Anyone Remember When Tom Cruise Was Normal?

I remember first hearing about our subject for today back in the mythical year of 1983 - probably around the same time everyone else heard about him.

Starring in movies like Risky Business, All the Right Moves and The Outsiders probably didn't hurt his exposure to the general public, either; they were good (maybe even great) films and showcased Tom at his best.

From there, things went about as expected for a mega-star on the rise: big hits (Top Gun, Days of Thunder), big misses (Legend, Far and Away), prestige pictures to keep him in the eye of the Academy voters (The Color of Money, Jerry Maguire) and lots of bankability: in fact, for awhile Tom Cruise was the "go-to" guy to insure your movie would make at least $100 million (don't ask Ridley Scott to back those figures up, though - that didn't work out so well), and to debut at #1 its first week of release - you know, like Steven Seagal movies used to do...but that's another story.

And of course, Cruise was always charming and self-effacing on talk shows and in interviews: that ever-present smile, his easy-going manner. There were even a few times he helped out some of his fans (remember when he saved one who was drowning, or another who was being crushed against a barricade during a movie premiere?), and was the nicest and most congenial guy on the whole planet.

What, then, turned him into the biggest joke on the same planet, in the matter of a few years' time?

Now, I am never one to equate people to their religions, or vice-versa, but the biggest damage to Tom Cruise seemed to come out around the same time it was made full public knowledge that he was, along with John Travolta, a card-carrying Scientologist.

Surprised? Then you've never watched "South Park".

It was soon after the fateful "South Park" episode 'Trapped in the Closet' that it seemed Cruise went on the defensive: everywhere he went and every time he spoke it was in response to his beliefs, his thoughts and his personal choices. Like it or not, he was now THE poster child for Scientology.

This led to some very awkward moments both in Tom's public and personal life; several well-publicized lawsuits against those who would slander his good name (lawsuits brought to England, since England lacks a formal equivalent of the First Amendment), a legendary tirade against "Today" show host Matt Lauer who brought up the subject of psychiatry in Tom's presence (Scientologists don't believe in psychiatry, you see) and, even more legendarily, Tom's couch-jumping episode on "Oprah", where in he tried to show he was still capable of being a nice guy (in love, no less) but instead came across as someone having a sugar fit. Of course, the world's press, paparazzi and comedians leapt on that bandwagon like starving puppies chasing after the proverbial miniature chuck wagon.

And at this point, his movies don't even do the box office they once did. When Tom Cruise stars in a movie directed by Robert Redford and it goes straight to video, something's wrong.

What are we, the public at large, supposed to make of what amounts to a seeming meltdown unrivaled by Three Mile Island, whose devastation promises to stretch far and wide, laying to waste a once-respected actor and everything (including the good will) he had built up for years?

To Joe Blow sitting at home watching "Entertainment Tonight" or "Inside Edition", Tom will be written off as another Hollywood Nut Job who let his success and his ego get the better of him. Another Victor Mature or other such Adonis of a bygone age who faded into outright obscurity before the world's eyes.

But is this fair? After all, 98% of all actors in Hollywood suffer from a raging case of insecurity which leads to (A) their becoming actors, (B) surrounding themselves with such intense hype and hyperbole that they have built a cocoon against the cruel outside world, (C) their joining of groups - let's just call them that - that portend to support them and build up their confidence...usually at a price, and (D) an absolute detachment from anything that would make them think or feel they were any less than perfect. With all of this happening, it's no surprise this kind of thing takes place on a regular basis.

I'm the absolute last person in the world to to chastise anyone for their insecurities, but is celebrity any better a crutch for the human soul than drugs, alcohol or any other addiction? And celebrity is an addiction: the constant need for exposure, the want for approval, the applause of a grateful audience, wanting to have your face on every poster, magazine, newspaper and web page in existence...to quote a James Bond pic, the world is not enough. The celebrity must have more. It's an obsession.

Tom Cruise is no different than any other actor in the world who wants to be respected for what he does. But he's in grave danger of slipping from "actor" to "celebrity", and becoming more famous for who he is than what he does - what good that he does, I should say. The bad seems to outweigh the good in the court of public opinion nowadays for Mr. Cruise.

So what are we to make of Tom Cruise? Is he a good guy caught in a bad circumstance? Is he a jerk just now being unmasked for what he is? Is he a brainwashed drone for a group trying to gain broader appeal? Or is all the gilding finally wearing off this lily?

Look at any picture of Cruise nowadays and he just looks tired. Tired of what he's doing, tired of everything going on around him, tired of all the hype.

Maybe he's just waiting to fade into a long stretch of obscurity.

Maybe he finally realizes that he can do wrong.

Or maybe Tom Cruise is just as tired of Tom Cruise as everybody else.

Time will tell. But I still wouldn't expect any heartfelt apologies to Matt Lauer just yet. Give him another 10 years, maybe.

Dope out.

-TGWD