adventures in disaster

The power of the written word

I am probably more cynical than most. I don't get into fandom. I have never had an autograph book and I have never asked anyone for an autograph. I have never looked for movie shooting sites or camped out hoping for a glimpse of my crush.
In fact when they shoot movies in my area I get pissed. I hate the traffic tie ups and helicopters swooping over head scaring the hell out of bird and beast.
That being said I have actors I enjoy. There are a few that have never gone wrong. If I see a movie with Clint Eastwood I know it will be entertaining.
I am getting to a point honestly. It's the Tom Cruise thing.
For a long time for a lot of people Tom was their Clint. They went to every movie because they felt secure in that choice. Then there were a lot of people that began to lose their ever loving GD minds. They began to believe that Tom owed them something. As if everything he did was some how connected to them. Then he chose to join some weird half assed religious culty thing.
People were insulted. Having your favorite movie star turn out to be some dim witted cult member reflects badly on your personal taste.
It began to be embarrassing to admit in public that you still liked Tom Cruise. Then he divorced Nicole under bizarre circumstances. They were weeks away from their tenth wedding anniversary...that terrifying date for any rich man with a leaky prenup. What was awful about this was Nicole had just miscarried. She seemed genuinely shocked ,confused and terribly hurt.
He said "Nicole knows why" and cheerfully moved on. He seemed a callous prick.
So at this point he is a member of a cult for the rich who believes he is descended or invaded from/by aliens and he ditched his mourning wife for no apparent reason other than cash.
He is a dick and people are beginning to wake up to that fact. What confuses matters is the weird, near continuous rumour of his homosexuality.
Then he publicly loses his mind over a B actress many, many years his junior who he promptly knocks up...or does he?. Rumours persist that his religion forbids ejaculation as a loss of "control" and that Katie was inseminated artificially.
All of this combined to make people reconsider whether they really needed to see any more of Tom Cruise.
So let's recap..Tom Cruise is a closeted homosexual , belongs to a cult that not only bans ejaculation it bans anti-depressants too,divorced his wife over a prenup despite her miscarriage, faked his love for his new, young girlfriend to avoid being outed, created baby Suri in a petri dish.....

The only thing we can confirm is the anti-depressants because Tom said that. Every other part is gossip. But it is gossip printed around the world. This bs is presented as news. Because a lot of it is upsetting to more than a few people they stopped going to his movies. His career is being directly affected by gossip.
I don't care for Tom much, he isn't Clint Eastwood. I have been disappointed more than once by his movies. That is how I judge him because I don't know the guy. I thought he was embarrassing on Oprah but he only embarrassed himself. But there are other people involved in this situation. This guy has three kids. Maybe it's time everyone stopped making up stories and passing rumours. His kids are the ones that have to live with the fall out.

This gossip as news has now become the norm. I can't watch CNN anymore because they broadcast stories when the story hasn't even concluded yet. They know absolutely nothing but that doesn't stop them from having fourteen experts dissecting events that may happen. This is not news, it is gossip..a bunch of guys bullshitting about events they know nothing about.

When did this become okay?
What if this started happening to you at work?
What if your co-workers and your boss started trading rumours about you? What if you lost your job because of it?
Let's play it out.
You go out with a group of friends and get a little drunk. Mike from accounting watches you kiss your best friend of twenty years on the lips.
Monday morning Mike makes a joke about your drunken kissing during a staff meeting.
The whispers begin that you are a closeted gay alcoholic. You separate from your wife and join a church. Mike's three ex-wives all go to the same church. Mike finds out and tells a few friends, they tell a few friends and like that game of telephone you are now a gay, alcoholic ,cult member that ruined your poor wife's life.
Two weeks later you get the flu and are off for two weeks. Todd, Mike's friend sees you at the doctors office. Todd tells everyone you look terrible and have lost thirty pounds. Your HIV rumour is born. When you return to work you are fired for too much sick time.

It's not that hard to believe. All it takes is one or two assholes with no social skills, or one or two assholes who really want your job.
People love to talk about other people behind their back.
We all learned this in high school.
People really don't change all that much .
I work in a place where high school is alive and well. Nursing is full of catty bitches that spend a ridiculous amount of time talking about other catty bitches.
If they were to be believed half the staff would be burned at the stake for incompetence.
Sadly, for a few they did get lit up. Gossip forced them out.

The written word is a dangerous thing but the spoken word is a terror device. Whispering nasty innuendo into your buddies ear can devastate someone.
I have no idea how upset Tom and Katie are..they are not my friends but I can tell you how upset my friends are when they fall prey to malicious bull from unthinking, uncaring people.

I want a t-shirt that says shut up and mind your own business but it goes against the dress code. I may just get it made anyway.


I have a theory. I believe that for a lot of people seeing someone become successful, falling in love, finding happiness is a brutal slap in the face. Genuine happiness makes some people irritable, down right itchy and they can't stand it. It grinds at them so they attack it. They want it dead and buried. Then they can be sympathetic and supportive over it's demise.
Happy people don't make other people happy.

Try it at work..be cheerful as hell and see how many times someone snipes at you.

posted by adventures in disaster @ 9:32 PM