Ellen DeGeneres Commencement @ Tulane U.

[3113]

Ellen DeGeneres Tulane University. Funny, Brilliant and oh, so true. Words to live by whether you're graduating from a college or not.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

No one on the planet gives a flip about Ellen Degenerate.

 

[jomar]

She's pretty awesome. Much better than Biden's Wake Forest speech.

I've said it before here, she didn't lose her sitcom because she came out, she lost it because she stopped being the modern Lucille Ball and the show got all preachy and artsy fartsy.

Good speech.

 

[3113]

I've said it before here, she didn't lose her sitcom because she came out, she lost it because she stopped being the modern Lucille Ball and the show got all preachy and artsy fartsy.

Why she lost the show is immaterial. You might be right. She might be right. Or you both might be right. What is material is that enough people in entertainment believed they couldn't risk hiring her, and she wasn't able to find work for three years. And that left her dealing with that repercussion of her decision as well as the other results that she mentioned.

And that is all that matters. There have been other shows that have been canceled for becoming artsy or preachy. Cancelation for those reasons didn't necessarily lose their stars work for such a long period. Perception of why it happened is as important, maybe more important, than the reality of why it happened, and by that I mean what people in the entertainment biz took to the the reason, not you or other viewers. And I would bet you any amount of money that most of those running the entertainment biz thought it was because she came out, no matter what viewers, writers or other comedians said to the contrary.

 

[jomar]

Why she lost the show is immaterial. You might be right. She might be right. Or you both might be right. What is material is that enough people in entertainment believed they couldn't risk hiring her, and she wasn't able to find work for three years. And that left her dealing with that repercussion of her decision as well as the other results that she mentioned.

And that is all that matters. There have been other shows that have been canceled for becoming artsy or preachy. Cancelation for those reasons didn't necessarily lose their stars work for such a long period. Perception of why it happened is as important, maybe more important, than the reality of why it happened, and by that I mean what people in the entertainment biz took to the the reason, not you or other viewers. And I would bet you any amount of money that most of those running the entertainment biz thought it was because she came out, no matter what viewers, writers or other comedians said to the contrary.

I respectfully agree, and disagree. Why she lost the show may have had everything to do with why she didn't get a call. I truly believe that if she had come out and then simply gone back to being hilarious she would have done so much more for acceptance.

With the direction the show took, it made me wonder if she was under pressure from activist groups to use her platform for change and all. And the preachy artsy direction it took likely took its toll in viewers. The bottom line.

You're right that other artsy shows were canceled without detriment to actors careers (though now that I think about it, whatever happened to folks on Cop Rock). As for perception, because of Ellen's sitcom hammering 'gay is okay' and 'we're ordinary people too' she may have been branded as too associated, or to radical for middle America - precisely because the show went preachy and artsy fartsy which lost viewers. And then the suits didn't want to risk money with her until the cooling off period was over.

 

[sr71plt]

She seems to be doing just peachy in her current show.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

She's pretty awesome. Much better than Biden's Wake Forest speech.

I've said it before here, she didn't lose her sitcom because she came out, she lost it because she stopped being the modern Lucille Ball and the show got all preachy and artsy fartsy.

Good speech.

Youre correct. Her show was excellent until she came out and made every show a gay themed sermon. It stopped being funny and became preachy. MASH did the same thing toward the end of its run. Alan Alda embraced feminism and every show became a lesson and a sermon. He hasnt done shit since then.

 

[jomar]

She seems to be doing just peachy in her current show.

America loves her again. Time to dance!

 

[sr71plt]

Yeah. I sometimes turn on the set at her time on my way to a news station and smile because she has that effect on people. We could use more of it.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I respectfully agree, and disagree. Why she lost the show may have had everything to do with why she didn't get a call. I truly believe that if she had come out and then simply gone back to being hilarious she would have done so much more for acceptance.

With the direction the show took, it made me wonder if she was under pressure from activist groups to use her platform for change and all. And the preachy artsy direction it took likely took its toll in viewers. The bottom line.

You're right that other artsy shows were canceled without detriment to actors careers (though now that I think about it, whatever happened to folks on Cop Rock). As for perception, because of Ellen's sitcom hammering 'gay is okay' and 'we're ordinary people too' she may have been branded as too associated, or to radical for middle America - precisely because the show went preachy and artsy fartsy which lost viewers. And then the suits didn't want to risk money with her until the cooling off period was over.

As if she wasn't making as much in a month as we commoners do in a year! I, of all people, have no problem with her sexuality but the whining and "poor me" show that she put on for a while was disgusting. Fortunately, she seems to be over it.

 

[john-the-author]

I respectfully agree, and disagree. Why she lost the show may have had everything to do with why she didn't get a call. I truly believe that if she had come out and then simply gone back to being hilarious she would have done so much more for acceptance.

With the direction the show took, it made me wonder if she was under pressure from activist groups to use her platform for change and all. And the preachy artsy direction it took likely took its toll in viewers. The bottom line.

You're right that other artsy shows were canceled without detriment to actors careers (though now that I think about it, whatever happened to folks on Cop Rock). As for perception, because of Ellen's sitcom hammering 'gay is okay' and 'we're ordinary people too' she may have been branded as too associated, or to radical for middle America - precisely because the show went preachy and artsy fartsy which lost viewers. And then the suits didn't want to risk money with her until the cooling off period was over.

I'm very pleased with Ellen DeGeneres, but I think the show jumped the shark--in terms of "funny"--shortly after she came out. Gawd noze I'm comfortable with the idea of her being out, but I was watching the show for entertainment. (Although I have to admit that the little trailer bit at the end of the episode where she did come out--"Aaaaaaaand here's your toaster oven!"--was one of the top 100 alltime great bits.)

 

[Liar]

Heading off topic here.

Thanks 3113 for inexplicably steering me towards this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alWkzljdv3E

It was a related video to Ellen's clip, of the late journalist Molly Ivings giving an hour long speech and Q&A at the same university.

I have only read a handful of pol-sci articles and academic papers by her that weren't entertaining at all, but with insight into how politics and media works that I found to be fiercely intelligent. In fact, I based some key parts of my own thesis work on her writing. So you could say I'm a fan.

But I had no idea what to expect when I started this clip. My god the woman is a delight to listen to. There's something hypnotically disarming with the combination of a skilled orator with good stories to tell, a broadsided Texas drawl, and razor sharp deadpan wit.

Maybe I'm a hopeless geek for the topic, but this was the best Youtube find this year for me.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

She's truly fabulous.