FOF #438 - Carol Channing is Burning - 12.04.06
Shoot first, ask questions later. Sometimes you wonder what's going on in GLBT journalism circles when you hear about the whole misunderstanding with Carol Channing. You may have missed it since the Rosie-Kelly-Clay tiff took so much of the queer tabloid's mindshare. Well, we'll give an inside look into the whole affair.
On today's fabulous podcast, our good NYC pal John Q Sanchez joins Marc Felion and me, Fausto Fernós, to talk about the recent Carol Channing debacle.
Carol Channing had been interviewed by writer Kaizaad Kotwal for the Gay People's Chronicle who asked her why she thought she had such a large and loyal gay fan base. According to the article she was quoted as saying "I don't think about them. I'm grateful that they seem to like me. They're terribly loyal to me. But I'm knee-deep in the Bible, and you know what it says about that."
Boy you can imagine the response. Carol Channing has had a long and colorful acting career and was one of the most outspoken celebrities to stand up for gay men and HIV/AIDS causes. So it seemed a bit odd to a lot of people.
So the gay biweekly Los Angeles Magazine gave her a rebuttal interview where she tried to dispel the notion that she's had a change of heart on gays.
In the rebuttal Channing said "I never said that! I've never read anything in the Bible about being gay, or at least I haven't read that part. But it is true that I don't think about them in that way. They are gay. Who cares? The Bible says, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself."
Even though she's trying to explain her views, she still comes across as someone who really likes her new found religion and her bible. I wonder what her pal Elton John, who has recently came out of the "I hate religion" closet, has to say to her about all that.
Why is it that children and the elderly love their religion? Is it that they are closer to dealing with death (recently born, soon to die), that in their minds the world is very uncertain or what?
So now the damage is done. The JC Penney Carol Channing Ventriloquist Dummy had originally sold for $49.99 has been slashed down to $39.99 and now is going for $29.99. Gay men are buying the cheap dolls and burning them in effigy, and let me tell you the dolls do not look pretty melting in the flames.
So join us as we chat about Carol Channing, her impersonators, celebrity vomiting trend including "The Chunder from Down Under" from Elton John and Paris Hilton's vodka induced on-stage yak fest, gay life in Australia, the low ratings of Madonna's concert on NBC, Orgasms for Peace, more news about the package from Thailand, and Josephine Baker.
The flavor just lasts a little bit longer on the Feast of Fools podcast.
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Comments
Is it just my copy of the show, or does anyone else notice like a skipping (kinda like Fausto was muting while the podcast was going on) near the end of the show?
If it is just me, then I need to get a physical done more than I thought. If not just me, then I take a huge breath of relief and thank the stars that the voices are not back again.
Said by: Josh at December 4, 2006 06:13 AM
i vomited on stage once, it was in the children's church choir
Said by: cleats wilson at December 4, 2006 10:31 AM
Hi guys,
Actually, Carol is not a recent convert--she's been a Christian Scientist all her life (I started to explain that, but we started talking about her dad--who was a "bigwig" in CS publishing).
See you Thursday!
X,
John
Said by: John Q. Sanchez at December 4, 2006 01:00 PM
Guys, your Channing needs a bit of work, but I still loves ya. LOL!!! I just got one of those dolls as an Xmas present for my boss (we all chipped in here at the office) and now I'm wishing I had waited. I paid full price for it, dammit!
Said by: pup don at December 4, 2006 01:05 PM
hmmm... i don't think i wrote anything about the durian thing but here you go... durian is a fruit that takes some getting used to. i used to hate it as a kid and once i started getting older, i started to like it.
i guess i'm one of those people who is quite open to food (except for things that you see on Fear Factor... or fried insects) but yeah, durian is one of those things that splits people - some love it, some hate it. but the best way to get rid of the smell is putting charcoal around the area where the durian was (plus getting rid of the smell after eating it is easy - using the durian husk to drink water - one of those primitave things)
it's kinda like the asian version of haggis... some people get offended by it and some think it's great.
Said by: Jau at December 4, 2006 07:29 PM
Your talking about celebrity dreams reminded me that last night I had a dream that John Waters was the principal of my old junior high school. I guess that says something about me...
Said by: Elaine at December 4, 2006 08:24 PM
I dreamed that Lucille Ball was knitting a sweater for someone and she wanted use me to measuring it, but I kept explaining I was just a kid so it wouldn't work.
Said by: Tuppy at December 4, 2006 09:29 PM
To answer the question about why children and the elderly love their religion:
I think in the case of children, they have an understanding of God that transcends all religious thought, because they are essentially unspoiled by the "rules" that religions want to dictate to them about who and what God is. In this innocent state, they have a deep knowing of God without having to be told what it is. This, I believe, is why children can be so loving and fearless.
As for elderly people, I believe that their spirit--their connection with God--knows that their life work on the earth is coming to an end soon, and just like a homing beacon, it is calling them back home. For them, religion is the one thing they know to get back into a relationship with God as they understand God. At the same time, they can find themselves transcending religious teachings and opening to a different way of thinking if they are open to it. They may not be as fearless as children, but some will make the leap into a mode of knowing that is different from anything they ever experienced before. They might even reclaim some of that lost innocence they knew as a child.
On a completely different subject, I've dreamt about celebrities, but never any recurring ones. Many times I will dream about a celebrity, see the person's face, accept that they were the celebrity in person, then upon awakening, realize the person in my dream absolutely did NOT resemble the celebrity at all. Wonder what that says about me?
Said by: David at December 4, 2006 11:23 PM
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