Friendly Persuasion Works for Bono

To understand Chastity Bono and the growing clout she wields in Hollywood, consider the case of “As Good as It Gets,” an offbeat comedy due out from Sony Pictures at Christmas.

Initially, the folks at the Motion Picture Assn. of America objected to the film’s trailer, in which an acid-tongued romance novelist (Jack Nicholson) calls his gay artist neighbor (Greg Kinnear) a “fag.” The word is derogatory, the MPAA said, and should be cut.

The filmmakers appealed to Jack Valenti, the MPAA’s president. Sources say Valenti, who rarely overturns the decisions of his staff, then did a surprising thing: He sought the advice of Bono, the entertainment media director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Bono previewed the trailer and declared the word, in context, inoffensive. It stayed in.

The story says a lot about the 28-year-old, openly gay daughter of Sonny and Cher. Since joining GLAAD a year ago, Bono has become the entertainment industry’s unofficial advisor on all things homosexual--a resource, as she likes to call herself, for mega-stars and media moguls who she believes are less homophobic than they are “homo-ignorant.”

In recent months, she has met with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to discuss buffoonish portrayals of gay characters in his films “Con Air” and “The Rock.” (Through a spokesman, Bruckheimer described the summit as “mutually beneficial.”) She has hosted a meeting for actor-director Mel Gibson--perceived by some to be insensitive to the gay community--with 10 gay and lesbian filmmakers. Perhaps most notably, she has won the confidence of Valenti, the movie industry’s chief spokesman and lobbyist.

“I find her forthright, upfront, honest and a valuable source of information,” said Valenti, who declined to describe specific instances when he has sought her advice, but acknowledged they have become “telephone pals. . . . Hers is a world I do not inhabit but whose inhabitants I have great respect for. I don’t know who else she’s influential with, but she certainly is with me.”

Consciously, Bono has styled herself as a new kind of activist--reasonable, not rabid. This plain-spoken young woman--whom Americans first met on her parents’ televised variety show, smiling shyly in their arms as they sang “I Got You, Babe”--was a child of Hollywood. Now grown up, she’s offering her services in the hopes, she says, of making Hollywood better.

Positive portrayals of homosexuals are not her goal. Realistic portrayals are.

“If you’re doing a film about gangs in South-Central, you have real gang members in it--or you hire them as consultants--because it’s a different world,” she said, sitting in the conference room of GLAAD’s spartan offices on Beverly Boulevard. “The same is true with gay and lesbian portrayals. . . . I grew up in this industry. I’m here. Use me.”

Increasingly, people are doing just that--though usually at Bono’s gentle insistence. Recently, when she heard that Universal’s upcoming thriller “The Jackal” had a gay subplot, for example, she called the studio while the film was being edited. Producer Sean Daniel said her input inspired subtle changes, particularly in one scene.

“Her inquiries, her interest in the situation and her quite insightful articulation of the impact of how we depict things served to, I think, put a healthy and smart frame of reference [around] how the scene should play,” said Daniel, who described Bono as “results-oriented.”

“She made clear that she was not calling to in any way position herself or her organization as a censor,” Daniel said. “She was saying, ‘Be really thoughtful because you are dealing with issues that carry a lot of weight out there in the culture. So don’t be fast and loose.’ That’s a good message.”

Laurence Mark, the executive producer of “As Good as it Gets,” gave Bono similar reviews. He was impressed that she evaluated the use of a derogatory word about gay people within the context of Nicholson’s character, who insults everyone, regardless of their sexuality.

“We found her incredibly smart about this. She got it,” he said. “And she was not overly intent on the politically correct, which you find too frequently these days.”

There was a time not so long ago when Bono could not have imagined such a public role. “Cher Shattered as Daughter Chastity Tells Her: I’m Gay” read the breathless 1990 headline in the tabloid Star. Later, Bono would describe herself as the first famous lesbian to be outed. But at the time, terrified and ashamed, she denied the report.

Bono’s parents--by this time an Academy Award-winning actress and a Republican congressman--had known she was gay before the Star article, and she says they stood by her. But she was trying to launch a music career that she feared would be derailed if she admitted she was a lesbian. She stayed in the closet.

Then, Bono’s lover became ill and, after a painful battle, died of cancer. The tabloids attacked again. “Cher Wipes Away the Tears as Her Daughter Mourns Gay Lover’s Death,” a 1994 National Enquirer headline read.

A year later, weary of press scrutiny, Bono came out in a cover story in the gay publication the Advocate. The article changed her life.

“I just wanted to stop hiding,” she said. “I was just happy to finally be honest. But I didn’t think it would lead to all this.”

Earlier this year Bono was a consultant on two of the three “coming out” episodes on Ellen DeGeneres’ TV sitcom, “Ellen.” At the time, some poked fun, questioning why DeGeneres, a lesbian, needed help figuring out how to portray a lesbian on TV.

But Bono wasn’t cowed, asserting that even gays and lesbians who work in the industry need help avoiding stereotypes. She will work, she said, “with anybody who wants to try to do a better job.” And that includes the folks who once hounded her: the editors of the tabloid press.

She has struck up a relationship with Steve Coz, editor of the National Enquirer. “I’ve said to him, ‘Let’s stop saying, “gal-pal,” already. Let’s not say gay or lesbian lover. It’s redundant,’ ” Bono says, smiling. “I get a kick out of him.”

She’s also served as a consultant for TV’s “Hard Copy,” after GLAAD took issue with a story about Gianni Versace’s murder that suggested, she said, “he was asking for it.” She’s lobbied the show to abandon the phrases “sexual preference” and “gay lifestyle.”

“ ‘Preference’ suggests there’s a choice, and there’s not. I like ‘sexual orientation,’ ” she said. “ ‘Gay lifestyle’ implies that there’s one lifestyle inherent in being gay. They never say ‘heterosexual lifestyle.’ ”

Nit-picky? Sure she is. But in a nonthreatening, strategic way. And she’s gives credit when she thinks it’s due. She liked the depictions of gay characters in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “In & Out,” and predicts that this year “is going to stand out as a big turning point for gays in the media.”

If nothing else, it may be a pivotal moment for Bono. She is currently finishing her first book, a coming out guide for gays and lesbians and their families. Next, she plans to write a novel, which she wants to adapt into a screenplay. Already, she says, she has another film project in the early stages of development. She plans to produce it.

“That, ultimately, is where I want to go--to doing more creative stuff,” she said, saying her projects all will reflect her “activist slant.” True to form, the ever-inclusive Bono is not limiting her aspirations to the big screen.

“If I had an idea for a TV show, I’d absolutely be into that,” says the woman whose childish face, thanks to her mom and dad, once peered regularly into America’s living rooms. “TV is a wonderful medium to reach people.”