PDA

View Full Version : Amazing Race winner, other celebs to attend Gay Days at Disneyland - The Advocate



AVP
09-13-2004, 06:04 PM
Amazing Race winner, other celebs to attend Gay Days at Disneyland, October 1-3 - The Advocate, 9/14/04 (http://www.advocate.com/new_news.asp?ID=13681&sd=09/14/04)


Reichen Lehmkuhl, who won $1 million with his now ex-partner on CBS's The Amazing Race, is just one of the gay, lesbian, and transgendered celebrities who are scheduled to appear at events associated with this year's unofficial Gay Days at Disneyland, October 1-3. Lehmkuhl will host the centerpiece party, the Kingdom dance party, at the Disneyland Hotel on Saturday, October 2.

imagineerhopeful
09-13-2004, 06:17 PM
I can smell the flames already.

ModHatter
09-13-2004, 10:03 PM
I should have thought you'd be used to the smell of brimstone by now.

mousey_girl
09-14-2004, 06:47 AM
I did not care for either Chip or Reichen. I would not consider them celebrities.

ModHatter
09-14-2004, 10:11 AM
I honestly can't say with 100% certainty which one is Chip and which Reichen. However, I would definitely consider them both celebrities. Their accomplishment on Amazing Race was pretty major. If memory serves, that was one of the more memorable events of what was considered America's Gay Summer. Boy Meets Boy was ridiculed by many for being too cruel to gay contestants in a way that shows would never be cruel to heterosexual contestants. (Sorry, has no one ever seen a Fox dating show like Joe Millionaire, Temptation Island, and others too numerous to mention?) Queer Eye, please... How about we NOT reinforce every negative stereotype every hour? As if we have nothing better to do than splash up the lives of heterosexuals.

Chip and Reichen won a race that required both physical and mental prowess. They didn't do much pearl clutching, nor did they overcompensate and butch up. They competed as people, not stereotypes. And they won. Yeah, most of the world may not consider them celebrities, but they definitely earned a place of celebrity in the gay community.

timl33
09-14-2004, 11:17 AM
I honestly can't say with 100% certainty which one is Chip and which Reichen. However, I would definitely consider them both celebrities. Their accomplishment on Amazing Race was pretty major.

Funny thing about that. I'm a big Amazing Race fan, but I still can't tell the difference between Lance and Marshall, Karen and Linda, Chris and Alex, Peggy and Claire, Oswald and Danny, Heather and Eve, Gina and Sylvia....

There's just not much to differentiate the teammates on the all-guy and all-girl teams from each other.

TP2000
09-14-2004, 11:20 AM
Um... I have never heard of "Amazing Race", and those two peoples names are entirely unfamiliar to me. And it goes without saying that I have no idea what they even look like.

So.... how does that make them "celebrities" exactly? Who are they "celebrities" to... some sort of Lesbian motorsport demographic?

ModHatter
09-14-2004, 12:11 PM
Um... I have never heard of "Amazing Race", and those two peoples names are entirely unfamiliar to me. And it goes without saying that I have no idea what they even look like.

So.... how does that make them "celebrities" exactly? Who are they "celebrities" to... some sort of Lesbian motorsport demographic?

I suppose that's a little bit like assuming that the 2004 Dream Team were "celebrities." Because one person doesn't know a celebrity, is that a reflection on the celebrity, or the person?

I think timl33 was closer to the point. I have no clue how to spell the names anymore... Tian and Jaree? Once I got past being annoyed, I liked to watch them, but they seldom if ever split up the team and identified each member separately, so it was tough to figure out which is which.

Everyone I know watches Amazing Race. And I don't know a single Lesbian motorsport enthusiast. You mention the name "Charla," and immediately they can do an impression of "I just got electrocuted!" Mention "Flo" and they will start bawling uncontrllably and yelling "I quit." Mention Chip and Reichen, and thoughts tend to veer off into swimming through icy waters in nothing but their skivvies. I'd argue that Amazing Race competitors could find themselves more famous than the "celebrities" of Celebrity Mole or the Surreal Life. And Chip and Reichen didn't just compete, they WON. Which, I might add, is better than this year's Dream Team...

cstephens
09-14-2004, 04:46 PM
Um... I have never heard of "Amazing Race", and those two peoples names are entirely unfamiliar to me. And it goes without saying that I have no idea what they even look like.

So because you don't know who they are, they can't possibly be celebrities? Interesting...

"goes without saying" - GRRRRRR

TP2000
09-14-2004, 09:51 PM
So because you don't know who they are, they can't possibly be celebrities? Interesting...

"goes without saying" - GRRRRRR

It is interesting, isn't it? And that's exactly my point.

I'm just kind of am amazed at this current era and it's fascination with "celebrity". There was a time, not too long ago, when legitimate celebrities were counted in the dozens by the American public. But now, the list of "celebrities" is listed in the thousands. And that list seems to change not by the year, but by the month.

And there are entire swarms of these "celebrities" who have gained this alledged status without any particular talent or redeeming social value. Paris Hilton is a perfect example. She can't sing, she can't act, she's not bright, she's not witty, she's never actually been in a movie or TV show that has a written script, and yet she is a "celebrity".

I guess I'm just commenting not so much on some TV show personalities that I've never heard of, I'm commenting on the instantaneous cult of personality that surrounds these often vacuous and charmless "Celebrities".

It used to be that you had to work at some form of entertainment or important career that benefitted the general citizenry for at least a few years before you could be deemed a legit "celebrity". Now, you just need to have an Internet press release and 15 minutes on any cable TV reality show and you are a "celebrity". It's bizarre really, when looked at from the context of the last 75 years of popular culture and mass media.

Crispy
09-14-2004, 10:00 PM
I say they need to get Ellen, have her stand on the newly parked sub, and then do her whale impersonation a la Finding Nemo. Now I'd come to see that. But hey, I guess they (the gay days organizers, since Disney does not sponser the event) are on a budget and can't get A-list celebrities.

Cris

ModHatter
09-14-2004, 10:15 PM
See, I think this is one of those "hindsight is NOT 20/20" things. Yes, before there was TV, you didn't have as many TV celebrities. But there were movies and radio, print, politics, religion, music, historical figures... Natually, the more population grows, and the more forms of media there are, the more celebrities there are.

The fact of the matter is, Chip and Reichen are winners of a network reality gameshow, and that makes them celebrities in the same right that other ahtletes and competitors are celebrities. Besides which, the fact that they are gay makes both of them celebrities within the community in a way that Jonathan Frid is a celebrity among the sci-fi set. Maybe to the outside world that means nothing, but in the particular community is a whole different thing.

AVP
09-14-2004, 10:33 PM
Perhaps "celebrity" is being used in place of "fame" or "notoriety." Fame means you are widely known, notorious means you are widely known - but not in a good way.

Society currently seems to measure "celebrity" as roughly equal to a person's Q-rating. Yet there are people who could be considered celebrities in their field / industry / talent / social group who fall off the Q-rating scale entirely.

If a community wants to designate someone as a "celebrity," who are we to quibble? I don't believe that the "American public" has the final say on who gets to join the celebrity club. Kong-sang Chan was a pretty major celebrity in his own country before he started releasing films in the US, and changed his name to Jackie.

AVP

Crispy
09-14-2004, 10:51 PM
This discussion reminds me of a comment someone made after hearing a person say "I'm a big fan of Paris Hilton." The commentary that was added was that in order to say "I'm a big fan of" one must say a fan of her "what." For example, "I'm a fan of her singing, I'm a fan of her music, I'm a fan of her writing." But what of Paris Hilton's can you say you're a fan of? "I'm a fan of Paris Hilton's breasts?"

Perhaps it's the same way with Reichen. Can you say "I'm a fan of Reichen's (insert word here)?" Perhaps there's a difference between a celebrity and a person that is simply famous.

Just a thought.

Cris

ModHatter
09-14-2004, 11:21 PM
Technically, a celebrity is simply someone who is widely known. One can be a celebrity model, a celebrity athlete, a celebrity spokesperson, etc. Another definition of celebrity is a person who is famous for BEING famous. I think that's the closest definition to suit your oft-repeated Paris Hilton example.

In Reichen's case, however, he is celebrated for winning an intense competition. He and his partner beat out thousands of other teams just to get on the show, then beat their fellow competitors in a contest that challenges both physical and mental agility. Celebrity also shines a light on "firsts." How often do people talk about the fourth guy to walk on the Moon, compared to the first? Chip and Reichen were the first openly gay couple to win a reality competition.

I'm a fan of his character. I admire his accomplishments. I think, compared to the usual image TV presents us of gay men, Reichen is a wonderful role model. If that doesn't make him worthy of celebrity, I know a lot of other celebrities who need to go hide in a cave for shame.

jrad32
09-15-2004, 07:27 AM
The fact of the matter is, Chip and Reichen are winners of a network reality gameshow, and that makes them celebrities in the same right that other ahtletes and competitors are celebrities.

I don't think you can compare reality show participants to athletes. Reality show folks are your basic 15 minutes of fame, flash in the pan, hot item of the moment. Five years from now it is very doubtful that people are going to be talking about Chip and Reichen, or any of these other reality TV personalities. In fact this is the first I've heard of Chip and Reichen since they won the stupid race.

In comparison five, 10 or 15 years from now people are still going to be talking about Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Joe Montana and Muhammed Ali. That's because these people actually had a skill that you could be a fan of. Same with actors or singers. They have a skill set or talent that people can be fans of. I fail to see how you can be a fan of a reality show contestant after their show is completed. What skill do you admire? Their ability to eat worms quickly, while tightrope walking over a pit of alligators?

I think TP2000's Paris Hilton example is right on.

ModHatter
09-15-2004, 10:05 AM
Well, first off, it sounds like you never watched the show. So I won't bother asking if you remember this or that episode so I can explain to you even more clearly why I admire these contestants.

Meanwhile, you're claiming these sport-os have a skill I can admire? Actually... no. But that's just my preference. To me, professional athletics is akin to professional playground. What I actually did was say the following: "One can be a celebrity model, a celebrity athlete, a celebrity spokesperson, etc. " Just describes the various ways a person can be a celebrity. I also mentioned this year's Dream Team, and pointed out that just because someone doesn't recognize the players doesn't mean they are not celebrities.

Bottom line, to someone like me, sports are very boring and unmemorable because the supposed "skill set" is so limited and sport-specific, and it's a little hard to care about people who get millions of dollars a year to play games for a living, no matter how well they actually do. A reality show contestant, on the other hand, is just an average person who has to have a very broad skill set, AND hopefully be competititve and moral while they do so.

In short, just because I don't give two droppings about sport-os doesn't mean they aren't celebrities. Kobe and OJ sure prove that. The same way, just because people don't care about reality contestants doesn't mean THEY are not celebrities.

cstephens
09-15-2004, 11:51 AM
There was a time, not too long ago, when legitimate celebrities were counted in the dozens by the American public.

"Dozens"? I know you're not that old. There are a ton of "celebrities" that I couldn't identify by name or face because I'm not into that particular arena, but I don't assume that just because I'm not familiar with them, then that means they can't possibly be famous enough to be known by a lot of other people.

ModHatter
09-15-2004, 12:21 PM
Yeah... the 1930s tagline for MGM stuidos was "more stars than there are in heaven." And that's just one movie studio...

jrad32
09-15-2004, 06:52 PM
Well I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I saw some episodes of Chip and Richen's race by the way. They seemed a good team, but they were clearly in the best shape, and in my opinion that made them the favorites.

In my opinion, sports can transcend a simple game like the Chipster and Richen were playing. Reality show "celebrities" are basically glorified game show contestants, but some sports figures have played a part in enacting social and political changes on a grand scale.

A few examples off the top of my head.
Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
Jesse Owens performance in the Berlin Olympics.
Muhammad Ali's giving up of his titles to protest the war.

Granted not all, or even many athletes are important historical figures, but I would argue no reality show contestants are.

I guess I just get a little ill considering reality show contestants on the same level of some of the people above. I guess there are levels to celebrity though, so I'll say that reality show contestants are the bottom feeders like Paris Hilton and others with no appreciable skills.

ModHatter
09-15-2004, 07:10 PM
And once again, I consider a large number of sports celebrities bottom feeders, earning millions to play games.

Besides, I hasten to point out, we're talking about a gay event, at which Reichen is indeed a celebrity. He and Chip broke a major barrier as well. Amazing Race is both a physical and a mental game. AND it requires interpersonal skills in a way that test a team's character.

Richard Hatch was a smart player, but his Survivor finish was not considered a "clean" win by many. And, let's face it, Richard's win wasn't exactly a physical win. And after him, if there were gay contestants, they were presented to the home audience as woefully inferior. Then came Chip and Reichen. To use your sports analogies, they were the gay community's Jesse Owens or Billie Jean King.

So, I get a little ill when people try to belittle their accomplishment. To call someone a bottom feeder just because he was on a reality show is extremely shallow and frankly offensive. So, no, I won't just agree to disagree with someone who says such things. I won't agree with you on anything.