That viral ‘gay silence’ meme comes from a hilariously awkward Jodie Foster interview
speaks onstage during the 2016 AMD British Academy Britannia Awards presented by Jaguar Land Rover and American Airlines at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 28, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California.
A hilarious clip of Jodie Foster dealing with a heteronormative interviewer has resurfaced and gone viral.
Foster came out in 2013 at the Golden Globes, after having two children with her female ex-partner Cydney Bernard.
The twice-Academy Award winner married Alexandra Hedison in 2014.
The interview was conducted in 1979, when Foster was 17 and a child star.
In response to repeated questioning about her love life and whether she had a boyfriend, she raises her eyebrows.
A half-smirk, half-grimace follows.
The image was captured in gif form and shared with the brilliant phrase “gay silence” attached.
Posts also often include some variant of the phrase: “when people are saying homophobic stuff around you and don’t realise you’re gay”.
Various versions have been retweeted thousands of times, with the meme spreading around the internet since August of last year.
It seems to have originated on Tumblr.
when people are saying homophobic stuff around you and they don't realize you're gay pic.twitter.com/wZMDfjzt85
— Kait ? || now (@itzzkait) May 30, 2017
It was only today that the origin was revealed, however, when BuzzFeed reporter Ellie Bate linked it to Foster’s 38-year-old interview on US television.
forever mood: jodie foster being asked about boys in an interview in 1979 pic.twitter.com/lvMHKYtT9B— ellie bate (@eleanorbate) May 31, 2017
People were shook.
WAIT JODIE FOSTER IS THE GAY SILENCE MEME….LEGENDARY— denev (@typenuII) June 1, 2017
THE GAY SILENCE GIRL WAS JODIE FOSTER I HAD NO IDEA— ✧ david (@vocalistkibum) June 1, 2017
omg so this is the gay silence meme https://t.co/xUBVt0VRku
— zay (@needlesbitch) June 1, 2017
GAY SILENCE IM CRYINGFD I DIDNT KNOE THAT WAS EHAT THAT WAS FROM https://t.co/xsMULezYRq— livi from the roots (@lousthighburn) June 1, 2017
In the actual interview, a poised but clearly uncomfortable 17-year-old Foster is asked: “Do you have a steady boyfriend?”
“No,” she says, laughing. “No. I’ve got time.
“And I suppose I don’t think about it very much.”
The interviewer presses her.
“What kind of fella would you like, really?”
She smiles, licks her lips and pauses.
“Huh,” she says, sounding understandably reluctant about answering.
“I don’t know. Er…I suppose I would like somebody who understood my business.”
Watch the full interview below:
