-dressing woman. The only sort of similar thing I can think of is Tilda Swinton in Orlando, but even that wasn't as radical because she was also a woman in the film. So I think what Blanchett is doing is very very gender-bending and way seriously cool.
The Huffington choice is the most puzzling. She's still pretty conservative from my point of view, and there are dozens of much much cooler (though maybe less famous) pundits out there.
Huffington? Conservative?
You might be remembering the Arianna Huffington of old, but she's certainly no conservative these days.
Arianna's politics began a shift to the left in the late 90's because she felt that the Republican Party wasn't doing enough to help poor people. Today she describes herself as a "former right-winger who has evolved into a compassionate and progressive populist." In other words, she's seen the error of her ways.
Her blog, The Huffington Post, is probably one of the most-read political blogs on the Internet.
She rocks.
And, most importantly, she
And, most importantly, she knows how to write intelligently and persuasively.
Also, maybe she got the distinction for guest-starring on The L Word? Was this this past season? I don't even remember. Probably not. But still, she's a cool lady.
"Out of the box is where I live." -Starbuck
Season 2
That was Season 2.
I remember that only because it was also our first introduction to the beautiful and talented Carmen de la Pica Morales.
Heart be still.
Tina Fey
Tina Fey, all the wey!
Cate Blanchett's certainly a fine lady, but for the Coolest Straight person? Tina Fey, no doubt!
Tina Fey...
~'Thanks for nothin'...~
My pick
Coolest Straight Person? Jerry Sanders, mayor of San Diego. I reckon he did more for us than Cate Blanchett did.
Although Cate is undeniably hotter.
Maeve definitely takes the cake this year...
If only all straight men and women were as "cool" (read: understanding, tolerant, friendly, sensitive, smart, simple) as her about their views on the gay and lesbian community, man...we'd be SET!
I LOVE Cate
Cate Blanchett is one of my most fav actresses and human beings. she is just awesome.
------------------------------------------------------
THE UNOFFICIAL JILL BENNETT FANCLUB WEBPAGE
http://www.freewebs.com/ujbfc
NOW WITH Jill & Jamie Q&A's!!!&
It's hard to pick someone if ...
... if there are no standards to go by. We don't know why they picked Cate, necessarily (even though I am completely fine with their decision ...) - so I ask, what are the qualifications of "the coolest straight person" ??? What's considered to be cool? Are we talking politics, talent, looks - a whole package kind of deal? James Dean cool is different than Jon Stewart cool ...... Like Cate cool is different than Tina Fey cool .... Al Gore has raised his cool factor over the past few years .... why not him?
and hey, while I'm asking ... is People magazine going to have an issue with "The coolest gay person"? If so, we should really give them this feedback. Heaven forbid they pick someone without reason....
Amazingly enough ;)
Amazingly enough ;)
I am with you on this! We need a definition of "cool" here.
I mean, someone could be considered a 'cool" straight person for being gayfriendly in general or someone could be a "cool" straight person for be gayfriendly in a particularly "cool" way. In my book, two different ways of being "cool".
I would say Tina Fey falls in the first category.
"call me old fashioned but I prefer feminism that leaves a little something to the imagination!"
Cate?!
It's not that I dislike Cate, but she's the coolest?! I can think of many cooler straight people than her... I wonder what she thinks of this title by the way:p
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=kisshester
can't decide...
Coolest Straight People...
TINA
Love Cate (does anyone else think she reminds them of Mandana Jones??? Or is it just me??). But i LOVE tina fey more. The woman is my idol. I think i love her more for being straight because she is still so gay friendly, utterly ubercool and wrote that episode of 30 Rock. Any straight woman who can crack jokes about bi-curious shoes; Gail, Oprah and Steadman; Margaret Cho, etc on network tv has to take the title.
And she got Stephanie March to say "I am a Lesbian" Thats something Dick Wolf sure didnt give us. (He just gave us a belated 'Is this because im a lesbian?)
Besides, she's Tina Fey. What else needs to be said!
~I've been watching your world from afar, I've been trying to be where you are, I've been secretly falling apart...~
Tina Fey
Either...
Tina Fey or Maeve Quinlan.
www.myspace.com/117502105
don´t know...
Maeve Quinlan or Tina Fey (like a lot of people here )
probably Maeve just because ;)