How YouTube and Internet Journalism Destroyed Tom Cruise, Our Last Real Movie Star

[grim22]

Very well written and in-depth article as to how the Internet changed celebrity news.

 

http://www.laweekly.com/2014-05-22/news/the-last-movie-star/

 

It was Jason Tugman's first day of work. Almost a decade later, he still remembers the screams.

 

A former circus fire-eater, he'd taken a job as a lighting technician for The Oprah Winfrey Show after burning off a chunk of his tongue. The pay was $32 an hour and he didn't want to screw it up. But as Tugman carefully hung black curtains in Studio B, directly behind the orange set where Oprah taped, those screams wouldn't stop. The crowd sounded as if it was going to tear the building down.
 

"I could just hear the audience going absolutely apeshit," Tugman says. "Just the absolute losing of minds." He glanced at a monitor that transmitted a silent, live feed. Tom Cruise was on a couch.
 

You've seen it, too. You can probably picture it in your head: Tom Cruise, dressed in head-to-toe black, looming over a cowering Oprah as he jumps up and down on the buttermilk-colored couch like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Cruise bouncing on that couch is one of the touchstones of the last decade, the punchline every time someone writes about his career.
 

There's just one catch: It never happened.

Edited May 21, 2014 by grim22

[kitik]

Great article

[PDC1987]

Tom Cruise destroyed himself. Scientology and pretending to love a girl when he is in fact the most obvious closet case in Hollywood history was his undoing.

 

His time at the top was going to end anyway, just like Tom Hanks. Will Smith and Johnny Depp were there to replace them.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

I guess perception is reality.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Tom Cruise destroyed himself. Scientology and pretending to love a girl when he is in fact the most obvious closet case in Hollywood history was his undoing.

 

His time at the top was going to end anyway, just like Tom Hanks. Will Smith and Johnny Depp were there to replace them.

 

 

That's the internet talking. Just because it was on South Park doesn't make it so. I can laugh at something and still remember it's not necessarily the truth. Speculation and rumors are not truth. The real truth is we don't know because we aren't there. So in our frustration we collectively fabricate a "truth" because it's more interesting and entertaining. I'm certain Tom's real life is so much more mundane.

[Magic]

Tom Cruise did the damage himself with his Scientology bullshit and whatnot. If people haven't seen the ceremony where he gets some sort of medal with the mission impossible music playing in the background and then he and Miscavige salute each other they should. He seems like a complete fucking maniac in that video. Totally brainwashed.

[PDC1987]

That's the internet talking. Just because it was on South Park doesn't make it so. I can laugh at something and still remember it's not necessarily the truth. Speculation and rumors are not truth. The real truth is we don't know because we aren't there. So in our frustration we collectively fabricate a "truth" because it's more interesting and entertaining. I'm certain Tom's real life is so much more mundane.

No. Where do you think South Park got it from? Tom is gay. We've known for years. Scientology is a cult, their bullshit is public record and ex members have confirmed it as well.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Tom is gay. We've known for years.

 

I'll give you the Scientology thing, but he was involved with that years before the Oprah thing.

 

I am no Tom Cruise fan. But you just state something like that without backing it up with some proof other than "we just know". It's amazing how omnipresent "we" are to just know things we haven't ever actually witnessed.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Besides, last I checked, being gay was not a bad thing in our society anymore. And everyone, even celebrities have a right to at least some privacy. He wants to have an arranged marriage, fine by me. Who cares? Or let me rephrase, who should care?

 

It's not like the guy is a "commie" in the 50s or "pedo" now. I don't think he's raped, pillaged or killed anyone. I just don't see controversy when it comes to him. Other than that which "we" create.

Edited May 22, 2014 by Accursed Arachnid!™

[MovieMan89]

I never liked Tom Cruise as an actor, still don't. There's always just something annoying about him to me, just like how he comes off annoying in real life. He just got very lucky for a long time to get a ton of amazing roles. There's not one of his movies or characters though I would say he was irreplaceable in. Maybe Top Gun, but even that I could see someone else just as good in the role.

[Vanilla]

Tom Cruise is still one of (if not the) best out there. I dont see why people make a big deal about it.

[vc2002]

[PDC1987]

Besides, last I checked, being gay was not a bad thing in our society anymore. And everyone, even celebrities have a right to at least some privacy. He wants to have an arranged marriage, fine by me. Who cares? Or let me rephrase, who should care?

 

It's not like the guy is a "commie" in the 50s or "pedo" now. I don't think he's raped, pillaged or killed anyone. I just don't see controversy when it comes to him. Other than that which "we" create.

I'm gay, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. He could help a *lot* of people in the community if he came out, as well as help himself.

[superstancer]

Agree with @Vanilla 

Tom is the oly 80s actor who still drawing Good BO numbers

Personal life might hv gone for a toss due to personal reasons

Some say Tom is gay!!! are u mad??? prove it man....come on u jus saying hes gay coz u hate him

then even i can say Johnny depp,Hugh Jackman is gay coz they kissed a guy in some show!!!!!

This is ridiculous 

[keysersoze123]

Cruise is well past his peak. We will confirm that with another mediocre OW for EOT. At his peak he could open anything to big numbers.

[ladyevenstar22]

i could forgive tom cruise most anything because first and foremost he's a really good actor , i didnt really care about his scientology affiliation or his persona opinion on psychiatry for example , but he crossed a line i could not forgive 

 

to shack up with katie holmes  whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy and to jump up on a couch for it  whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

i can't stand her , she droves me nuts as joey on dawson creek with her psycho-analytical babble/drama gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

I'm gay, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. He could help a *lot* of people in the community if he came out, as well as help himself.

 

 

Again...no proof offered, just assumptions based on...

 

1. What other people have said

2. What the internet has said

3. What satirical material has said

 

Knowing and thinking are two completely different things. And you don't know anything because to know, you'd have to have witnessed it. Make any sense?

[kitik]

wow, this thread is an amazing proof of that article

[BadAtGender]

wow, this thread is an amazing proof of that article

 

Heh, yeah. I wonder how many people commenting actually went and read it.

 

It's fascinating, and deserving of a read. Not just for the Cruise information, but also as an examination of how celebrity culture has changed in the past decade.

 

(It is a bit odd that there's no mention of ONTD, even though I think it predated Perez Hilton as a celebrity news blogging site. Although he might have spiked the popularity.)

Edited May 22, 2014 by DamienRoc

[TLK]

IDGAF about Scientology and his personal life but Tom Cruise has been the biggest, most consistent box office draw of the past 25 years. Even today he is much bigger draw than most A-list actors and actresses.