To Be or What: Anderson Cooper

In Monday's news, the headlines said that CNN commentator Anderson Cooper made a public announcement that he is gay and proud. Congratulations, Anderson—I don't care!

In the last few months, Jim Parson from the CBS show The Big Bang Theory and Matt Boomer from USA Network show White Collar also admitted they were gay. Again, congratulations—I don't care!

The question is: does being gay make you a better reporter or a greater actor? In my opinion, no. I watch shows for stories and maybe for laughs, not because an actor is gay or not.

If an actors kisses an actress on a show and it's believable, that's fine with me. Do I care if Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory is gay? No, as long as he can still make me laugh (and he does). What the actor does personally is his business, not mine!

We don't look at an actor kissing an actress on screen and assume they are playing around with each other off screen. (Let's keep Brad and Angie out of this discussion—they are exceptions to the rule.) It really does not matter! 

Did the news and issues change when Anderson Cooper admitted that he was gay? If he is handling a show on the subjects of AIDS or gay issues, does his viewpoint change? I can't tell you—I have never seen it change. Nor will I care.

What annoys me is when the television gossip shows like TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, The View, The Talk, The Insider, or Access Hollywood wave it in front of us like it's an important issue. The gossip rags like People, US, or the Star tout these so-called news stories on supermarket shelves like it's news we need to know—but it really isn't important! There are better issues to report.

The issue seems simple: let's stop looking at people as just gay or straight. Let's look at each person as a real person, both in Hollywood and in real life.