Who’s Zooming Who In The Oprah, Tom Cruise Couch Revisit?
Tom Cruise rarely does anything spontaneous. Even his ’seemingly-spontaneous’ couch calisthenics on Oprah’s show in 2005 was deemed to be premeditated. All this over-the-top exuberance for finding his “true love” (third time’s the charm, right?) in actress Katie Holmes after only a few weeks of knowing each other, was surely to help make the transition that much more believable. Sadly, contrived spontaneity rarely goes over well.
In the years following this epic interview, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise’s names have become inextricably linked to one another, and created as they say, an elephant in the room. Oprah for her part, was seen as complicit in giving Cruise a forum to really behave in a disingenuous way. She sat back and while he let the crazy out, all the while secretly wondering “WTF?” is going on. Oprah received zero credibility for her Tom Cruise interview, and while she’s still insanely popular, she knows the whole TC interview hangs over her like a dark cloud.
But what about Tom Cruise? What does he have to gain by going back to Oprah’s couch? He too is dogged with the knowledge he let his inner Scientology-induced weirdo out for all the world to gape upon. Surely he’d be better off letting this connection die a excruciatingly slow death. Or perhaps not.
With all the speculation as to what Oprah will be asking Tom, and what Tom will be shilling this time, why not go to the authority on Tom Cruise, the man who spent two years studying, dissecting and analyzing the world’s most famous, and now infamous actor, NYTimes bestselling biographer Andrew Morton.
I asked Mr. Morton for his thoughts on this upcoming interview and he seemed pretty interested in the process that went into bringing these two forces together once more, considering how poorly it went last time. From Morton:
“This 25th Anniversary show is not only a reflective piece on Cruise’s Hollywood career, but also a brilliant chance to resurrect his image.The Oprah show is the show of choice for Hollywood royalty; the prince of Pacific Palisades talking to the Queen of TV.
This is the first major American interview Tom Cruise has done for nearly three years, and interestingly, it’s the first he’s done not associated with promoting one of his blockbuster films.
Tom’s publicity team see Cruise being sucked into this publicity black hole, and Oprah’s throwing him life line.
Tom Cruise only does interviews when he has movies coming out, the last few films, War of the World, MI:3, Collateral Damage have all been used as a soapbox to promote Scientology, and he uses these opportunities to meet world ambassadors and heads of state to talk about religious freedom, but they’ve always been propelled by the sale of his films, this is the first time he’s given a big interview when he’s not selling something.
It shows you he’s desperate to reposition himself in the American imagination.”
Andrew Morton’s right. Desperation is the underlying impetus in all of this. Cruise’s image has been pummeled into submission in the last three years. Tom went from being the world’s most profitable movie-star, with hordes of women SWOONING in his presence, to becoming the laughing stock of Hollywood and seen as being rather, shall we say, “creepy.”
Tom’s calculated risk of using his film PR to promote his faith of Scientology back-fired, and honestly, it shows a major blindside in not only his vision, but that of his PR team. The Cruise camp seemed to be the only group who didn’t see this black hole coming.
Let’s face it, people go to see movies to escape from their everyday world, they want action, romance, comedy, intrigue, what they don’t want is “bat-shit crazy speak” from a very marginally-appealing pseudo-religion which seems to recruit celebs solely for the purpose of attracting followers. Regardless of all the creepy, sinister and illegal things Scientology has done as an organization, the general population just doesn’t take it seriously — and the fact celebs are the only ones promoting it — makes this fact all the more salient.
If Tom Cruise really wanted to save the world and attract followers to his faith, he should take a page out of all the history books on religious figures and lead by example. If molesting Oprah’s couch is an example of what Scientology does to one’s brain, no thanks.
[Cruise/Oprah image courtesy of Anonymous, Cruise Montage photo credit, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography]
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This Anon anticipates a non-confrontational, void of anything meaty interview that will be focused primarily on his (failing) career and (equally failing)family life.
In fact I think the interview will be primarily focused on his early movies in a hopes to relive and revive his limelight days in an attempt to detract from his recent shenanigans.
The end result with shine poorly on the both of them. Any bets on this?
Comment by OT666 — April 29, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
My time as anonymous has left me with such distaste for all things Mr. Cruise that I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch the episode.
That any person can go through life so blindly self-interested is beyond me.
Which came first- scientology or narcissistic celebrities?…cause they sure do make a good pair (I’m just not sure a pair of what)
Comment by terryeo — April 29, 2008 @ 4:58 pm
^_^;
Comment by bgodley — April 29, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
OT666, ^^^, what you said.
Comment by D — April 29, 2008 @ 5:03 pm
He could be attempting to smooth out a saner pathway for promotion of his latest movie that will never be released. TC’s career itself has jumped the shark, and may not be completely recoverable in the near future.
Comment by Capcom — April 29, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
Call ME batshit crazy, but I harbor a small hope that this will be akin to the Mike Tyson/Barabara Walters interview where his wife said he was beating her.
Tom will publicly announce that due to recent events he has decided to leave DM and Scientology in order to care for his wife and child. All the soccer moms and anons will stand up and cheer with tears in their eyes.
They have nothing else to talk about except controversy and old, old movies! I think Oprah is much too rich and powerful to let Tom get away with only weak softball questions. Everything in his life is controversial. Scientology, his wifes appearance, their separation rumors, Beghe, the failure of his movie studio. What GOOD thing does he have to talk about?
btw Dawn, you know katie holmes cheated in the NY marathon, right?
Comment by squid — April 29, 2008 @ 6:17 pm
Shall we coin a new phrase for what might be the basis of the upcoming Oprah event? Brit-Vegan.
Flavorless and lacking any meat whatsoever.
Comment by OT666 — April 29, 2008 @ 6:22 pm
Wow squid. I think we will be totally disappointed. Your scenario is so unlikely to happen. It would be such an EPIC win against the CoS tho. I guess we can dream. I will try to watch it, but if it is just the same old same old we have seen the last 3 years, no interest here.
Comment by char2008 — April 29, 2008 @ 6:51 pm
I disagree with your take that Oprah had zero credibility after the couch incident. As someone who actually watched it on the day of, and have, I admit, gone back to view it later for entertainment purposes, I think Oprah:
-Was genuinely dumbfounded by his behavior. She hosts stars pushing their movies all the time and was all set for a semi-softball go see his movie show and instead had a major star go crrrraaaaazzzzyyyy.
-You can see her working very hard to pull him back into sanity land during the interview, feeding him opportunity after opportunity to reel himself in.
-Has been quoted since the interview as saying that she felt that something was really off about his behavior and during the show she felt manipulated into participating in something that gave her the heebie jeebies (I’m paraphrasing…she was more Oprahmatic about it)
Personally, I have no idea what Oprah stands to gain except ratings I guess (perhaps that’s enough). Personally, I think the show sounds like the most ridiculous, contrived show topic which will only emphasize how the mighty has fallen.
Comment by Kati — April 29, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
It was being discussed on Enturb that he’s going on to apologize for the matt lauer/brook shields fiasco etc.
In other words, he’s going on Oprah to try and repair his lost career. I honestly dont see that happening until he leaves the cult and fully apologizes for promoting something that regularly commits so many Human Abuses.
Comment by AnonFreedomInTruth — April 30, 2008 @ 12:59 am
Kati: D writes that she recieved zero credibility for that specific interview… and can you say otherwise? She had absolutely no control of the situation, and pretty much nothing was elaborated (except that Tom was batshit insane). :B
Comment by bgodley — April 30, 2008 @ 1:06 am
For what it’s worth…
Oprah Winfrey Spills Tom Cruise Interview Secrets During Las Vegas Taping
By: Barbara Sharnak
Oprah Winfrey revealed details of her yet-to-be-aired interview with Tom Cruise while filming a segment with Tina Turner and Cher in Las Vegas this past weekend. Although the 4,000 audience members were asked to keep silent, E! Online revealed that Cruise will respond to Oprah’s questions about Scientology and the infamous “couch-jumping” incident, and also leaked the news that Turner is coming out of retirement to go on tour.
Winfrey said that the first part of her interview with Cruise was taped at his Telluride, Colorado estate and will air this Friday (May 2nd). “Oprah said Tom gave her a ride on a snowmobile,” an audience member told E!. “She also said Katie and Suri were there for the interview too.”
Cruise will continue promotion of the 25th anniversary of his breakout movie, Risky Business, on May 5th, when he’ll return to Winfrey’s Chicago studio for a sit-down interview.
The segment will Cher and Turner will air on May 8th.
Comment by Sam — April 30, 2008 @ 1:45 am
Cruise is a sideshow. Sure, he’s the most visible of the nutjobs, but there are many more who are much more dangerous because no one knows they’re Scientologists, or what exactly that means.
True, Cruise is a celebrity of sorts, but his star is on the wane in a big way. Unless Oprah really addresses the issues that have made him notoriously goofy worldwide, the show will be a huge flop and damage her image.
Let’s hope she doesn’t make herself irrelevant. I’ll watch just to see if I should write her off forever, but I’m expecting to be disgusted and disappointed by another one of her gushy tongue baths for Tommyboy.
Comment by Liberty Belle — April 30, 2008 @ 2:40 am
Think of the upside. This celebrity bumsuckfest between these two narcissistic nutjobs will provide us with many hours of pleasure in making up YouTube clips highlighting and satirising the best (worst?) of their unintentionally cringetastic buffoonery.
This business we call “show” has few rules, but one of them is that your standing as an artist is weakened when you have designs on becoming greater than the body of your work. The rule in a nutshell: Less is more.
Sadly, at the insistence of Cruise’s psuedo-religious calling nagging away at his soul along with an eager Press, he cannot help himself. He is trying to force a satisfactory conclusion but the press and the public are just not going to let him square it all away so easily.
I think it is safe to say that we will be left with more questions than answers.
Comment by Sponge — April 30, 2008 @ 6:40 am
I want to be Oprah! I want Toms body, naked and tight against me and I LOVE snow! Especially up my nose.
Comment by Terryeo — April 30, 2008 @ 9:37 am
Soon the criminal organization of Scientology will be totally exposed. I dare Oprah to stand up on that day and say “I didn’t know the truth about Scientology”. No one is going to believe her. This upcoming interview is going to be one of her biggest regrets.
Comment by Desert Rain — April 30, 2008 @ 10:39 am
their WILL be much media on media whoring, which will again turn eyes on Scientology, thanks Oprah!
Comment by Anon — April 30, 2008 @ 10:49 am
EXCLUSIVE: What really happened in Telluride
http://allmestup.blogspot.com/2008/04/xenu-wine-cellar-mishap-ends-in-tragedy.html
Comment by Artoo45 — April 30, 2008 @ 12:41 pm
I believe it’s a little too late to apologize for the Matt Lauer/Brooke Shields incident. Any damage control he may be attempting is way too late. The big question is if Oprah is too afraid of Scientology to do an unbiased interview. We’ll see soon enough.
Comment by D-Bomb — April 30, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
I think this up and coming interview is going to be a pathetic attempt for Tom to appear “normal” to America and the world.
I think he will try to come across as a regular guy……like he’s not that whack job jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch and he’s not really as batshit crazy as he is in the video of him espousing his religion. It’s a little too little a little too late!!
The “bat’s” out of the bag now Tom…..we got your number and not even Oprah can fix this mess you got yourself into. The thetans say, “It’s over……let it go….cry us a river and become a janitor.”
Comment by Jude — April 30, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
By the way……I wouldn’t mind seeing Oprah take a dive either. She’s gotten far too big for her britches lately.
Comment by Jude — April 30, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
Dawn,
Any chance of doing a phone interview with Andrew so he can respond–on air–to the fact that Tom (with a HUGE assist from Oprah, who fed him every morsel) basically dragged him through the mud on her little mock interview?
Actually, I’d like to hear a point by point reaction of him of the WHOLE interview. Read parts of it to him, and have him give his reaction.
Any hopes here? Would he do it “on the record” with you?
Comment by Wiley — May 2, 2008 @ 11:59 pm
In watching this interview with Tom Cruise, Oprah herself made a statement to the effect that the “Tom Cruise” video had been heavily edited, to which Tom Cruise responds that it had been taken out of context.
This statement by Oprah is completely false, and I am amazed at the lack of research on this. The man who produced this video, Mark Headley, has himself stated that the version seen on youtube was unedited! If Oprah is not aware of this, I would hope she would correct this statement as soon as possible. The reason that so many people found this video strange is because it is a strange video, not because it was edited to appear that way.
Mark Headley is a former Scientologist and Executive Producer of many of the videos produced by Golden Era Productions, including the now-infamous Tom Cruise video where he states that Scientologists are the only ones who can help at the scene of an accident, among other things. The Church of Scientology and its supporters have repeatidly stated that this video was heavily edited and taken out of context, and that is why it appears so strange to many people.
However, Mark Headley, who produced this video, has stated that the version seen on youtube and on the internet has NOT been edited in any way.
Quoting Mark:
“And those videos, the way they appear, they are not been edited after the fact. That is actually what aired and that is what played to the Scientologists. I know people will tell you different but those were straight off the DVDs.”
source:
Mark Headley Interview with Kevin and Bean, KROQ 4/8/08
http://kroqfs.com/kbpodcasts/KBpodcast_4808.mp3
Mark Headley interview occurs from 41:43 - 55:24 on this mp3.
The quote above can be heard at 48:30 minutes.
I ask all media, PLEASE don’t leave your viewers or readers with the false impression that someone purposefully edited this video just to make Tom cruise look strange. The video appeared exactly as it was produced. Opinions about its strangeness should be left to the individual viewer to decide for themselves. Oprah shouldn’t be doing damage control for Tom Cruise by spreading a lie.
Comment by anonymous — May 3, 2008 @ 5:30 am
Talk about awkward when asked about Nicole Kidman and the children. He could barely mention her name, lol.
You have a good relationship with Nicole? I don’t think so, Tom. You have the kids, you’ve turned them into scientology and yet, for some reason, you are the one finding it difficult to talk about their relationship with their mother. Why is that? “We share custody, the children see them WHENEVER”, they forgot to coach you on that bit, didn’t they?
Comment by Anon — May 3, 2008 @ 9:09 am