What a week; Iron Man, GTA IV and an anti-climactic interview between Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey- we’re being spoiled here.
Did you know that Tom Cruise was set to appear on Oprah? Did we mention that to you at all? Well, it’s happened – Tom Cruise’s long-anticipated rematch interview with Oprah Winfrey happened today and, boy oh boy, was it ever spectacular!
And if you’re one of those disgusting cynics who thought that this was just a deliberate attempt by Tom Cruise to publicly soften his controversial stance on Scientology and the use of psychiatric drugs in the softball presence of an old friend eager for viewers? Turns out you might have had a bit of a point.
Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey go way back – Tom’s first role in a movie was as Oprah’s facial wart in The Color Purple, and he’s been keen to repay her ever since by appearing on her show every time that he discovers a new pasta recipe or feels the urge to destroy his reputation with a display of unconvincing enthusiasm for Katie Holmes.
However, Tom Cruise’s last appearance on Oprah was three years ago, and since then his professional career has dipped into an embarrassing slump and the public generally views him as a creepy weirdo. Only one thing could pull him out of this funk – a return interview with Oprah Winfrey.
That’s what we got to see today. The first part of a special two-part Tom Cruise special was broadcast earlier, consisting of Oprah Winfrey going to Tom’s Colorado home, asking him some serious questions away from a live audience and then trying to feel his arse up on a snowmobile. We already knew what themes Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise would touch on – his family, his religion, his views on psychiatry – but how did Tom Cruise use this big shot at redemption?
Simple – by acting as dull as possible. He didn’t dry-hump any soft furnishings, he didn’t plough his fist through the floor like a mythical Norse warrior, and we get the impression that Oprah could have asked Tom if he murdered babies for a living and he’d have responded with the same conciliatory ‘I do, but I understand people who’d be upset by that/ don’t alienate the audience’ spiel that he rolled out again and again today.
Examples? OK, here’s Tom Cruise on his 2005 televised rant against pyschiatric drugs:
“It came out wrong. It’s just not true. Even if you read [Scientology text] Dianetics, you know that it talks about postpartum depression. But even outside of that, I know that. I was raised by four women who have children, who have babies. I’m not trying or want to tell anyone how to live their life or what they should believe or shouldn’t believe in any way.”
Here’s Tom on Scientology:
“It’s a minority religion, and I think that sometimes people misinterpret [it]. I think the best thing is for people to read about it themselves. … I believe people have the right to choose what they believe in.”
And here’s Tom on why everyone should love him again and go and see his stupid Hitler film next year:
“Listen I, I feel like definitely things have been misunderstood, and there are things I could have done better. But then there’s also that world where you go, ‘Oh, it’s been spun to such an extent that … that’s a truth also.'”
Still, now that Tom Cruise has waded through all that boring “won’t you give me a second chance, planet Earth?” hand-wringing in this interview, he’s free to do as he pleases during his second Oprah appearance on Monday – where he’ll take the form of a mad-eyed preacher with a beard made of fire who’ll blast constant subliminal pro-Scientology slogans straight into the eyes of the millions of viewers until he’s enslaved the entire world.
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george says
But he did his best. He wants to be the best! he always says this.
euclid says
numba one son not too bright
What I want on Monday is the Tomster vs. Mothra.