A few weeks ago, actor/director/producer Matt Damon came under fire for attempting to mansplain diversity to Effie Brown, a black producer who has more than 50 credits to her name including But I’m a Cheerleader, Real Women Have Curves and Dear White People. It was on Matt’s show Project Greenlight, where Effie is a mentor to up and coming producers, that she professed a disenchantment with a script that had its sole black character, Harmony, a “prostitute who gets hit by her white pimp.” Matt, among a group of all other affluent white people, interrupted Effie to say “When we’re talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show.”
This intense moment made the internet rounds, and eventually, Matt released an apology, saying “My comments were part of a much broader conversation about diversity in Hollywood and the fundamental nature of Project Greenlight which did not make the show. I am sorry that they offended some people, but, at the very least, I am happy that they started a conversation about diversity in Hollywood. That is an ongoing conversation that we all should be having.”
And then this week, Matt Damon (who has never received so much discussion on a site for and about queer women, to be sure), had some more opinions about representing people he cannot identify with. In an interview with The Guardian, Matt laments that he and BFF Ben Affleck were the target of gay rumors when they first came to Hollywood because they’d written a script together.
“I know. It’s just like any piece of gossip… and it put us in a weird position of having to answer, you know what I mean? Which was then really deeply offensive. I don’t want to, like [imply] it’s some sort of disease — then it’s like I’m throwing my friends under the bus. But at the time, I remember thinking and saying, Rupert Everett was openly gay and this guy — more handsome than anybody, a classically trained actor — it’s tough to make the argument that he didn’t take a hit for being out.”
Before we dig into that already very loaded statement, he continued:
“I think it must be really hard for actors to be out publicly. But in terms of actors, I think you’re a better actor the less people know about you period. And sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether you’re straight or gay, people shouldn’t know anything about your sexuality because that’s one of the mysteries that you should be able to play.”
Again, uproar. Again, apology. This time, he explains himself to Ellen, the queen of coming out:
“I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they’re a mystery, right? And somebody picked it up and said I said gay actors should get back in the closet. Which is like, I mean it’s stupid, but it is painful when things get said that you don’t believe. You know what I mean? And then it gets represented that that’s what you believe. In the blogosphere, there’s no real penalty for taking the ball and running with it.”
Matt Damon is someone who I do not believe is homophobic nor a closeted gay man, but a privileged white, cisgender straight dude who has been asked to change himself or his work to make it more marketable or palatable in ways likely way less offensive than Harmony the black, beaten prostitute or asking someone to pretend to be someone they are not. He’s certainly not the first person to express these ideas about gay actors, and he won’t be the last. Even Rupert Everett, who he mentioned in his interview, has stated that coming out ruined his career. (Even though I’d argue it was that movie he made with Madonna, but anyway.) But it’s interesting that he is very interested in expressing how not gay he is with Ben Affleck when he is, in essence, saying his (and all actors’) sexuality should remain a mystery. You can’t have it both ways, Matt Damon. So what you are saying, without much thought, I’m sure, is that the people who should remain “mysterious” about their love life and relationships and identities are those who are not straight.
We have the luxury, in 2015, of more public figures than ever coming out with a bang or with a subtlety that best reflects their want for the world’s understanding. Every time a well known woman says she’s a lesbian, gay, bisexual or anything that isn’t 100 percent straight, it’s another vote of confidence for a young queer woman who might otherwise feel alone and misunderstood. All of us know the power that comes with recognizing a piece of yourself in someone else, and how it feels when you can celebrate something you thought you had to hide or deny. That kind of pain can eat you alive, and if you don’t know anyone else in your high school or town who is out and proud, that TV star or movie actor or singer or politician can give you a necessary boost of self-realization and acceptance.
Perhaps what’s most sad about what Matt Damon and others think about staying closeted to be more successful in Hollywood is that it affects our community. It doesn’t affect him or straight people like him; it affects us. There is truth in what he is saying, yes, but only because we keep that idea alive; allowing producers and studios and people with money to think it’s OK to discriminate against an actor because of who they are dating off-screen.
True story: A few months ago, I found out an acquaintance was appearing on a premium cable show. Not only that, but she had an upcoming role on a well-known queer show as a lesbian. I suggested we do something for the site, and she was apprehensive, despite her wife’s prodding. So when I followed up with her, she asked if we could talk on the phone, and I had a feeling what she was going to tell me; and then she did. To paraphrase, it went something like this:
“I just don’t want it to be out there that I’m gay. Not yet. I’m not ashamed of it, but I want to wait until later when I get more roles and have gotten farther in my career and someone happens to ask or finds out. Because I already have a few other things working against me, like my ethnicity and my being a woman.”
I told her I understood, of course, but it was so deeply disappointing. This was worse than when publicists turn down interviews because they see AfterEllen is LGBT-related and are too nervous we’re going to ask something gay. Every person has a right to how they put themselves out into the world, but there was a total disconnect between how she celebrated her relationship with her wife to everyone she knows and how she felt she had to hide it from the people that might find her talented and perfect for a TV or movie role. Better safe than sorry?
It’s not only Hollywood; there are still 29 states where you can be fired for being LGBT, so living in the closet is a huge reality we are still facing. We may be tired of seeing coming out stories in our movies and TV shows, but the real life coming out stories for any one-public figure or otherwise-should not be greeted with an eye-roll or “Who cares?” Because we have to care. We have to say, “Congratulations!” and help them through those first scary steps into the exhilaration that comes with being unapologetically you. If we as individuals do not claim our identities as worthy, why should anyone else? Why should movie executives? Or states? Or Matt Damon?
It’s scary to think where we would be if Ellen wouldn’t have come out just 18 years ago. There are 18-year-olds in the world, right now, who have grown up knowing at least one person was a happy, successful, married, gay woman. And while there are more and more like her, and more gay actresses, and actresses of color, we’re still outnumbered by the Matt Damons. For now.
So skip Matt’s new movie and go see Freeheld this weekend, from out actor/producer Ellen Page. Show your box office support for a movie about lesbians, that started as a passion project by a lesbian who came out because she couldn’t make a film about standing up for yourself without being honest about who she was. She was tired of being “mysterious,” because that shit is exhausting.
