Why is Tom Cruise Getting a Raw Deal from the Media?

Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Tom Cruise has been a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood for over a quarter of a century. In that time he has starred in or is set to star in 34 big-budget Hollywood movies. Many of those films have been blockbusters.

Now here's the part that those who hate him won't like. The recent movement to portray him as an unstable nutbar in the eyes of the public has been largely fabricated. Stories and reactions have been exaggerated and played up by the media to sell magazines and newspapers.

This is all part of the recent movement driven by the media to bring attention and notoriety to those celebrities people love to hate and make established celebrities fit that role. In many cases stars are being used as scapegoats by movie studios to generate media interest and the media use the interest to generate sales.

Why would a studio do this? Because the simple reality of it is that every studio in Hollywood is losing money right now and so are many other areas of the entertainment industry. People are not going to see movies, buy CDs or watch television as much as we used to. Despite public service messages that promote those behaviors, this change has Hollywood scared to death.

Currently Hollywood is desperate for a big boom and a worldwide blockbuster and is willing to use any measures to get it. Desperation has pushed them to do anything, even if it means publicly crucifying stars in order to get people interested in their projects.

In the case of Cruise his life and actions have received a much exaggerated response from those in Hollywood who want to turn him into a public display. An analysis of the situation can easily show that reaction to Cruise's behaviors have been much more extreme than other stars.

His Beliefs - I'm not a scientologist, but if someone wants to believe what they want to believe they have a right to do so. In a free society you have the right to any religious belief you want. If you want to pray to the poster of the Kool-Aid Man in the corner of your basement, that's your prerogative. Other famous celebs who are members of the church of Scientology are John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Kelly Preston, Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and more. None of whom have been publicly ridiculed for their beliefs. Many Christian and Catholic celebrities promote their faith on television and this is accepted without question.

His actions on Oprah Winfrey - So he got excited talking about Katie Holmes and he jumped on the couch. I would to. Seriously, Cruise's actions did not come off as offensive. People came there to see him and he delivered. He is an entertainer and he was entertaining. In 1994 Bobcat Goldthwait appeared on the tonight show and on a strange, erratic impulse set his chair on fire. The cameras kept rolling as Goldthwait jumped around gleefully as the chair became engulfed in flames. Jay Leno spat angry curses at him and kicked him off stage, vowing to never have him back again. The incident was in the news for about a week. Goldthwait still works in Hollywood and is still a stand-up comedian.

Judging Brooke Shields - Okay this was a mistake, but everyone makes them. This was a clear error in judgment when he should have held his tongue. I think it's obvious that there was more bad blood going on between them than the public knew before these statements were made.

Paramount executives have used Cruise's public stature to make him a scapegoat for their studios shortfalls. Paramount lost millions on War of the Worlds and Mission Impossible 3 and has claimed very publicly that Cruise's beliefs and actions are the root cause. If you look at only that fact you may be able come to agreement with that conclusion, however when you look at these pictures in total context with the rest of Hollywood it paints a much different picture. Every movie studio is losing money and every film, including ones from Paramount, are falling short of targets. People in general are spending less on going to the movies and other entertainment, which may in fact be an early sign of an upcoming recession. As well when Paramount claims they lost money on those movies, the actual fact is that they didn't lose money; they just didn't hit their profit targets. This means they made profit, just not as much as they would have liked. As a matter of fact, and public record, MI:3 and War of the Worlds outdid and outsold many other Hollywood movies.

Not only has the public response to Cruise from Paramount been unprofessional, but many insiders have speculated that Sumner Redstone, head of Paramount's parent company and decision maker behind the split, may be suffering the early symptoms of senility.

Either way Cruise's treatment from the studio has not only been unprofessional, but ungrateful considering that many of the hit blockbuster films Cruise has done in his 26 year career have been for Paramount. These films have helped to build and strengthen the company as well as its profits. In many cases those successes have helped to put the upper executives and decision makers at Paramount into the positions that they are in.

Hollywood has figured out that the public frying of its stars may be the only way to get people back in the theaters and increase their almighty profits. It used to be the "Is he gay?" rumors to generate attention, now it's a full public spectacle that's needed. Just one other example is Mel Gibson, his film "Apocalypto". It opened a few months ago and many speculators believe that the large turnout and interest in the film was not because of the actual story of the film. Instead many believe public interest was because of the controversy surrounding him currently over his anti-Semitic rant while being arrested for impaired driving. The implications of this are entirely different and meant for another article.

Either way it appears that Tom Cruise will come out on top in the end. He was cast in the starring role for two different big budget movies in 2007, is involved in several more for 2008/09, and it is rumored that he has been offered a management role at Atlantis Films. Atlantis Films is part of Alliance Atlantis, a large rival of Paramount Pictures.