Ellen DeGeneres: An Introduction - Essay Example

? Ellen DeGeneres and her importance in the Gay Community Ellen DeGeneres, who is popular for being a successful television host, actress as well as a comedian has a very important place in the gay community. DeGeneres began her career in the late 1980s by being a stand up comedian and soon reached new heights of popularity. An important event with regards to Ellen DeGeneres is that she came out to the public as a lesbian on her TV show, Ellen, through the protagonist of the show and it caught the attention of the media (DeGeneres, 2000). This article takes a look at the life of Ellen DeGeneres and her importance in the gay community. It also tries to explore her importance in the GBLT history and understands the various persuasive techniques that she used in her struggle for gay rights. Ellen DeGeneres: An Introduction Ellen DeGeneres, who was born in 1958 in Louisiana has played an important role bringing issues related to LGBT rights to the forefront so that they get appropriate media and political attention. As a stand up comedian, DeGeneres made a large number of appearances on very popular TV shows such as, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Oprah Winfrey Show (Biography, n.d). This increased her popularity and very soon, she appeared in a sitcom, which was called Ellen (1997), where she used her character, Ellen to come out to the public. At the same time, she also publicly declared her homosexuality on the Oprah Winfrey show. Post her coming out in public, the show Ellen faced a lot of criticism because acknowledging homosexuality openly was not common in the United States during the late 1990s. In fact, DeGeneres is regarded as the first lead case of a show who acknowledged the fact that she was a lesbian on air (Biography, n.d). Because of that, some of the affiliates that were associated with the channel ABC on which Ellen aired, refused to air the particular episode of the show. Furthermore, some of the sponsors associated with the show also withdrew their support (Biography, n.d). After the main character came out as a homosexual, there were many episodes which followed the same track and continued that way until the season got over. Due to this, both the show and the channel received strong criticism. However, Ellen's performance was critically acclaimed and won her an Emmy award (Foley, 2007). In addition, it also received immense support from the gay community all across the United States. In spite of these, the show was canceled within a years time. In the meantime, DeGeneres had gained enough popularity and became a common face in both the television industry as well as the movie industry. Due to her popularity, she began her own show known as the 'The Ellen DeGeneres' show which ran over 10 seasons (Foley, B. (2007). Ellen DeGeneres. Wmagazine 36(3), 496–501. ). In addition, she also hosted the Academy Awards, became a judge on the popular show American Idol, acted in movies and wrote books. She is often considered to be one of the best role models for the LGBT community in the United States (Foley, B. (2007). Ellen DeGeneres. Wmagazine 36(3), 496–501. ). Role of Ellen DeGeneres in GBLT history, community, or social movements It is a given fact that involvement of celebrities and public figures with regards to social movement has an impact on resource mobilization and constructing a collective identity (Barber, 2012). The fact that the celebrity is in the public eye gives much more importance to the issues that they highlight and hence, deeply influence the causes that they join or start. This is because the involvement or participation of a celebrity results in attention from the mass media and increases participation from their supporters. Hence, the celebrities can provide a high level of visibility to any event or social cause that they participate in (Bird et al, 2011). Ellen DeGeneres also used her popularity and her status as a public figure to raise issues that were relevant and important to the LGBT community. During the 1990s, the homosexual community found it a big challenge to come out in the public and accept their homosexuality. DeGeneres was an example to them because she came out to the public on air, first through her character Ellen and then by talking about it openly on The Oprah Winfrey Show (DeGeneres, 2000). Hence, her presence on the television was much appreciated by the LGBT community and many of them considered her to be their role model as she provided inspiration to them on coming out to the public. While the society was aware of the homosexual community and the issues that they face, their issues and concerns were never voiced in public. The success of Ellen can be considered to be a landmark in the television history because soon shows like Will and Grace came on air. This show bought out many social issues such as homosexuals adopting children and participating in civil unions (Johnson, 2008). Therefore, it can be said that Ellen's openness with her homosexuality went on to bring about a change in the television programs, which were hitherto, largely focused on heterosexual themes. Ellen DeGeneres talk show has its own place when it comes to bringing the LGBT issues to the forefront. In many episodes, DeGeneres brings forth references about certain issues as well as her homosexuality in a subtle and casual manner, just like any heterosexual would talk in a very 'matter of fact' manner (Johnson, 2008). This approach has received a lot of appreciation from the gay community because, DeGeneres does not communicate in an overtly preachy, harsh or shrill manner, but nonetheless, conveys her point across. Ellen DeGeneres's also makes use of her show to convey issues that arise from time to time. For example, when there were a number of instances of LGBT bullying (some of them resulting in suicide), DeGeneres used her show as a platform to convey important messages to her audience and points out the various ways in which the community can get help (Williams, 2010). Apart from her appearance on television, DeGeneres also conveys her message through public appearances by addressing groups, forums and giving commencement speeches. Very recently, in March 2013, she has been vocal about removing the ban on gay marriages (Byrne, 2012). Similarly, in Feb 2013, she spoke up against the anti-gay policy of the boy scouts (Huffington Post, 2013). Therefore, it is clear that DeGeneres has been fighting for LGBT rights, LGBT equality as well as acceptance since the time she came out in the public. The remarkable aspect is that DeGeneres has created a niche for herself in the entertainment industry, which as totally dominated by the projection of heterosexual individuals being successful, thereby providing inspiration to a number of people from the LGBT community. Persuasive Techniques used by DeGeneres. It is interesting to note the various persuasive techniques that have been used by DeGeneres over the past decade. The most remarkable event associated with DeGeneres is her coming out on the national television. Here, the persuasive technique that she used can be described as that of identification, because the instance of coming out to the public had proven to be inspirational to a number of people to acknowledge their homosexuality (Tracy, 2005). When a public figure or a celebrity comes forth and acknowledges the issue, it becomes much more easier for the others to follow suit, because they have someone to look up to. Hence, the identification factor resulted in helping many people from the LGBT community as she garnered their support (Johnson, 2008). Ellen DeGeneres is also known for her subtle humor, which comes from her career as a stand-up comedian for years. Hence, she is also known to use subtle language and comic one-liners, that are powerful to send a strong message across. Therefore, humor and comedy are other techniques that she is known to use to convey her message across (Johnson, 2008). It is also interesting to see how she mentions the relationship with her partner Portia, in a very matter of fact manner, so that the viewers perceive them as just any other couple. Hence, subtle but strong messages is another technique that Ellen DeGeneres has been using. However, DeGeneres is also known for being strong and vocal about the issues that she feels strongly for (Tropiano, 2002). On one hand, where she is subtle and humorous, on the other hand, she also is very vocal and outright with certain issues, such as LGBT marriage rights, or bullying of homosexuals. Therefore, it can be said that DeGeneres has not stuck to one particular technique to fight for the rights, but has used a combination of techniques, depending on both the issue as well as the media that she conveys it too. However, it can be said with certainty that she has used power and strength as her main technique as opposed to pathos. Conclusion Ellen DeGeneres has been one of the pioneers in the LGBT rights movement across the United States and her contribution is invaluable – be it helping in individuals come out to the public or in stopping bullying of the community. Ellen DeGeneres continues to fight for LGBT rights and provides support to the community with the issues that they face and it is expected that her fight will yield strong results in the coming years. Citations Barber, M. (2012). A Review of “The L Life: Extraordinary Lesbians Making a Difference.” Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 16 (2), 181-182. Bird, J., Kuhns, L and Garofalo, R. (2011). The Impact of Role Models on Health Outcomes for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50(4), 353-7 Biography (n.d). Ellen DeGeneres Biography. biography.com. Retrieved March 5, 2013 HTTP://www.biography.com/people/ellen-degeneres-9542420 Byrne, S. (2013). Ellen DeGeneres Urges Supreme Court to End Gay Marriage Ban – in a Way Only She Could. ca.shine.yahoo.com. Retrieved March 5, 2013 ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/ellen-degeneres-urges-supreme-court-end-gay-marriage-133942013.html DeGeneres, Betty (2000). Love, Ellen: A Mother/Daughter Journey. HarperCollins Publishers. Foley, B. (2007). Ellen DeGeneres. Wmagazine, 36(3), 496–501. Johnson, V. (2008). Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity. New York : NYU Press Huffington Post (2013). Ellen DeGeneres Takes On Boy Scouts' Anti-Gay Policy. Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved March 5, 2013 www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/ellen-degeneres-boy-scouts-anti-gay-policy_n_2645936.html Tracy, K. (2005). Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen Degeneres. New York: Pinnacle Books Tropiano, S. (2002). The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV. Milwaukee: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. Williams, S. (2010). Ellen DeGeneres has an important message for LGBT Youth. care2.com. Retrieved March 5 2013 www.care2.com/causes/ellen-degeneres-has-an-important-message-for-lgbt-teens.html Read More