The Star's Speech

In the winter of 1986 my cousin Sherri invited me out to North Hollywood to write screenplays for her XXX films. The athletic brunette was moving from before the camera to behind the lens. While not MGM her proposition appealed to me. I was living in Paris. It was cold. LA was sunny, even the Valley, and I packed my bags and flew West to make my mark as porno's Hemingway. I should have tried to be more like Jacqueline Susann. The producers criticized my scripts as 'too smart' for their all-male audience. I dumbed down to PIZZA CHEESE AND ME followed by CUM TOGETHER. Even these stories based on sex, sex, and more sex were too intellectual for the powers-that-be in the adult film industry. Sherri apologized for having wasted my time. "Hey, I got to come out to LA in the winter." It was snowing back in Paris. She gave me a hug and took off for a shoot in Sherman Oaks. I booked a flight back to New York and then got in my rented car to drive to the Pacific. Traffic on the Ventura Freeway was light, but a VW Golf convertible cut across the lane in front of me. I cursed the female driver, until the blonde turned around with a smile. It was Jody Foster. I had loved her since TAXI DRIVER. I called out to her, as she exited from the Freeway. She continued on her way. She was a true movie star and they don't associate with failed writers for XXX films. Our paths have yet to recross, but I have followed her career through FIVE CORNERS, THE ACCUSED, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, CONTACT and even her brief stint as Marge Simpson's voice in the TV show THE SIMPSONS. Her sexuality was no secret to the public. Jodie like women and women liked her. She had been in a relationship for decades, but the actress never came out of the closet, as if she had been in the military under the orders from the Pentagon, 'Don't say, don't tell.' Last week her silence came to an abrupt end at the Golden Globes Award, during her acceptance remarks after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award. "I already did my coming out about 1,000 years ago back in the stone age, those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers, and then gradually and proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met." Some gays and lesbians criticized Ms. Foster for taking such a long time to tell the truth, especially since her speech seemed to be off-the-wrist (she was wearing a dress), but better late then never and I applaud her courage to ell it like it is no matter what the time. I still will call your name out whenever I'm on the Ventura Freeway. I know she heard me. To see Jodie Foster's speech please go to the following URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efYg0vQyPGA