Why is Tom Cruise getting bashed for being happily in love????

[Kalhoun]

@tarragon918

I’ve seen clips of both Tom and Katie and have also read some of the comments Tom has been making recently (like the one directed towards Brooke Shields, who had serious problems with post-partum depression and took drugs to ovecome it - Scientology is apparently against taking drugs for mental illness); I haven’t yet expressed my opinion on it. First, really, who cares about Tom? I mean, come on - frankly I don’t really care if he’s gay or straight or if the relationship with Katie is a publicity stunt or not (although the last Cruise “relationship” with Penelope Cruz did seem to pan out to be of the publicity stunt variety …). The nastiness about Brooke Shields, though, is below the belt, IMO. I honestly wonder if Tom himself might be in need of some Prozac, which of course he’d never take! Or maybe he’s just shagging on a crack pipe … Either way, some of his recent behavior has been just strange.

This has turned me off him more than I was before. I dislike his off-screen self so much that I sometimes forget that I like about half of his movies. Maybe less than half.

I think he’s average, power-hungry, and no fucking way is he in love with Katie Holmes. It is possibly the worst acting job of his career. I don’t buy it for a second.

[Acsenray]

@PurpleHaid

So if you didn’t come from comedy, conform, CONFORM, connffoooooooooooorrmmm to the audience 's social expectations… or watsonwil will sock ya in the breadbasket!

A factor to note here is that such comedians get up to such monkey business with the explicit intent of just being funny. Cruise’s conceit is that his antics were a genuine manifestation of his sincere feelings.

[DMark]

Watching Tom Cruise do his happy hetero dance on Oprah furniture made Michael Jackson seem kinda normal in comparison. Manly Man Cruise…well, the “lady” doth protest too much.

And I thought the Catholic Church had a lock on homoguilt…guess Scientology is giving ex-Catholic closet cases a run for their money.

Ever since Tom fired his long time PR person, Pat Kingsley, and replaced her with Tom’s equally nut-case Scientologist sister, his public image has been on a sleigh ride to hell.

I still like him in popcorn films like Mission Impossible and will continue to go to see them, but I have no doubt in my mind that he is a miserable closet case with an incurable case of guilt and self loathing.

[Anaamika]

I also need to protest the “short” commentary. I’m not going to quote it, because picking on the person isn’t going to solve anything, but what a silly thing to hold against him. What difference does it make if he’s eight inches shorter than her?

[Marley23]

I saw an article on CNN today that says Katie Holmes is “embracing” (why do they always use that word?) Scientology.

Apparently, she’s happy as a clam.

[Indygrrl]

@Anaamika

I also need to protest the “short” commentary. I’m not going to quote it, because picking on the person isn’t going to solve anything, but what a silly thing to hold against him. What difference does it make if he’s eight inches shorter than her?

I think it’s that he’s so sensitive about it. Remember how Nicole couldn’t wear heels because it would make him look too short? That’s lame, IMO.

Tom lost me when the marriage with Nicole went sour. I think she kept her dignity while he has completely lost his. First going after the troll doll Penelope Cruz and now this nonsense with Katie Holmes. You don’t see Nic out there drawing attention to her relationships. She doesn’t need to do that to generate a buzz.

[Ukulele_Ike]

@MGibson

I’ve seen Michael J. Fox and Danny Devito as the butt of some short jokes but not in casual conversation like I do with Tom Cruise. I suspect it’s because Fox and Devito aren’t as sensitive about their height as Cruise is.

DeVito and Fox are character actors. They don’t demand that the camera shoot up at them to make them look taller than they really are, and they don’t stand on a box just out of camera range to look taller than the woman they’re kissing.

There’s no reason Cruise couldn’t be a leading man who happens to be 5 foot 4, or however the hell tall he is. That he tries to fake being a taller guy is an insult to other people his height, and what opens him up to ridicule by persons of all statures.

[Revtim]

@Marley23

Apparently, she’s happy as a clam.

Nice one!

[Turek]

@MGibson

I’ve seen Michael J. Fox and Danny Devito as the butt of some short jokes but not in casual conversation like I do with Tom Cruise. I suspect it’s because Fox and Devito aren’t as sensitive about their height as Cruise is.

Ah, yes, the ole “I belittle someone because they react to it, therefore it’s his fault” defense.

@Indygrrl

Tom lost me when the marriage with Nicole went sour. I think she kept her dignity while he has completely lost his.

The repeated short jokes she made after their seperation were very dignified.

Look, I think Tom’s as big a wack job as exists in Hollywood today, and that’s saying a LOT. But criticizing him because he’s short just don’t do it for me. Next, can we unequivocally state how fat actresses must be complete nutters because, well, because they’re fat?

He’s given us enough reasons to heap criticism on him. Let’s leave his (completely out of his control) height out of the discussion.

[Debaser]

[According to this article Tom Cruise has had troubles with the media recently mostly because of a change in who handles his PR:

It used to be that no one messed with Tom Cruise. Now the media are having a field day. Why are they beating up on him? Because they can.

The energetic superstar used to be invulnerable. He was represented by Hollywood’s most powerful talent firm, Creative Artists Agency. His production company, headed by ex-CAA agent Paula Wagner, is housed at Paramount Pictures, where studio chief Sherry Lansing would lavish her biggest budgets on his movies. He was married to Nicole Kidman, one of Hollywood’s smartest actresses. And his press was handled by the head of Hollywood’s most powerful PR firm, PMK-HBH’s Pat Kingsley, who kept the press from talking about Scientology.

Cruise replaced her with someone he could trust to do what he wanted: his older sister and fellow Scientologist, Lee Anne Mapother De Vette, who had long functioned as his assistant and PR go-between at C/W Prods. And Cruise’s press since PR amateur DeVette took over has been markedly different.

He can’t stop talking about Scientology, which is, arguably, his star-sapping kryptonite. In August’s Rolling Stone cover story, he took the writer on a tour of the famed Scientology Center. “He’s such a zealot now,” says someone who received one of his Scientology Christmas cards. “There are no halfway measures anymore. He’s beside himself with trying to convert the world.”

The other Cruise hot-button issue that Kingsley controlled with an iron fist – backed up by legal action from attorney Bert Fields – was the media’s insistence on questioning his heterosexuality. The rumors kept reasserting themselves despite Cruise’s 10-year marriage to Kidman and a three-year relationship with his “Vanilla Sky” co-star, Penelope Cruz.

[shelbo]

Here’s a good article about Tom’s publicity team, and how, since he canned the pros, he’s being hit with this avalanche of bad press. Interesting insite into the machine.

http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=8765884

[Debaser]

Too slow, Shelbo!

Heh. It’s funny because a relevent article on Drudge would never take until page two to be linked to in a GD thread. Cafe Society folks tend not to be as a avid drudge readers I bet.

[Acsenray]

@Ukulele Ike

DeVito and Fox are character actors. They don’t demand that the camera shoot up at them to make them look taller than they really are, and they don’t stand on a box just out of camera range to look taller than the woman they’re kissing.

Okay, I didn’t know that Cruise invariably demanded to be shot as if he were taller than he is. Is that actually the case? Or is it that movie directors or executives demand he be shot that way because they want their hero to appear to have a certain stature? And how does this compare to the height sensitivity of other big name stars? Schwarzenegger? Stallone? Willis?

There’s no reason Cruise couldn’t be a leading man who happens to be 5 foot 4, or however the hell tall he is.

Cruise is 5-foot-7, a fairly respectable height.

[Anaamika]

@Turek

Ah, yes, the ole “I belittle someone because they react to it, therefore it’s his fault” defense.
The repeated short jokes she made after their seperation were very dignified.

Look, I think Tom’s as big a wack job as exists in Hollywood today, and that’s saying a LOT. But criticizing him because he’s short just don’t do it for me. Next, can we unequivocally state how fat actresses must be complete nutters because, well, because they’re fat?

He’s given us enough reasons to heap criticism on him. Let’s leave his (completely out of his control) height out of the discussion.

I agree. And it would be like making fun of a fat actress who repeatedly asked people to shoot her to look skinny, etc. I wouldn’t blame her.

I know he’s probably insane, but i can’t blame him for trying to look taller in a society that values height.

[Anaamika]

@acsenray

Cruise is 5-foot-7, a fairly respectable height.

In that case, I feel sorry for people who are shorter than him and read all the short jokes.

[Trion]

I’m shorter than 5 foot 7 and I’m bothered not a lick by the short jokes.

My opinion is as follows:

Gimme your best shot.

[Annie-Xmas]

@Ukulele Ike

DeVito and Fox are character actors.

Michael J. Fox is a character actor? I think he’s one (hee-hee) foxy leading man.

Robert Redford is only 5’8". Why criticize Cruise’s height when he has so many other characteristics to go after?

[vibrotronica]

This just in:

Katie Holmes is converting to Scientology.

[wolf_meister]

Anaamika
Making fun of Tom Cruise’s height
…would be like making fun of a fat actress who repeatedly asked people to shoot her to look skinny, etc.

No I don’t think so. It is within the realm of possibility that a person can lose weight. I’m 5’3" tall. What are the possibilities that I could ever change that?

But I’m just defending myself - Tom Cruise is an idiot.

And yes, his professing his “love” goes way over the top. He reminds me of a person who is trying to quit smoking. I’m sure you’ve seen the type.
“Hey, have you noticed I have quit smoking? It’s been 1 day 7 hours and 43 minutes since I had my last cigarette and it doesn’t bother me a bit. Nope, I have sworn off cigarettes for good. It’s really made quite a change in me and I feel so great, but you’ve probably already noticed my non-smoking behavior and my non-smoking mentality… etc”

Think that person is sincere about staying away from cigarettes forever?

[Indygrrl]

@Turek

The repeated short jokes she made after their seperation were very dignified.

I don’t remember her saying anything other than “now I can wear heels again.”

And IMO it was much more dignified than him immediately going out and finding hisself a new girlfriend. He really made himself look like an idiot with that maneuver. Who was going to be impressed with that downgrade?