TOM CRUISE- A lesson for Hollywood Stars

Whatever happened to the world's biggest movie star? I could not help but shake my head in disbelief as I read about Tom doing Ryan Seacrest's radio show and I thought to myself, HOW HAS THE MIGHTY FALLEN!

There was a time that the sycophantic media dared not write or say anything negative about Tom, they were all fallen over themselves to heap praises on him and even his sudden abandonment of Nicole Kidman did not change that, though truth be told, Nicole did not use her divorce to lunch her movie career unlike another actress that will not let us forget.
Tom seemed invincible and he did movies that critics might call pop corn but we all flocked to the theaters to see and in Hollywood, money talks. Yes, I enjoyed his movies, I might even say that I am/was a fan which is why I cringe these days when I see what he has been reduced to.

Tom had a powerhouse Publicist, and much like Jennifer Annistons' Stephen Huvane, Pat Kingsley created an image of Tom that was not really Tom, she managed his image to the point that the media wanted us to believe that Tom literally saves people every where he goes, then he starts to believe his own press and fires Kingsley and the manufactured public personae came crumbling. Therein lies the problem with manufactured images, after a while you feel stifled and you want your real self to show but the real you is not what people associate with your name and image and that is when problem starts for the star.

Tom must have believed that these phony people in the media cared about him, there he was on Oprah- his friend, after all he just attended her party with his new girlfriend, Katie Holmes. So there he was jumping on Oprah's couch trying to convince us that he is so in love he does not know what to do with himself, and he was doing it on his friend's show. Well, when the fallout from the couch jumping erupted, Oprah denied her GOOD FRIEND,Tom before the cock even crowed once, that my friends is the nature of friendship in Hollywood that woe is the celebrity that thinks these are real friendship.

So Tom became the whipping boy for all media, even those that used to kiss his ass could not wait to jump on the Tom bashing bandwagon, this is why it pains me to watch Tom go through his "Please like me again" tour. Those same sycophants in the media who could not wait to bash him are the same ones now acting like there are best friends with him starting with Oprah. I hope Tom has learned a hard lesson, and from here on learns to be true to himself. It is better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not, the same public that you sold your soul for will turn on you in a New York minute.

It is interesting that Tom and Katie were in the eye of the media storm at the same time as Brad and Angelina, the way they managed the media in such different ways should be a lesson for celebrities. The media storm that Brad and Angelina had to weather especially Angelina with Jennifer Anniston wedging her relentless passive aggressive media onslaught, the fact that they have come out the other side still intact, without kissing the media ass and doing it on their own terms probably irks those tabloid people who wanted them on their knees and doing precisely what Tom is doing now tells me that they stayed true to themselves and they have talent, at the end of the day, that trumps the lies and pr machinations and manufactured images.

Tom, I hope things turn around for you and you start making blockbuster movies again, if that time has passed for you, I hope you have the grace to accept it without bringing yourself so low and enjoy the memories of being on top for almost twenty years.