On the day that actor Russell Crowe got himself arrested for allegedly tossing a telephone at a hotel employee in New York City -- just the latest incidence of bad behavior by the petulent, hypertalented Aussie -- many who obssess over the film industry's bizarre-ness are still abuzz over some recent odd behavior by another wonderful actor, America's Tom Cruise.
What did Cruise do that was so despicable that it's merited negative stories in the press and on the Internet the world over?
Aside from dating Katie Holmes, whom almost no one seems to consider an appropriate partner for the superstar film thesp (and what business is it of ours whom he sees, anyway?), Tom has had the temerity to publicly proclaim his devotion to a religion most Americans don't understand. Which translates, therefore, to a religion we don't particularly like.
Tom Cruise, as it happens, is a longtime member in good standing of the Church of Scientology.
And so what of it?!
Should this matter to filmgoers? Well, apparently it does, but why? And besides, if it doesn't bother the very young, very virtuous Ms. Holmes, shouldn't we all just grow up and spend our time speculating about more important things, such as the digital effects in TC's War of the Worlds, which opens June 29th?
Yes, I know, Tom himself made Scientology an issue last month -- as he has sometimes made it an issue in the past -- when he told Oprah that Brooke Shields shouldn't have taken antidepressant medication to help alleviate her postpartum depression. Which he followed up with an unfortunate put-down of Shields and her career arc.
Hey, actors can disagree, in public even. In fact, that's half the fun of following the Hollywood hoo-ha.
Still, when it comes to an actor's religion, what's it to us? (Except maybe in the case of actor/director Mel Gibson, who last year sought to inflict his severely Old World Catholicism on paying customers everywhere.) It makes for grabby headlines and splashy stories on Entertainment Tonight, which is fun and diversionary. But let's get real: It doesn't -- or shouldn't -- amount to a hill of movie popcorn.
Here's the question I keep asking myself: If Tom Cruise were a devout mainstream Christian, would anyone be critical of his private religious views? Would he be bashed for his occasional pronouncements concerning those convictions?
Let's go one better. If Tom Cruise, our biggest box-offfice draw, were a born-again Christian, would America be offended? To the contrary, I think Tom's receipts would rise. The born-again card clearly has worked for George Bush; I suspect it would do much the same for Tom Cruise.
It's good to be "born again" in Bush's America. It keeps you comfortably within the ruling fold.
The real problem for Tom Cruise is that he doesn't believe in one of our "acceptable" holy books. No Holy Bible, no Torah. He's a man of faith, just the wrong faith.
We're rather intolerant that way, we Americans. In most places, anyway, you're on pretty safe ground if you relate to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Just don't get too freaky on us -- meaning, let's not walk around in peculiar outwear, spouting prayers in public courtyards.
If your're a Buddhist, you're clearly outside the North American mainstream, but again, as long as you don't proselytize, you're generally going to be okay. Mormon? Great if you live in Utah, but just a little suspect almost everywhere else. No one wants to admit it, but it's true.
For a country founded on the notion of religious tolerance, we hold to a disturbingly narrow view of what is socially acceptable here.
And as for Muslims, well, that's clearly a problem these days. Not the religion of choice if you need to travel hassle-free around the country -- or out of it.
And then comes Scientology, a mystery meat of a religion insofar as most of us are concerned. Since, let's face it, it's widely perceived as wacky, cultish, and somewhat anti-Christian, it's a religion that isn't going to win you any votes at the county fair, not even on the Coast.
So, from a PR standpoint, Tom Cruise may have erred when he decided to become a more public Scientologist. On the other hand, I kind of like this new Tom Cruise better than the robotic one we're all familiar with. It's a fresher, freer, more readily available TC.
One thing you could always say about the old Tom: He was reliably dull in interviews. The man was more guarded than Fort Knox. His paid handlers were charged with making sure you never got through to the the human being behind the sun shades, and they did their jobs well.
When I was an entertainment journalist in Los Angeles, I set up several interviews with Cruise. He was invariably a pro: He showed up, he chatted amiably, he laughed gustily, the guy couldn't have been friendlier or more courteous. Everyone loved him. Only no one ever got him. For his entire careeer, the actor -- presumably by design -- has been an enormous off-screen cipher. The only time I recall ever seeing any authentic person revealed was when he phoned a magazine writer (not me) to bellyache about ex-girlfriends having been contacted in connection with a profile.
So I applaud the new, more open Tom, the unabashedly Scientologist Tom, the Tom whose PR is now being run by his sister. (And I was delighted to see today that my former magazine colleague Ken Tucker, now with New York, has taken up Tom's defense as well in the June 13th issue.)
Frankly, a born-again Christian Tom Cruise would be far less interesting to me than the Church of Scientology TC. This way, ya know, he remains almost mainstream, but not quite. He's still not truly knowable -- just about the right posture, I think, for a big-time performer in mid-career.
What I say is, give the guy a break. You don't like his choice of religion? Fine. Maybe he doesn't like yours. He probably reviles it, actually. All that said, he's a wonderful actor to watch on screen, and he's a far more interesting artist these days now that he's got Katie Holmes in his life and, for whatever reason, he's decided to drop the mask, if only a little.
In his own way, on his own timetable, maybe he's being born all over again.
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