Alainn or Appalling: Jennifer Beals

We all have our ‘roots’ when our sexuality became obvious. For some it was wondering why Wonder Woman made them feel funny “down there”, to filling the bedroom walls with Steffi Graf posters. If, like me, you are even older than that (shurrup), there was that moment in Flashdance. Jennifer Beals, on a chair, water cascading down her young body. What a feeling indeed.

Born in Chicago in 1963 Beals is a Yale graduate, if you don’t mind, and attended the Goodman Theatre, an elite drama workshop. So there, not just an extremely pretty face.

In 1980 Jennifer had a small role in The Bodyguard (not the Costner/Heuston debacle) but it was 1983’s Flashdance that brought her into the limelight.  Still at Yale Beals was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role of Alex, a welder who dreamed of being accepted into dance school.Yes, a welder. Look it was a more innocent time. This breakout performance lead to Jennifer being offered several roles throughout the 80’s. Most of them were pretty awful though, the highlight being Vampire’s Kiss with Nicholas Cage.

Unfortunately afflicted with ‘straight’, Beals was married to director Alexandre Rockwell  (1986 to 1996) with whom she made several films including Four Rooms and In the Soup, the latter winning at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.  More recently however Beals is better known for her TV work.  She started out with a few smaller roles before landing the part of Bette Porter on Showtime’s The L Word. Finally, after years in the television shadowlands, she got the hit she deserved

As half of tibette, Jennifer quickly became a favourite among lesbians all over the world.  Her portrayal of Bette as a strong independent woman who could be a right bitch when she wanted to be was spot on.She managed to be strong yet vulnerable, with a  heavy dose of sexy. Dedicated to her friends and family, scarily intelligent and definitely someone you want in your corner, Mama B was one of the strongest characters in the show. Beals also managed to drag some pretty awful writing into the realm of good TV by sheer force of acting talent. She was so good, in fact, we managed to ignore some of the worst blouses ever worn on television. It’s no wonder Ilene Chaiken adored her.

Not only is she half of the hottest lesbian couple we’ve seen on TV but she was also a Celebrity Grand Marshall at the 2006 San Fransisco Pride Parade, cool eh?

I’m always shocked that gay marriage is such a big deal. You have to realize how precious human life is, when there are tsunamis and mudslides, when there are armies and terrorists – at any moment, you could be gone, and potentially in the most brutal fashion. And then you have to realize that love is truly one of the most extraordinary things you can experience in your life.

To begrudge someone else their love of another person because of gender seems to be absolutely absurd. It’s based in fear, fear of the other, fear of what is not like you. But when you are able to see lives on a day-to-day basis, rather than reducing it to politics, then it humanizes a whole community of people that were otherwise invisible.

Sigh…..

Could there be anything better? How about Jennifer in a uniform? With cuffs?

Ok, I can’t promise a uniform, but her next project is Chicago-based cop drama, Ride-Along.  Jennifer will play Chicago’s first female police chief on the show and will be on a mission to clean up the city. Who needs a uniform, think of the power-suits! Purrrrrr……

Jennifer is a keen photographer in her spare time, and is pretty darned good at it too, taking some excellent candid behind-the-scenes shots during The L Word.

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