Thursday, May 29, 2008

Breakin’ up is hard to do

Sigh. I was hoping to ignore the ubiquitous “Jodie and the Homewrecker” stories out there this past week, but the dozen or so emails on the subject sitting patiently in my inbox cannot be ignored. (Seriously, I’m not ignoring all you – I’m just terribly behind on my emails.) So, here is the thing. I know this photo of Jodie Foster and her supposed new girlfriend Cynthia Mort has popped up online. I know the backstory. (Cynthia was a screenwriter on “The Brave One” and they met on the set.) I know it’s supposedly shocking to Hollywood insiders. I know.

Is it true? Sigh. I have no idea. Is it more than a little sad? Yes, very much yes. Breakups are almost always sad. Breakups with kids involved are always, always sad. And public breakups are a sad spectacle I don’t wish on anyone. May Jodie and Cydney have the time and privacy to sort it all out together.

What I do find interesting about this “story” is how it has been covered around the globe. And when I say globe, I mean globe. A quick Google News search found an item on a news site in Azerbaijan. No, really. But, leave it to the Brits to give us the most gossipy take of all. The adjective usage in the Daily Mail piece alone makes it an (unintentionally) hilarious read. Also, anytime someone writes about the “Pink Mafia” I giggle. Really, I think it’s the only appropriate response.

The only real “news” I could glean from this whole sad spectacle is that Cynthia Mort’s ex is ex-“thirtysomething”-star Melanie Mayron. OK, this dates me a bit, but I used to love “thirtysomething.” Granted, I was a teenager at the time and enamored with the thought of grown-up problems. But it was by the same folks who made “My So-Called Life,” so it was actually pretty good, yuppie angst and all. I had no idea Melanie was gay. (Though I have since learned she was in “The Itty Bitty Titty Committee,” which I have yet to see). She always intrigued me with her funky clothes and funkier glasses. And her cute red hair was kinda short. But I always thought her penchant for blazers with the sleeves rolled up was because it was the 80s. Guess my teenage gaydar wasn’t as finely honed at it is now. Live and learn.

15 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:26 AM

    Cydney - Cindy... Oh, the amount of the slips of the tongue!
    "Cydney dear. Oops, I mean Cindy...

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  2. She has waited 14 years to publicly admit her relationship with Cydney and a few months after that they call it quits??
    Jinxed much?

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  3. Anonymous5:56 AM

    First, I am with you about the whole Thirtysomething and Melanie Mayron. I watched the show too, before I was 30-something, and had no idea about Melanie, either. Though any sort of gaydar I have blips a week or month or year after I meet someone and then it slowly dawns on me. lol

    Second, I had the same thought as the gentleman did. Jodie publicly shares her feelings about Cydney and then POOF?!? It reminds me of Ellen's interview with Barbara Walters after her comeback with her current daytime show. During the interview she made a declaration about Alexandra Hedison and then the next thing ya know, well...you know.

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  4. This rumor has annoyed me like no other, EVER. Whether true or not, it's a little repulsive to watch so many traditional media outlets pick this story up with the National Enquirer as everyone's main source.

    We'll never know if an affair took place, but time will tell if Foster is with Mort. Considering how much Foster likes her privacy, if this rumor is true, it certainly would be a bad way to keep a low-profile. Dyke drama is never low-profile.

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  5. By the way as long as we're doubting this story, I'd like to point out one tiny thing. I don't know when Mort and Foster first met, but I do know that Mort was working with Foster and Neil Jordan months before shooting. She was rewriting it per their needs.

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  6. Anonymous9:00 AM

    The Daily Mail article says that Mort is 33. Surely that's not correct! Actually, IMDb says she was born in 1956, which makes her 51 or 52. Very far from 33, and this also makes her older than Jodie, not a "younger woman"!

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  7. Anonymous11:02 AM

    What! Melanie Mayron who was in Thirty Something was a dyke! Holy moly. I always found her quirkiness captivating. Her fashion style was right up my street.And the glasses just took it over the top. She was my fav character in the show - awkwardness and all. Should have cottoned on, damn :)

    And sounds like Melanie and Cynthia have kids too.

    What's really absurd about this global "story" is the fact that never having ever really come out, or said much about her relationship with Cydney, their so-called breakup can have spread so wide and quickly. Its practically viral!

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  8. Anonymous11:04 AM

    Ms. Dorothy - what did you think of this quote from the daily mail ?? " She added: "Look, it's terrible, I know, but weakness really, really bugs me, to the point that if there is a wounded bird on the sidewalk, I look at it and I go: 'I think I'll just kick it.'"

    Harsh and a half . I'd say they arent' crazy about Jodie.

    I for one am sorry for the kids - break ups like this are not easy - the kids lose the home and sense of one safe place in the world.

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  9. The Daily Mail article is clearly not right about her age. They even contradict themselves on it. If she was a writer on Roseanne, and other shows in the late 80s, there is no way she's 33.

    Unless she was some kind of child prodigy. Which, of course, Jodie might find appealing...

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  10. Anonymous8:24 PM

    There is no EVIDENCE that this break up even happened.
    Seriously, people get a grip. NE and Daily Mail has gotten just about everything wrong.

    First Cydney left Jodie then it changed to Jodie left Cydney, but before that ...love just stopped.

    Then it was an affair that was months old now its a year long affair (also read 2 year affair)

    Jodie moved out. Oh but wait now its Jodie and Cydney live together.

    Cynthia, who is now called Cindy?, has been 51,33 and another age.

    Cynthia and her partner broke over a year ago but NOW there trying to blame Jodie for the break up.

    You know what?
    If after a few weeks and this story still has no real facts and the last pictures of Jodie and Cydney were happy pictures, I'm not gonna take this story as real
    Since when is NE the great level of journalistic integrity?

    Oh and aside from Cynthia people have named 2 other women as her lover. Please.
    My head is gonna explode with this musical chair situation.

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  11. Anonymous12:12 AM

    Agree with you Anonymous, the sheer numbers of contradictory stories all scrambling to tell tales no one has any hard evidence of. The National Enquirer and bottom feeder British tabloids aren't exactly reliable sources!

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  12. Anonymous11:07 AM

    Nah, I don't buy the simple explanations.
    Foster's clearly extreme need for secrecy would've been the controlling force in the partnership with Bernard; Bernard basically fell off the radar after going to live with Foster.
    The secrecy is at the heart of Foster's life, so it was most likely something that threatened to destroy the whole cover that motivated Foster's very limited opening of the window into her privacy at the expression of gratitude to Bernard.

    Who knows what?
    It could as easily be some kind of weird threat from a fling, on either Foster's or Bernard's account - - and isn't everyone vulnerable to a mid-life fling - - as pressure from Bernard or society.

    The speculation is frankly, extremely dumb; it seems that all celebrity watchers ever want to be told is a simple break-up story with one bad and one good partner.
    Pfffft.

    I don't count myself as a fan of Foster - the set jaw is a trifle wearying as a vehicle for every emotion - and I think she's been on a losing ticket by trying to freeze out the public when she makes a living from their coin; of course a person wants to know about what's forbidden to be known too. But this latest round of tripe from the gossips shouldn't get served to the lowest dog.

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  13. Add me to the "Melanie Mayron is gay?" list. Had no idea. I too watched "thirtysomething" back in the day but never picked up any "pings."

    I am also no fan of Ms. Foster but I hope she has not done what is rumored. If any of this is true, that's alot of damage: two long term relationships with 4 kids in the mix.

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  14. Anonymous12:59 PM

    hey now! tying all the british media in with the rubbish spouted by the mail is the same as reducing american media coverage to what fox loosely terms 'news.' Essentially, moost smart people wou,ld just beg you not to do it. We do have non tabloid papers as well!

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    ReplyDelete