Now that students are back from a holiday break of lighting menorahs, singing Auld Lang Syne
drinking eggnog and giving shout-outs to the P.O.P. (Prince of Peace), I would like to take this opportunity to award Tom Cruise as the Necessary Roughness 2005 Man of the Year.
I'm aware that by doing this, I am now a Maverick Apologist. But I'm not bothered, because in my mind, Cruise was not just the best candidate - he was the only candidate.
We all know Cruise from films like Rain Man Magnolia and Collateral. But throughout his career, Cruise has failed to take home the bling on Oscar-night. This tinsel-town injustice makes me downright livid. So in a way, my Man of the Year honor is sort of a lifetime achievement award. However, those are sympathy votes - entertainment's way of saying thanks for the memories now go die- and I have no sympathy for a man who is about to marry Katie Holmes - Miss Joey Potter, the lovable girl next door.
Yes, 2005 was all about Cruise Control (or lack of). Not only did Tom find happiness with his new bride and child to-be, but he also shared with us his enthusiasm for Scientology. Throw in his self-declared Ph.D. in Historical Psychology, and there is no doubt who achieved the most notoriety in '05. So why is there this sudden hatred of Tom Cruise? Why are people Tom-Kat cynics?
Is it because the man has finally found true love? Oh, some of you are like Robert Palmer in '85 and like to think you're immune to the stuff (oh yeah). But let's not block his bliss just because we're miserable.
Is it his religion? Sure, Scientology isn't my particular brand of rum, but Cruise claims that it helped him overcome dyslexia, and quite frankly, we are in no position to disprove that. I see people every day that take their religion far too seriously (and the Bible far too literally), but I don't hate (most of) them.
Now, hyperbole aside, I need to be serious for a moment. Honestly, I'm a bit hesitant to say much about Cruise's films because I haven't decided if he actually is performing when he is on the big screen. He is either one of the best actors of his generation, or the absolute worst. It's hard to tell, and I won't know until I see his true behavior. I need to observe his mannerisms when there are no cameras and pseudo-journalists around.
I say this because I have yet to see Tom Cruise give an interview where he is not playing a caricature of himself. Like on awards shows when he enters the red carpet area and pauses every few steps for a picture, he smiles and laughs hysterically at something and does this I'm a charming bastard
that is the funniest thing I have ever heard laugh anytime there is a camera on him.
Then, seconds after he is laughing like he stepped out of a George Carlin performance, a reporter will ask him about his upcoming film, and he has the capability of totally disregarding his charming act - putting on a face that would be appropriate for a funeral - and then can comment about how challenging and serious his upcoming project is going to be while using his best intellectual voice.
Here's the thing: For like, 20 seconds, I usually buy his act. I'm sold until I realize that whatever role is being played in that particular interview is the same role that was used in Vanilla Sky or Jerry Maguire. So the Golden Globe award winning role as Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia was actually just Tom Cruise playing himself. Ray Ferrier didn't save the Earth from aliens in War of the Worlds
Tom Cruise did. But if you think I've jumped on the Cruise has gone crazy bandwagon, you're wasting your time.
Tom Cruise may or may not be crazy. Either way, his overdone charismatic behavior has been a Hollywood consistency for quite some time now; I would trace it back to the film Cocktail. A pre-Cocktail Cruise was charming us with his youthful innocence as he comically danced in his underwear and a button-up to Bob Seger's Old Time Rock and Roll. However, when he and Goose sang Great Balls of Fire in Top Gun
that was probably the last time we saw a separation between Cruise and his on-screen role. Because when he tossed liquor bottles and danced to the Hippy Hippy Shake in Cocktail
the innocence and the character separation were long gone.
So in order to make my decision on whether Cruise is actually talented, I just need to see the real Tom: the guy behind the guy behind the guy that is Tom Cruise. However, crazy or sane, acting or not, he can be my wingman anytime.
- Trace Hacquard is a graduate student in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Send him an e-mail at lh303403@ohiou.edu.
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