Jodie Foster Finally Comes Out!

[Alex]

If gaining celebrity creates a certain obligation to discuss sexuality publicly so that you can be a roll model for similarly situated non-celebrities, are there any other aspects of private life that are similarly obligated.

As a young Jehovah's Witness I might have appreciated an outspoken celebrity lighting a path for me. But so many celebrities seem to consider their religious life to be completely personal and go out of their way to avoid discussing it.

Same with chronic diseases. Is Pamela Anderson obligated to openly discuss her Hepatatis C (if she has it). Should Gary Burghoff (Radar, from MASH) have been outspoken about his deformed hand (just an example, for all I know he was)?

Should Lee Majors and Nancy Reagan make the fact that they're adopted a big part of their public profile? What obligations does Woody Harrelson have to openly and prominently discuss the fact that his father was a freelance hitman so that other children of murderers can know that it is possible to rise above that?

We all have different things we consider part of our private life, even celebrities, and that which is a topic of ease for one person is very uncomfortable for another. And discomfort does not necessarily equal shame.