‘Open secret’ no longer

GUTIERREZ. Belated affirmation.

It took him more than nine months, but Richard Gutierrez has finally admitted that he and Sarah Lahbati are the proud parents of a love child, Baby Zion. It was an open secret for a long time, but the couple’s belated declaration, dramatically timed for the first telecast of the Gutierrez family’s reality show, “It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez,” on the E! channel last Sunday, June 1, still created quite a stir.

More importantly, Richard’s “proud” declaration of fatherhood, could significantly affect his career, depending on how his fans react to it. Traditionally, matinee idols were virtually forced to remain “officially single” despite the fact that some of them had multiple offspring by different women, because their “fantasticating” admirers needed to sustain the romantic illusion that their handsome screen idols were still “free” to love them—in their dreams!

However, local TV-film fans have matured in the interim, so could they be ready to accept the fact that Richard is no longer “officially unattached”— and has even become a dad?

We certainly hope so, and a quick survey of our current popular male leads indicates that fans have finally become more realistic and “accepting.” So, depending on the nature and quality of his “post-daddy-declaration” TV or film comeback vehicle, Richard could still have a viable and even prosperous stellar career as he eases into his 30s.

Bieber goes ‘baaad’

On the international show biz scene, the big fuss and bother is over young stars whose initially true-blue careers have been compromised of late by “baaad” behavior to heat up their image and make them come across as controversial and “nasty” performers.

Led by Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, they have intentionally “shocked” their way to the “breaking news” headlines. Unfortunately, they have also turned off many parents, who worry that their own kids will turn trendily “nasty” themselves.

The negative trend has had local repercussions, as well, with the One Direction band’s recent marijuana-smoking video prompting some bishops to urge parents to discourage their kids from patronizing the boy band’s shows here next year. Other Asian countries have been similarly “unwelcoming,” for fear that the “inhaling” youths’ preference for high-inducing substances will set a bad example for Asian youths.

Unexpected upset

Finally, the big news on the film front is the unexpected triumph at the box office of Angelina Jolie’s latest starrer, “Maleficent,” which grossed $70 million on its opening weekend, roundly trouncing “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which earned only half as much on its second week.

In our view, the filmed fairy tale’s success shouldn’t have been completely unexpected, because the animated feature, “Frozen,” similarly broke records fairly recently, as well. So, expect more “updated” versions of fairy tales to hit the silver screen next year!