Celeb-reality

[trinityvixen]

I can't help it. This Tom Cruise being fired? Train wreck exciting. It's more exciting than Mel Gibson being a raving drunk anti-Semite because a) no one is being hated on here except someone who has enjoyed a long and overly successful career relative to his ability, and b) schadenfreude. Oh, a and b are kind of the same thing, aren't they? Well, yeah, but still, I'm having a grand old time. Why? Because if anyone had this coming, it was Tom Cruise. I don't even read celebrity rags any more (nosirree, only clean wholesome movie magazines for me!), and I got sick of the bastard. I can only imagine how hellish it was for the rest of the world that couldn't just ignore him. I never forgave him (again, feminist) for his shit about post-partem depression being conquerable without drugs all the time. I know your religion is your choice and it is a right we all have to be religious in our own way. Then you shut the fuck up about how someone else does things with their life when they're not a fucking cultist. Erm, Scientologist. Fucker.

Ahem. Away from the ranty-rant, back to the bitch-slapping fest that is Cruise being booted!

Can you say boycott? Ooh, snap! Take that, Paramount! The CAA is gonna take its stars and walk if you don't apologize and make nice to Tom Cruise by giving all the perks his box-office drawing power doesn't merit. Damn if that doesn't remind me of something...

Oh, might it have been all those rumors about how Tom Cruise put pressure on the powers that be in order to pull a repeat of a certain episode of the show off the air? I'm sure that bears no resemblance to what the CAA's doing...

Here's a thought: it was those darned kids...er, DVDs!

That's right. The decline in DVD sales (caused by piracy, don'tcha know) is what really got Cruise fired. I love conspiracy theories!

And one last note: Oh no! Say it ain't so! Sorry to all my guy friends--Superman is off the market! I guess that settles the actor's gay-rumor mill problem. Maybe in the future, some time, some where, we will finally get that super man who can play the Man of Steel and not have that pesky heterosexuality-loving, wife-and-kids problem. Blech.

Comments

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

Bleh. In all fairness I think it's ridiculous that Cruise got fired for his off-screen antics. As long as you can still perform the job you were hired for (acting, producing, etc.) successfully (maybe you don't like him as an actor, per se -- I don't know if you do or not -- but he rakes in the dough for Paramount) and what you're doing in your offtime is not illegal, then being fired for it feels like a wrongdoing to me.

I thought M:i:III was great and I could really care less about anything Tom Cruise says. I don't know him, I don't have to agree OR disagree with what he has to say about anything. He entertains me and as long as he keeps doing it then I think most of the talk about him is outrageous.

Also, in case anyone is confused because most other people who heard this news indirectly: Cruise did NOT get fired. His contract expired (it was always going to) and renegotiations failed. It was, according to ComingSoon.net, one of the most expensive partnerships in Hollywood. I really don't think the whole thing would be a big deal or a big surprise if a) Cruise hadn't acted batty -- something he hasn't done for months, by the way -- or b) that Paramount exec hadn't claimed that his behavior was outrageous in the article.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

No, I am aware that he wasn't fired. He was pretty firmly given the boot when he failed to concede that his changed (aka diminished) draw as an actor meant he could no longer command the sort of insanely profitable deal he'd worked up a decade and a half ago. That's business, especially show business--he came to his contract renewal at a time when he wasn't the hot property he once was.

And it's not ridiculous that he got fired for his off-screen shenanigans. Plenty of actors have hurt their projects' bottom lines by doing the same (look at all the Affleck burnout since his flings with Jennifers one and two), and studios don't like it. They like the kind of attention that isn't flaunted (think Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn), but that is suggested just enough to get some attention towards a star who just happens to be in this film... (Angelina and Brad are perfect, recent examples, as their hype fatique peaked after Mr. and Mrs. Smith)

The truth is Tom Cruise injured his own draw by a) disgusting audiences with his behavior, b) flaunting a sudden and seemingly fixed romance with a much younger (and previously unattached to him in any way) girl, and c) turning MI3 into a "Look at how awesome and desirable I totally am" vanity project (the lines about how "marriagable" Ethan Hunt was = me puking). His hyping of Scientology only makes him seem more and more eccentric, something that that particular "religion" doesn't really need anyway. This is still very much a Judeo-Christian nation, and while freedom of religion is a right and a blessing, there's still going to be a lot of people turned off by his praising Xenu or whoever and saying it's, like, sooooo awesome and then condemning women for taking antidepressants in the next breath. He sounds like a crazy person, and he's saturated the media with his grinning, manic mugging (and snogging with Katie Holmes, which, ugh, too much PDA, dude), to the point where no one wants to see him. He was never that strong an actor, but the draw was his earnest exhuberance, and he's exhausted the public with it outside of the movies. That makes for tickets not sold, which means his behavior definitely affected his job performance. He can't sell while people are sick of him, and it's fair game for the studio to consider that when determining whether to re-up with him.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

Well, I dunno about the third point, since I didn't see that. I just watched it as a movie and turned Cruise's public image off which I think more people just need to learn how to do.

As for the business deal, that was kind of my point. Personally I have to think Paramount would have severely renegotiated or still even cut CW Productions if he had been crazy or not, the only difference here is it seems there is some anger involved in the real-life, Crazy Cruise version. I think perhaps they would have just parted amicably and Cruise himself would have remained big at the studio (which, for all we know, he still is -- this whole thing is not CRUISE being dumped but his company Cruise-Wagner Productions).

For the record I also have managed to avoid ANY of the talk shows he's been on (aside from the original couch-jumping Oprah bit), heard ANY of his stances on ANY drugs, or seen a single picture of him kissing Katie, AND I, as you know, AM plugged into the entertainment world. Perhaps that's just my magic and that's really all there is to it but I just don't see what the big deal is either way. I think there are A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE (not you) that need to just learn to have interesting enough lives that they don't have to care about celebrity soap operas.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I never saw any of the original broadcasts. They're just ingrained in pop culture at this point. I did, however, read Brooke Shields' rebuttal about post-partem depression and it was heartbreaking. It's important for people to talk about those things in public, especially if they have the draw of commanding celebrity-level attention, because that can help so many others who feel isolated or alone. That he counselled against getting help makes me actually kind of hate him.

It is possible to miss most of the hoopla, but even doing so, I got turned off. And, like I said, even people (like me) don't want to see it, don't look for it, Cruise was still everywhere and being obnoxious to boot. And that does affect our enjoyment of whatever product he puts out.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

I guess, but Tom Cruise didn't invent tabloids or the internet.

What newspaper would have seriously reported any of it?

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

New news...

Tom Cruise has apologized to Brooke Shields for criticizing her use of anti-depressant medication when she was diagnosed with post-partum depression following the birth of her first child. The Mission: Impossible actor and Shields became embroiled in a war of words last year when Scientologist Cruise accused the Cheers actress of failing to understand psychiatry. Following Cruise's comments, Shields hit back calling them a "ridiculous rant" and a "disservice to mothers everywhere". But Shields told Jay Leno on his Tonight Show on Friday that Cruise came to her house recently in an attempt to heal their relationship. She said, "He came over to my house and gave me a heartfelt apology. I was so impressed with how heartfelt he was. "I did not feel that he was trying to convince me of anything other than the fact that he was deeply sorry. And I accepted it." Cruise's lucrative contract with Paramount was reportedly cancelled last month because of the comments he made about Shields. Cruise's spokesperson Arnold Robinson says, "It is true that his friendship with Ms. Shields has been mended. "(But) he has not changed his position about anti-depressants, which as evidenced by the black label warnings issued by the FDA on these types of drugs, are unhealthy."

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to realize that he stepped over the line by singling her out. He's still insane about denying people medication they legitimately need to feel whole and normal.

[cagexxx.livejournal.com]

You know what else is conquerable without drugs all the time?

The AIDS.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, totally. If them bitches and male hos would just follow the ABCs, only stoping before the C-part ('cause that stands for SEXING), they'd all be fine.

[cagexxx.livejournal.com]

That's........

.............................

...exactly what I was thinking?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, so I'll assume you're not. Yes, I am that awesome.