1997_05 The Daily Collegian May 1997

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THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Thursday, May I, 1997
Ellen's 'coming out' party
lives up to the hype   . '
By Tom Shales
Washington Post Writers Group
Perhaps the best thing about
last night's much anticipated
coming-out edition of "Ellen" is
that the moment when Ellen fi¬
nally announces she's gay is
made funny as well as poignant.
It isn't staged as if it vver.c a great
leap forward for the human race.
Obviously, it is a leap fortele-
vision. whether great or not or
whether forward or not. With her
declaration of sexual preference
on the special one-hour "Ellen."
Ellen Morgan, as played by
Ellen DcGencrcs, becomes the
first lead character in a sitcom
to be openly gay. DcGencrcs has
also accounccd she's gay herself,
choosing to share this intimate
detail with the entire world.
The episode tackles the sub¬
ject with a minimum of self-con¬
gratulatory piety and a maxi¬
mum of good old-fashioned an¬
tics. These start immediately
when the show wittily spoofs it¬
self in an opening teaser — the
first antic. Ellen's friends are
watiting for her to emerge from
her bedroom so they can gel go¬
ing and one of them finally
shouts, "Ellefri! Arc you coming
out or not?!"
Those who haven't been
"steady viewers of "Ellen" be¬
cause it never seemed very
funny and never seemed to have
much of an identity will find sur¬
prises in tonight's show, even if
the big revelation is well-writ¬
ten and full of laughs. For another.
DcGencrcs herself gives a much
stronger and more convincing per¬
formance than usual.
- And suddenly. "Ellen" is about
somebody and something. The
character has more definition now
and isn't just this kind of wacky
person who lives a kind of wacky
life running a. yes. kind of wacky-
bookstore in Los Angeles*
Her homosexuality is a detail
that helps to make Ellen seem a
more real and complete person, less
vague and evanescent. Of course,
the coming-out party is only one
hurdle. The cleverness of the writ¬
ers and producers, and of
DcGencrcs herself, will be tested in
succeeding weeks. That old ques¬
tion "where do they go from here?"
is particularly appropriate.
Ellen's outing is precipitated by
a date with an old boyfriend who
now works in television and has
brought his attractive female pro¬
ducer along with him on a business
trip. The producer, played by Laura
Dern (sexy despite her peculiar
caved-in posture), is gay and upon
meeting Ellen assumes she is, too.
The funniest parts of the episode
are probably Ellen's bouts with de¬
nial. She boasts to her pals that she
slept with her old boyfriend, which
she didn't, and remembers shout¬
ing, in the heat of passion, "Show
me the money, baby!"
In a flashback, we see this imagi¬
nary tryst as it exists only in Ellen's
mind. "Mmm. mmm, oh, men," she
gasps as they undress.
"Why do I love men so much?"
Describing it. she tells her
friends. "I was just so turned on.
you know, from his being a man
and me not being one" and by
the whole fabulous concept of
"man-woman sex."
Cut to guest-star Oprah
Winfrey, who plays Ellen's ana¬
lyst. Oprah tries to get Ellen to
admit the reasons for her deceit.
Eventually, near the end of the
first half of the show, Ellen re¬
alizes who and what she really
is and blurts it out to the pro¬
ducer, on whom she developed
an instant crush.
Winfrey, in odd long hair, is
perfectly cast as a shrink, but
other guest-star cameos on the
episode do nothing to enhance
it. During a dream sequence at
a supermarkcrt. Ellen encoun¬
ters k.d. lang, Demi Moore
(nearly unrecognizable in male
drag). Billy Bob Thornton and
Dwight Yoakam. What is this all
about? It's like a bad night at
Planet Hollywood.
For now, the change in Ellen
and in "Ellen" has to be regis¬
tered as an improvement. It cer¬
tainly gives the show a distinct
voice it never had before.
Ellen's gay, Ellen's happy, and
"Ellen" seems a much friendlier
place to be.
-
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Productions and learn how to success¬
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Applications due bv  May 2nd
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in I SI   Room «O0
Stop b> ISt 306 to pickup
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For more Information
call 278 274L
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