I was inspired by this thread about Clay Aiken. Would it be considered fraud, or unethical for a closeted entertainer to explictely state they were heterosexual in order to sell records?
Take Lance Bass for example. Before coming out, it was rumored that he attempted to hide his orientation by having Jamie Lynn-Sigler act as his beard . Obviously, he was trying to protect his image and selling power. But, at what point does deception of that kind become unethical. How does what he did/tried to do differ from what James Frey (A Million Little Pieces), or Milli Vanilli did? Considering many of those people bought his albums, etc. based on an image that was deliberatly crafted to mislead and decieve people, I think his behavior would have to be considered unethical. If he were not actively selling the lie, it would be a different story. I am aware that selling someone to a mass market generally entails some distortion and hyperbole (which is borderline unethical), but not outright fiction. I’m not saying Lance Bass, James Frey or anyone else is a bad person, just that they did something unethical.
I don’t think Bass’ deception (and really, I think of it more as a decision not to reveal than a true deception) even falls into the same league as Milli Vanilli’s. Sure, Bass was selling an image, but the primary selling point was that he was cute, not that any of his 13 year old fans actually stood a chance of getting in the sack with him. That chance was equally minimal whether he was gay or straight.
To an extent, every entertainer’s image is unreal. Its at the very least an incomplete portrait of them. However, it’s not like they are selling their image. Their image may or may not have an impact on sales, but in the end Lance Bass was selling music. It would have been different if he was a gigolo trying to get women to buy sex from from him. However, since the product he was pitching was music, and it doesn’t affect the quality of that music to know if he’s either gay or straight, then it’s not unethical for him to hide his sexual orientation. Hell, there is a lot about the sex lives of stars that we don’t know. Are all of them being unethical if they hide their kinks or fetishes from us? Of course not.
How is it unethical unless they promised to have sex with you? What does their sexual orientation have to do with you personally, and why does it matter? He’s a singer, you either like his voice or you don’t. How is he responsible for any fantasies that people dream up? Is he supposed to state up front that he’s gay just in case some teen age girl has a crush on him?
I gay singer who pretends to be straight isn’t doing anything that affects the actual music itself. I say no problem, and I don’t see any comparison with that to a peice of fiction being sold as fact. Even Milli Vanilli wouldn’t have been quite so bad had they not accepted awards for “singing”-- they were an act, and all that really mattered was what the sound was like, although I’d still say it’s unethical to say you’re singing when you’re not.
What if someone was to pose as say a born again Christian to sell records specifically in that niche market and that person, say, didn’t believe in God? Your “stage persona” is allowed to be anything you want, right?
I don’t see anything unethical in constructing a public image, so long as the image isn’t fundamentally opposed to real life in the area being exploited by said public figure. In Cluricaun’s example, the person is seriously approaching, if not crossing the line. A better example would be an athiest establishing themselves as a TV minister to collect tithes from the [del]suckers[/del] flock. This would be unethical in the extreme. But if the area being shaded has little or nothing to do with the product being sold…not too bad a violation.
It would depend. If it was simply hiding that aspect of themselves then I would not feel any ethics have been breached. If for instance, it turns on that Aiken is actually gay then yes he acted unethical by outright saying that he isn’t.
It’s one thing to hide part of yourself from public view, it is entirely another to deliberately lie about it.
The world of boy-band pop music isn’t exactly fraught with complexity, but this view is too simplistic. The cuteness and, let’s say, availability of musicians like Bass is part of their appeal to young girls. They’re supposed to be objects for innocent crushes. You don’t really think they sell records on their music alone, do you?
What if it was the other way around - say a straight rock star pretended to be gay in order to sell to a gay audience? Would that be any more or less objectionable, or exactly the same?
Tough question. On the one hand, Lance Bass’ sexual orientation isn’t anyone’s business but his own and those he chooses to share it with. I’d be inclined to think that answering “No comment” to the question “Are you gay?” would be taken by many people as equivalent to an affirmative answer. If he felt it was necessary to intentionally mislead people in order to maintain his privacy, that’s his right.
On the other hand, it could be argued that closeting oneself is just buying into and perpetuating anti-gay prejudice, and maybe a celebrity like Lance Bass could have done a lot to change his young fans’ attitudes toward homosexuality if he hadn’t hid his own orientation. Whether he had a responsibility to do so, only his own conscience can judge.
In general, I think his young fans were the people least likely to mind (although it would have reduced his marketability, I’m sure). But there are also consequences to upsetting their parents: they could refuse to fork over the money to let their kids buy it, or they could refuse to let them buy it, start protests or boycotts of the label, and so on. Maybe those last options aren’t likely, but there could have been repercussions.
I would consider that only mildly unethical if at all. The records presumably have music and lyrics corresponding to the beliefs of their audience. So, the born again Christians are hearing what they want to hear. Now, if the singer said something to the effect “the profits of the sales of these records will go to spread the word of God in the heathen world” and in fact the profits went to buy his fleet of BMW’s, then he has seriously crossed the line.
Sharing the fact that you’re gay is a personal decision and it’s no ones business. If you want to come “out” fine…if not it’s understandable. Many people have negative preconcieved notions about gay people. I know several doctors and even a high school coach who are gay and closeted. It’s the “kiss of death” for some professions. Many people (mostly men) wouldn’t go to a gay doctor.
Entertainment is not one of them. Gay people everywhere face discrimination, but gay entertainers can clearly still have careers. They may not be able to have the kind of career that Lance Bass had, and I think that brings us back to the question of whether or not it was ethical of him to lie about (or at least, allow people to misread) his sexuality.
And in other news, Jack Benny wasn’t really cheap, and Dean Martin wasn’t really drunk. Wrestling isn’t a sport.
And Rock Hudson wasn’t a ladykiller. And the Beatles original image didn’t match what they were really like, until they got big enough to change their image to match reality.
Show business is all about adopting an image, and selling the image to the audience. The image is designed for a purpose. If someone gets upset that their idol isn’t really like his or her image, then it’s time to grow up.
I see nothing wrong with faking sexuality from either direction. And it has nothing to do with how gays are treated in Hollywood, and everything to do with acceptance by the target audience. (I expect insiders knew all these secrets a long time ago.)
Exactly....and if you notice, out of all the actors in Hollywood, there are very few who admit they're gay. Most of society will not accept leading men or women if they're gay. This is society's messed up problem. If being gay is going to hinder your career then you have no obligation to tell. Just like if you're going to "fired" from your job in the military if you tell. If people think they've been "mislead" because they believed you're straight they should change their attitude towards gays so it will indeed be ok to come out and have your career not suffer.