Talk:Jodie Foster

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/Archive 1

Contents 1 GA / FA drive 2 mother supported her by being a producer or working for a producer? 3 Jodie Foster's command of the French language 4 Mensa 5 A few months 6 Interpreted 7 foster's sexuality 8 Jodie Foster says she is not a member of Mensa 9 The main photo of her 10 Children?

[edit] GA / FA drive

Notes / questions before submitting for GA / FA:

• There are three super-huge tables at the end of the article - do we need all three?
• I'm thinking of trimming half of the second paragraph of the lede and removing the "Midas touch" statement - thoughts?
• Where are citations needed? I'm pretty good at finding them.
• Andy's book?

-- SatyrTN (talk | contribs) 19:47, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Should the controversy regarding John Hinkley, Jr. be a part of her personal life? Right now the article is separated in decades. I foresee an FA reviewer suggesting it be given thematic headings, such as "Child star", "Film career", "Oscar roles" (subheading), and "Personal life" where Hinkley and her brother's book would be addressed. --Moni3 (talk) 20:00, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Hm - thematic headings is probably better than time headings. -- SatyrTN (talk | contribs) 22:38, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] mother supported her by being a producer or working for a producer?

I think this statement was copied wrongly from the Internet. If her mother was a producer then she would have her own entry in Wikipedia and an IMDB page. If she worked for a producer which one? --cda (talk) 21:42, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Uh, yeah, Foster is indeed and in fact a homosexual. Openly gay actor Rupert Everett said so as he criticized her for not being out earlier and not helping other LGBT come out as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.174.137.177 (talk) 16:41, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Someone wrote about this at afterellen.com. Saying even if she did she could never make everyone happy anyway. --Moni3 (talk) 16:48, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Jodie Foster's command of the French language

A few weeks back, I edited out mentions that Jodie Foster dubs herself in the french-language versions of her films, as I had heard her dubbed by another actress in several movies (in "Silence of the Lambs", she was dubbed by someone else). Actually, I could see yesterday "Panic Room" on a French Channel and she definitely dubbed herself, so I guess she has been dubbing herself for a few years now (I should have checked before, as I tend to watch movies with subtitles and not dubbed) : I put back the info. I also added links to videos of her speaking French in an interview, and singing a song in French in the 1970s. Wedineinheck (talk) 09:22, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! :) -- SatyrTN (talk / contribs) 15:20, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

FYI, Foster's French is simply amazing, I'd even say she puts some French people to shame. She speaks the language with a peculiar, nasal, pronunciation, which often does not sound like a foreign accent at all : she only reverts to actual American accent when using English names or words. Hearing her speak, one may think that she is either Swiss, Belgian, or from the Far East of France. It is only when you hear her speak for about five minutes that you realize that she is Anglo-saxon (but she still sounds like she spent the last 25 years living in France full time). While dubbing herself in French, she manages, through acting skills, to sound even less foreign, with only occasional word pronunciations reminding you that she is not French, and that is only if you pay attention closely. In "A very long engagement", she was supposed to play a foreigner, so she did not restrain her accent; I even think that she made it sound stronger (still not sounding American, as she was playing a Polish woman, if memory helps). Wedineinheck (talk) 21:26, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm a native French speaker and I completely agree: her French is almost perfect. There is indeed a slight accent that is difficult to identify and some hesitations but she speaks French better than many native speakers. I was very impressed. Ronald Reuel (talk) 18:33, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mensa

Is that really a WP:RS? It looks like an Op/Ed piece. -- SatyrTN (talk / contribs) 16:00, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't take it as a reliable source since it's in an editorial, but I might be able to find another one that's better. --Moni3 (talk) 16:23, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] A few months

The statement that Lucius left the family "a few months" before Jodie was born is not actually a quote from the article cited. The article merely implies that the parents had already seperated or divorced. It does not imply when this occurred. Buddy Foster's book states that they divorced *in* 1959 and that Jodie's conception happened much later, during one of their mother's visits to get child-support payments.Wjhonson (talk) 23:27, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Interpreted

I put back one part where we had previously said that the press "reacted to it as if she had come out", and now I've stated it that the press "interpreted" it as if she had come out. I didn't really like the "reacted" word as it seemed sort of stand-offish. "Interpreted" seems much more direct and explicit regarding the press' reaction to her comments. Wjhonson (talk) 23:36, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] foster's sexuality

as the article states, she is intensely private, and has not "come out". until she comes out, it's inappropriate to add her to the categories "Lesbian Actresses" and "LGBT people from the United States". her sexuality is her business, not yours, or ours. show respect for her choice not to share the intimate details of her life with the public. it is for her to state "i am a lesbian" if and when she should choose to do so. until that time - and until a WP:RS publishes that statement - it's inappropraite to push one's assumptions onto the article, and list her as something she has not chosen to identify herself as. there's no value judgement in it on my part, i'd be just as delighted if she were listed in those categories as not - but only on the basis of whether she has chosen to make that identification. on the other hand, if user AMK1211 has a WP:RS to back up the claim that she's come out - please provide it. until then, please stop. Anastrophe (talk) 08:51, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

To follow up on that, to say that "the press" interpreted her statement as coming out is vague at best. Are there references or examples of "the press" making this assumption? Was it the blogosphere, the tabloids, the NY Post?? Makes a difference. -Jmh123 (talk) 19:05, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

First of all, I would like to know who you are, Anastrophe, to determine what is and is not a "reliable source." New York Times? Washington Post? Reuters? They rarely cover the personal lives of celebrities. And if I come in here and cite a thousand sources like The Guardian or AfterEllen or Times Online or Daily Mail you'll just shoot them down saying they're too gossippy or not mainstream enough or have a "gay bias" or something absurd. My next point is, why must she use the words "I am a lesbian" in public for it to "count," why can't she say something like, oh I don't know, "I'm not sure I've managed to deserve the family of friends that surrounds me...my beautiful Cydney who sticks with me through all the rotten and the bliss, here we all are, after so many years, getting older together, staying young together; thank you all for holding me and being in this together." [1] She's a private person and this is her way of saying "I am a lesbian." Also, why doesn't, say, Nicole Kidman need to say "I am a heterosexual" before anyone else is allowed to acknowledge it? Additionally, it's not as if this is a case of alleging someone like Tom Cruise (for example) is gay, when it's pretty obvious he likes women because he lives with a woman and has a kid with her. Oh wait, Jodie lives with a woman (for 14 years) and raises two kids with her... — AMK1211^talk! 04:02, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

AMK, before you get too upset at one editor, you might want to review the talk page here. We've been over this several times already. Consensus (and WP:BLP) says that she's not a lesbian until she says she is. -- SatyrTN (talk / contribs) 04:17, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

OK, I get what you're saying and I respect that, but things have changed since consensus was reached on this issue. She has said it.

Also, the Guardian article was used as a reference before I started pissing y'all off yesterday. It says she lives with Bernard, and it says she came out. Why can you use the article to verify one fact but not the other?  — AMK1211^talk! 04:29, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Really? Can you point out to me where in the Guardian article, or in fact any other article, there's a quote from Foster where she says "I'm a lesbian"? -- SatyrTN (talk / contribs) 04:42, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Can you point out to me where in the Guardian article there's a quote from her saying she lives with Bernard? There's not one, yet the article is used to verify it. Anyway, I'm done. You win. You have my permission to continue to suppress LGBT visibility on Wikipedia. Congratulations.  — AMK1211^talk! 05:07, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

The Guardian article by Hankins is used in two places - to verify that she paid tribute to Bernard and to verify that the press interpreted that as coming out. It isn't used to verify that she lives with Bernard, though that is in the same sentence.

As for suppressing LGBT visibility, maybe you should take a look at my user page? Or my contributions? Or the fact that I and my bot tagged ~5,000 articles with the LGBTProject's banner? I'm one of the last people to suppress LGBT visibility - when it's justified. -- SatyrTN (talk / contribs) 05:14, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

AMK1211 wrote: "First of all, I would like to know who you are, Anastrophe, to determine what is and is not a "reliable source." who am i? an anonymous editor, just like you, and i determine what reliable sources are based upon the generously provided guidelines WP makes available. you, me, and the rest of the world can interpret her words howsoever we like; it is for ms. foster to identify herself howsoever she chooses. it is for wikipedia to not speculate or draw conclusions of its own. particularly in WP:BLPs.Anastrophe (talk) 06:32, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I have stated this numerous times, I will say it again. She has not suggested the nature of teh relationship, it might be plutonic, she might consider herself pansexual, she might be bisexual, or she might be asexual and just has an emotional relationship with this woman. We can't call someone a lesbian until they do. LessThanClippers 01:15, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

"Consensus (and WP:BLP) says that she's not a lesbian until she says she is." So, Wikipedia is what determines one's sexual orientation? I know this was probably a grammar mistake, and what you probably meant was to say was something like, ""By refering to consensus (and WP:BLP), we should probably leave out a reference to whether she's a lesbian or not unless she says she is," instead of stating that consensus on wikipedia and BLP both decided that she can't be a lesbian unless she has declared it publicly, (and probably referenced in a reliable third-party source). Fredsmith2 (talk) 18:46, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Don't you people get angry, she is a lesbian. Admit it and move on. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.143.191.192 (talk) 09:34, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Jodie Foster says she is not a member of Mensa

She said this when whe was interviewed on Italian television a couple of days ago, promoting her new film. The video is here (at 4:23 circa). The journalist tells her he read she's a member of Mensa and then he explains what the organization is. Foster says it's not true, adding that she tried to take some Mensa online tests but she wasn't able to answer any questions. --Absinthe88 (talk) 23:50, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

excellent find. since someone will probably add it back in if it's simply removed, it's probably best to find some way of citing the above that she says she's not a member. a bit stilted, but it'll prevent repeated return of the bogus claim. Anastrophe (talk) 02:33, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

there just wasn't a way of adding it without it sounding ridiculous. so i hid the existing cite and gave as reference within it the video, so hopefully if someone tries adding it back they'll see it's not correct. Anastrophe (talk) 02:55, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

So our readers can't tell it's there or not? The situation should be explained a bit, not just in meta.Wjhonson (talk) 03:02, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

but what do you suggest? it's mere trivia to begin with - whether she is or isn't. "Foster is not a member of mensa" may be true, but it's also probably true that "Foster is not a member of the NRA". "Foster is not a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Welders Union Local #373". i'd be just as happy to remove even the meta in that case. her denial is not notable, nor was her alleged membership. Anastrophe (talk) 05:26, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I agree, her denial is not notable but let's keep the source here in the talk page since there'll be somebody who will add "Foster is a member of Mensa" again, given that there are many sources reporting this false fact. They're all written sources which are defenitely less reliable than a video of the person in question denying the fact. Plus it should be considered that the fact that was reported here on wiki may have spread over many articles on the internet. Anyway if somebody starts a sort of an edit war about this I suggest to write something like this in the article: "Often thought to be a member of Mensa, Foster recently denied the rumor - or simply denied it".

If you need a literal translation I can do it, even though with the interpreter who speaks over her I can barely understand some words she says. Another useful piece of information: in the interview she says she understands and speaks Italian but she wasn't feeling like doing the interview in Italian, so she listens directly to the interviewer and then she answers in English (the interpreter translates to the audience), but she doesn't use any kind of earphone to listen to the questions in English. Obviously she says she speaks French too, as correctly stated in the article. --Absinthe88 (talk) 11:10, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

PS: She also says she's an avid Guitar Hero fan :D but it might sound like trivia here. --Absinthe88 (talk) 11:13, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

right, i think the specifics here in talk will probably serve adequately to document it, and a literal translation may be useful. i suspect that the interviewer probably was looking at wikipedia before doing the interview, and thats how he heard it! she's a fascinating person, incredibly gifted. she may not be a member of mensa but she's obviously more than intelligent enough to be a member if she chose to. thankfully, she chooses not to (mensa always struck me as a fairly silly organization, but i'm digressing). Anastrophe (talk) 03:09, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Hey! I'm a member of Cleveland Metropolitan Welders Union Local #373! What's wrong with that? Just kidding. I have nothing to add to this, except it's pretty funny. (And I don't know why someone would admit to being a member of mensa anyway.) --Moni3 (talk) 12:32, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

So here's exactly what she says:

Int. I've read that you're a member of an association called Mensa...
JF   No, no, people say that but it's not true.
Int. Thank goodness, because I had read that...and I was terrified. I had read there was (literally: there would be) this 
organization that gathers people with a very special, a very high IQ, of which Mrs. Foster was a member. So I was terrified
 and I was like "how do I meet her"...so it's not true?!
JF   No, it's not true, I know...me too. I would look on the tests online for Mensa and I couldn't answer one question.

If somebody wants to check what she says and/or wants to correct something please do so :D --Absinthe88 (talk) 22:46, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The main photo of her

Anyway we can get a photo where she dosn't look like a crazed muppet? (198.53.44.115 (talk) 18:11, 14 May 2008 (UTC))

[edit] Children?

There's no mention of her children under personal life. Am I missing something, I thought she had two...OwenSaunders (talk) 20:19, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

You're right - I put something in. It's my first ever edit (go me), so let me know if it's not done correctly! Jules1316 (talk) 22:10, 26 May 2008 (UTC)