Kevin Smith Airline Tirade a Publicity Stunt

Shortly before takeoff on Saturday February 13, cult-film director Kevin Smith was asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight because he was too large to fit safely in his seat. Smith reacted by immediately posting his glaring dissatisfaction through a very public tirade on the social networking website Twitter.

According to one report published by CNN.com, a representative from Southwest replied in a direct message to the director via Twitter in less than 20 minutes. "Hey Kevin," the message said, "I'm so sorry for your experience tonight! Hopefully we can make things right, please follow so we may!"

Airline officials told the media that employees were simply following company's "Customer of Size" policy. The guideline "requires passengers that can not fit safely and comfortably in one seat to purchase an additional seat while traveling."

For those over the age of 25 who may not be familiar with his work, 39-year-old Kevin Smith is a comic book writer, actor and director best known for starring in and directing the cult-film "Clerks." Smith plays the recurring character Silent Bob, a social nonconformist who spends his time at a convenience store drinking and contemplating a wasted life with his pot-smoking pal.

By his own admission, Smith, who referred to himself in the online outburst as, "way fat," usually reserves two seats when he flies. Sources say, however, that a last minute decision to take an earlier flight put him on a plane with only single seating available.

As a larger guy who flies often, my guess is that Smith was well aware of the safe fit seating policy and saw the opportunity to get some free publicity for his new movie due out later this month. The outcry of injustice makes a perfect public relations slingshot for Smith's name and subsequently any project with which he is currently associated.

Thanks to Smith's hundreds of Twitter followers, the story went viral and was immediately picked up by media outlets including CNN, Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, and countless others.

As for Southwest Airline's quick reaction to such a publicly visible complaint, we mortals should not count on the same level of service. The company's response was nothing more than pandering to celebrity and public relations damage control.

I am certainly not defending the airline's treatment of its passengers. In fact, I believe that Smith had the opportunity to put some real celebrity weight behind this issue (no pun intended) but sacrificed it for a childish tantrum in order to score some cheap publicity.

Just as his films mock religion, social apathy and recreational drug use, the director has managed to turn this difficult problem into a pointless joke without a punch line. If I'm wrong and he really felt discriminated against, I think there were more adult ways to deal with the issue.

Ironically, this is exactly the kind of thing Smith's fans love - a social misfit and rebel, standing up for the little guy - sorry, big guy. In the end, though, all Smith got for his troubles was a $100 voucher and an apology. Oh yes, and tons of free publicity for his new movie at the expense of the overweight.

That said here is a thought I'll probably get letters about - it has to do with personal responsibility. Maybe instead of blaming the airline for having small seats, perhaps Mr. Smith should consider losing some weight?

He makes millions of dollars from his movies and one would think he could afford to get some celebrity trainer like Jillian Michaels to come over once a week and kick him skinny. With his financial means, many surgical options are also available.

Kevin Smith is really quite fortunate and could change his situation if he so wished. There are millions of people out there with severe weight-related health issues who would do anything to have his resources just to improve the quality of their lives.

Personally, I think Smith's films are unimaginative, juvenile and target an audience who demand nothing more from a movie than one-dimensional characters and filthy language. Perhaps Smith's next movie should be about a fat director who works to get healthy and acts as a role model to the young people who look up to him, instead of playing the apathetic victim who blames everyone else for his own issues.

Columnist Gery L. Deer is syndicated through GLD Enterprises Media. www.gerydeer.com