mattbaume

Bonus video! James Dean's Maybe-Boyfriends ... and Does it Even Matter if he Was Gay?

Added 2024-02-04 18:34:29 +0000 UTC

Oh hello!

For this week's bonus video, we're delving into a question that humanity has grappled with for centuries: James Dean, was he gay or WHAT? (Subquestion: Does it matter?)

This is a notoriously tricky one to answer, because James (and pretty much everyone he knew) loved to obscure the truth for reasons both legitimate and self-serving. So let's dig in to the claims, pick apart what's definitely-true from what's maybe-true and what's almost-definitely-false, and see where we end up.

And also, since we're asking THIS question, we should probably ask one more: Who cares? So what if he's gay or bi or something else? Does it matter? And while I often think the answer to that question is "no" for some public figures, I think in the case of James Dean the answer is "absolutely yes."

ANNOYING UPDATE: After recording the part about how James Dean's "one hand tied behind my back" quote was probably fabricated for a 2001 film, I found a source with that quote from 1981 and another from 1974! So I guess it wasn't made up for that movie. But it's STILL unattributed, so I continue to be mystified as to the source! Please let me know if you have ANY clues about where this quote could have come from.

Backup link if the video doesn't work: https://youtu.be/oDcQkHFv9nA