Amber Heard Comes Out of the Closet

Now I'm really looking forward to her sex tape.

That means she was always after Jessie Einsenberg's brains and not his body then, right?

Good for her, but the cynic in me screams that she's talking about this to get some much-needed press.

Wow, this is like Lebron going to Miami.

This.

I know the name but kind of always associated it with Rachel Nichols for some reason.

Well this will help me remember who she is. And she was in Pineapple Express? Why can't I place her. She and her girlfriend do look cute together.

Okay, keep in mind that I do not intend this as an argument against something said in this thread. Just a general question. There has been some mild hinting here that this may just be at least in part a form of publicity stunt. Has this suggestion ever come up in a discussion about a gay actor coming out of the closet? And if it hasn't why do you think it didn't? Taking out the obvious prurient schoolboy fascination of "chicks making out, man" how does our perceptions about gays and lesbians differ?

Because that guy's totally a fag and it's not hot lol[/stock internet movie nerd response]

It might also be because a lot more women - particularly younger ones - are likely to go through lesbian "phase" than guys, so there's a perception that it's unimportant or attention whoring (not something I agree with).

Jumping off of what Jake says, if the perception of gay males is that they're icky then it follows that why would somebody who's not gay EVER say they were, even for attention? Gay dudes in Hollywood spend their entire lives in the closet trying to convince everyone that they're straight. Lesbians, on the other hand, are sexy, so it's good PR! And also some people look at it like if you're a dude and you do anything even remotely effeminate or gay then you are 100% definitely gay forever whereas for girls it might just be a fun sexy experiment, something they can turn on or off, or a phase. And of course those things are linked. It's seen as less acceptable for guys to experiment or go through a phase or whatever - because that's gross, right?! - so that's rarely talked about whereas, again, it's considered sexy when girls do it.

Having said all that, I doubt any of it is why HarleyQuinn suggested it might be a PR stunt

My lesbian phase stuck.

I thought George Takei coming out was a publicity stunt. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, by the way, people using an opportunity to get publicity in Hollywood is part of the job. But, yeah, no one was beating down his door to find out who he was sleeping with, and no one was surprised when they revealed it. What other purpose would something like this have? If someone doesn't want notice to be taken of them for announcing their sexuality, why else would they do it?

The more people in the public eye that come out, the more acceptable it will be. The best thing will be when people don't care which sex you sleep with.

I've never heard a peep about Neil Patrick Harris in a bad light, pre- or post- coming out. Now, if Brad Pitt were to come out and say Angelina had been a beard for all of these years....yeah, we'd hear about that.

Just guessing, but I think it's got a considerable therapeutic value, even if you're 68 like Takei was. Denying who you are has got to play a huge part in how you define yourself and how you value yourself.

Phil gets it right on. Same with Dr V.

Could it be a publicity stunt? Sure. But it's deeply cynical and not just a little homophobic to say that it's only about publicity.

ETA: It's also the belief of many men that lesbians are just waiting for a guy to join them or that if a lesbian has a real man they wouldn't go back to girls. Porn and dumb ass shit like Chasing Amy do little to help that.

You're probably right. I guess I have just never ever cared who some celebrity is fucking. I know plenty of people who have come out, and I understand the point of coming out, I just never care when it's a media event.

I don't think it has anything to do with gender. It has to do with a person whose name I haven't heard in years suddenly being back on the radar due solely to the announcement of their sexual orientation. It's the perception of timing rather than of gays and lesbians.

Or it could be because there's currently a push on for people to present a positive side to being gay for young gay men and women. Maybe she was touched by the Trevor Project and felt ashamed that she had hid her orientation for so long.

ETA: She made Maxim's Hot Women list in 2010, she was in Zombieland last year, and she's in Rum Diary this year, she's hardly out of the spotlight.

But if you lined her up with 10 other minor celebs could you spot her? I know I couldn't.

This falls under good for her but, meh. Looking at her IMDB I know her from Zombieland and that's it. Seen some of her other stuff but forgetable.

Won't be big news until a name comes out. Jake-any time now.

It would be very disappointing if this was a "phase" and she retracted it later.
She strikes me as an intelligent and confident person who wouldn't use something like that to promote herself.

Also coming out as gay and then later deciding you're not is PR suicide. Just ask Anne Heche.

Amber who???

My only comments on this subject are a) she is hot and b) someone missed a golden "Amber Alert!" joke opportunity.

Well no the movie makes it very clear that Amy never really was a lesbian. She was bisexual and at a certain point in her life decided that she related more to women and dated them. Thats why there is that big reveal that she had in fact been with many men. They include the dufus Banky character saying something like "all a woman needs is a good dicking" to make it clear thats not what the movie is about. Amy is attracted to the person. At the end the movie is really about male insecurity and having a friend thats into you a bit too much. Sorry I know this has very little to do with Amber whoever but I have to defend the one Kevin Sith film I actually love because it looks like those years are long behind him.

The movie is pretty much a male fantasy of what a bisexual woman is like wrapped in a pretty weak veneer of sexual openness being couched as feminism.

BTW, off-topic even further, but you may have the best typo ever in your post.

Well I disagree. I mean unless you think think the sex acts she describes are unrealistic or that "women don't talk like that". I didn't find much fantasy in the movie at all and certainly not when she slapped him and explained she wasn't his fucking whore. Holden in his own way is just as clueless as Banky. But even if your right it still doesn't exactly fall into guy turns lesbian category you put it in. Sure it was marketed that way but that actual film goes very in depth to explain the bisexual part. Also I just realized I had been calling her Amy this whole time and it's Alyssa, oops.

Oh and yeah your right that really might be the most dead on typo ever lol.

Posted two days ago:

Nice try, Waaaaaaaalt!

I don't particularly care if she did for publicity or not and if part of it helps her career, good for her, maybe that'll encourage other people to follow suit, so eventually it's normalized to the point that it doesn't matter one bit. The reason most public figures don't come out is because of a perceived danger to their career and while I don't know much of Amber Heard to evaluate what kind of actress she is or what her range/talent is, I doubt it helps if every time a woman comes out, the PR-motivation is the first thing as come to me, partly because it reaffirms the worst kinds of stereotypes lesbians/bisexuals already have to deal with, but because it might make actresses trying to be taken seriously as actresses (who already have it 10x harder than men) have a brand new extra reason to consider against being publicly out and so the eternal loop goes.

I know there's a bit of a kneejerk response against anything considered to be "for publicity", but it kinda boggles my mind that people focus on that and in that way, as in the Takei mention in this thread, as opposed to the actual positive value of queer people being upfront in the media. There should be publicity for it so that eventually there won't be.

Since I brought Takei up, I feel I should mention I love George Takei, and by saying his coming out at a press conference was a publicity stunt, I didn't mean that as a slam. I don't see why people always equate publicity stunts as a scam, publicity is good. I don't particularly care one way or another if he's gay, but if he used the opportunity to promote himself, and give publicity to tolerance, that's great.

The "publicity stunt" criticism isn't a swing at her actually being gay though right? But possibly lying about it to differentiate her from the sea of forgettable blond actresses she's currently drowning in (Someone already mentioned Anne Heche, though she's so crazy/confused it's likely she genuinely thought she was gay - Portia De Rossi is a mess too). Which makes it more misogynistic than homophobic ie: Gay is Real, Lesbianism is Variable. But mostly it's cynicism directed towards the Hollywood machine Ithink. I seriously doubt anybody on the planet gives a fuck whether this girl is gay or not. It's the context of her coming out that's a little out-of-whack with her public awareness level. She's hasn't exactly been previously defined in such a way that warrants an "announcement", surely? Megan Fox, yes. Amber Who, no.

I think the only reason to think Takei WASN'T gay, was that he was too obvious a camp candidate. Like Jonathan Harris.

Chasing Amy: Wasn't that given a pass by the Gay community? Smith's brother is gay and he's really careful about getting the context of his gay oriented dick and pussy jokes parsed.

For some reason I knew this woman was gay months ago. I can't recall where I read it

I remember George Takei saying that the reason he came out when he did is that certain older family members had recently passed away, and he felt that he could come out without embarassing them.

There certainly might have been a promotion element to it (he does work in an industry were attention is important), but I don't think that was his main intent. Takei strikes me as a man who is very happy with how his life has ended up; he doesn't seem to me like someone who craves money or attention.

Well yeah I wrote it for comic effect to show that most people don't know her, of course I masturbate errr I mean know who Amber Heard is.

In no way was I taking a swing at her for being gay, nor did I ever say that I doubted that she really is gay. I am saying that I suspect that she may be talking about her sexuality as a means to gain some press mentions. How many Amber Heard threads were there on this board before this announcement was made? She's got people talking about her now. In response to the claims of misogyny, I found the Lance Bass announcement to be a publicity-seeking deal, too. As cathartic as it may have been for him to tell the truth, you have to admit that he went from near-obscurity to the cover of every damn magazine overnight. Hell, Ricky Martin went on Oprah to have a loooong chat about being gay while simultaneously shilling his book. The cynic in me always doubts the intent of any celebrity who lets loose with secret-spilling.

My question had no intention of 'calling you out' or anything, Harley. Just want to make this clear. Just a general argument.

I have no idea who this person is besides seeing her name in this thread and learning that she's apparently gay so I don't think the idea of her using her sexuality to get media attention is that big of a stretch. Clearly it works!

I had no idea who Lance Bass was either (besides that he was in Nsync or the Backstreet Boys or one of those crappy interchangeable bands) until all the hoopla about him coming out awhile back, and now I know the guys name soley because I saw it pop up so much in tabloids and on the internet for awhile. I don't even think assuming these things are publicity stunts makes you cynical, more like realistic.

I think the cathartic part of coming out really has more to do with finally being honest with your friends and family and all those people closest to you. But getting your face on a bunch of magazine's and getting interviewed on talk shows? That's just good business.

Amber Heard wasn't that unknown, come on. The last couple of years she's been in a lot of movies. Maybe it's because I'm pretty big into horror and there was the whole All The Boys Love Mandy Lane release hubbub, that was talked about a lot.

She was totally unknown to me until now. Except I've seen Pineapple Express, was she the teenage girlfriend in that? Otherwise no clue.

And according to Seth Rogan had a creepy boyfriend hanging around set watching their kissy scenes together. Imagine his suprise when he checked the news.

Have to agree. She's hot and all, but as far as the film goes she's kind of a nobody.

Same here.

It's obviously a very effective strategy for an individual, but not sure how "healthy" it is for other gay people wanting to come out if it has the stink of attention-whoring when a semi-sub-celebrity does it.

I gotta say George Takei has turned up in a shitload more stuff since coming out. Mostly playing himself of course.

Wasn't Lance Bass' persona that he was the "dumb one"? Then by coming out he became the "gay one"? I'd say that's an upgrade.

You just saved me some typing. Great point, and couldn't have said it better myself.

HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS

Hey guys if I ever come out as gay it will only be to further my comedy career, thanks in advance

1) This is the first I'd ever heard of this person

2) I applaud her courage and doubt that it's a publicity stunt. Anna Paquin? Absolutely suspicious that was just about getting press for herself. This though? Not so much. It's trendy to say you're bi. Saying you're gay though might lead to difficulty being cast as a romantic lead in certain films. I don't think this is a slam dunk PR move by any means, and I think coming out probably entailed some measure of risk to her career

I wish her the best

Jake, quit playing, we know you're a bear. Who dates bulldogs.

You know what's a great publicity stunt? Admitting that you're in that 10 percent of the population that still gets openly lynched. I mean, why not admit that you're something that sixty percent of Americans feel is an abomination against nature/God? How can that go wrong? Hell, that's a good career lift, gets your name in the papers, stuck up on the walls of churches and your picture gets passed through the hands of Rev Phelps who can glorify your name. How can that be a bad thing?

Pun entirely unintended, I'm assuming?

Can you think of a celebrity who has come out recently and it hasn't been an incredibly good career move? I can't.

Sure, lots of people are bigots and coming out can still be really really hard for people, they can be shunned by friends and family and possibly be subjected to threats and violence etc. It's definitely an important issue.

BUT we're not talking about the reactions a normal person gets when they come out to their family. We're talking about celebrities and tabloids, and for a Hollywood star controversy is exciting and gets more people buying magazines and more people buying movie tickets. It's absolutely very profitable, you can look at any of the examples mentioned in this thread and see how positively coming out has affected their careers. If coming out as a hot blond lesbian in Hollywood negatively affects Amber Heard's career I'll eat my hat.