Early last night Ellen Page (X-Men: Days of Future Past) announced she was gay. Good move, took some guts, hugs and salutes. The 26 year-old actress announced her orientation at a Time to Thrive conference for LGBT youth at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Yes! The audience rose to their feet and cheered, but what’s with the audio on this YouTube clip? You have to listen with earphones.
Nothing has changed except that Page has shown she’s made of something. She will, of course, still be cast as scientists and eco-terrorists and roller-derby girls and spunky, pint-sized girlfriends and nobody will give a shit because everything’s everything, man. We’re all good.
“I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission,” Page said. “I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain. Maybe I can help others to have an easier time.”
I’ve noted more than once that Page is quite small of stature. (Like in this 2009 piece I wrote called “Shrimp.”) I don’t mean to sound like a size-ist, but on some level it feels like more of a fit for her to be a little gay elf than a straight one. In personal terms, I mean. The roles she will play in the future probably won’t be that different than the ones she’s played in the past. Like I said, nobody cares anyway. But…how can I put this in the right way?
When Juno first opened I wrote that Page struck me as “midget-sized, scrawny [and] looking like a feisty 9 year-old with absolutely nothing about her that says ‘alluring breeding-age female.'” Which is why, to be perfectly honest, I’ve always had trouble accepting Page in any kind of sexual or erotic context. She’s too tiny. I know that some guys like going out with midget-sized women, but Page has always seemed too elfin and scrawny to blend into any kind of “pretend” sexual scenario, be it straight or gay. So coming out won’t really change anything. She’ll still be Ellen Page. She’ll always be an excellent actress. I loved her in Super. Life’s good.
