Gay Author Takes On Celebrity Culture

The New Issue: Rupert Smith

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Gay author Rupert Smith got his journalistic start interviewing celebrities and writing about show business. Unsatisfied – and somewhat disgusted – with the glitz, glamor and lies, Smith retreated from the celluloid circuit.

He may have given up chopping up bigwigs, but the author didn’t leave it all behind. In his novel, I Must Confess, Smith offers a hilarious send-up of celebrity memoirs, homosexuality in Hollywood and inflated egos.

Though publishing in Britain back in 1998, I Must Confess has just made its US debut. We dispatched Paul Florez to pick Smith’s brain.

Read what Smith had to say about celebrity culture, coming out, Jodie Foster and why the main character’s voice came so easily…

PF: Tell us about your novel. What should readers expect?

RS: It is the imagined autobiography of a fictional star of stage and screen. If you’ve ever read a genuine showbiz autobiography by any star, you will find this book funny. Because all showbiz autobiographies are by their very nature funny. The person is always trying to put themselves in a good light and that’s always inherently funny because it’s inherently dishonest.

PF: Is Marc a reliable narrator then?

RS: This is someone trying to lay claim to the fabulous career he may or may not have had. You have to make your mind up if any of this is actually true or whether it’s all a delusions of a very sick man. Did this really happen or did he dream the whole thing up? You should be very suspicious of his words as a narrator.

PF: What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

RS: I loved writing the character. Marc’s based on a real friend of mine whose name was [also] Marc. He was a struggling actor and would be singer, model, dancer– you name it. A wonderful guy, a dear friend. You probably guessed he is no longer with us. When he died, I thought about him a lot. This was kind of a recreation of a career he could have had and in some ways the career he believed he had. I found that first person voice so easy to write because it was his voice.

PF: What do you hope readers will take away once they finish reading this?

RS: The ending is deliberately left open to interpretation and it sort of says a lot about the person reading the book and what they take from that.

PF: As a celebrity journalist, this must have been an easy story for you to write.

RS: This book is a direct reaction to being a journalist for many years. I’ve written an awful lot of celebrities. I have interviewed on awful lot of actors who, I have to say, are by and large, the most self serving people you could ever meet. Not all of them, some are fabulous, but so many people, these minor TV actors who get a job in a soap and think they’re something.

PF: So this was therapeutic for you in a way then?

RS: This was a direct response to deal with those people and dealing with their god awful publicists. Just all the crap you have to swallow as a journalist. You have to eat shit and smile to this people. After awhile you do start lusting for revenge. In a sense this book is a kind of a nasty, small minded act of revenge to all the wankers I met in the entertainment industry.

PF: How do you think this book is going to be received by a U.S. audience?

RS: I hope it really finds an enthusiastic readership. I’m very proud of this book. I don’t think anybody else has done what I’ve done [here]. I hope it reaches people who don’t just think of it as a gay but see it as a book about the hilarity of celebrity culture. The sexuality of the character is there because it says something about the lies we tell to create celebrities. All celebrities lie to create public personas. Whether they’re lying about their personal lives or drug addiction or lack of talent– it’s all bullshit. This is the comedic way of examining that. It does have a serious point, but it’s meant to make you laugh.

PF: Why do you think we’re so obsessed with celebrities?

RS: There are number of answers to that question. They provide a common talking point. I think we got off on seeing people who are rich and beautiful and successful and having the same problems we do. They’re a common currency of today in the way that saints were a few 100 years ago. I think there has always been a public fascination with public figures.

PF: Most people think coming out is a damaging career move and are extremely hesitant to come out.

RS: Why are they hesitant to come out? Because they’re fucking greedy cowards! I can understand from am extent for someone who is starting out in their career: an actor who is starting out who does not want to minimize the number of jobs they can get. We do not live in the promise land and coming out may jeopardize a young actor’s ability to get jobs. For someone who is established, even moderately, there is no fucking excuse for not coming out and being responsible adult and good role model for kids. Those people absolutely disgust me.

PF: What’s your opinion on people like Jodi Foster who never confirm or deny their sexuality?

RS: I’m sure that the reasons are personal. She may have issues with her family. I mean not just her but any of these people might have issues with their family. You never know. It’s not for us to pry into those areas, but they will have to be pretty damn good reasons for me to think that those people are anything other all cowards. Jodi Foster, how many billions of dollars does she have in the bank? She doesn’t need to work again. She could do so much good in the world and could mean so much to the next generation of lesbian and gay people by just saying “back off I’m gay/queer and back off”. If she never works again, isn’t that a sacrifice worth making for the future of the world? These people make me so furious!

PF: Do you think the public has the right to know a celebrity’s sexuality?

RS: I think it’s a personal responsibility for individuals to come out. I’m actually uncomfortable with the idea of outing celebrities. It’s not for somebody else to do. It’s none of our business to out those people. But I do think there is a moral obligation from those people to make the difficult step. All the rest of us manage to do. I did not have a palace in the Hollywood hills or go to retreat to when my parents weren’t happy when I came out. We do it because we have the guts to do it.

PF: Are arranged marriages in Hollywood more common than we think?

RS: Well, we all hear the stories. I’m sure it’s less common now, we are definitely living in changing times. This book is written as a piece of history and for a character that was growing up and working in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and onward. These options were not really available to them: coming out publicly would have ended someone’s career. [Now] the option is available to anybody in any walk of life. There is really no excuse. We’ve experienced a massive cultural change [since] the 1990s. I think we’ll look back at the 90s as revolutionary in their way as the 60s. The option to come out and to live with dignity and to pursue your chosen career suddenly became available. It wasn’t just a product of extremely courageous people who were living in a queer ghetto, it was something people could do or politicians or musicians or whatever and can continue to work.

PF: What’s your take on conservative politicians who find themselves in the middle of a gay sex scandal?

RS: Those politicians are the final frontier, aren’t they? What I love about these people is that they don’t just take a lover, they have sex with some prostitute or trick in a bathroom. You got all this money: it can’t be hard to be careful and discreet. That kind of carefulness isn’t possible for those of us who don’t have that kind of money. But if you have money and power you can cover your tracks. I find it fascinating that these people are always drawn to the gutter. I guess the more power and wealth you have, the more you want to wallow in the shit.

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Check out Smith’s website. If you feel like getting to him a little better, head on over to his MySpace page.

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