Vox

Musings, rants, rambling, general nonsense

Did Tom Cruise Compare Acting To Combat?

Posted on | November 14, 2013 | 2 Comments

Tom Cruise

No. No, he didn’t.

And you all need to stop posting stories claiming he did.

When Tom Cruise said, “It was brutal“, it was in reference to being separated from his daughter.
When asked whether he thought the situations were the same [going to war, location shooting], he said, “Oh come on, you know, we’re making a movie.

Look, I am no fan of Tom Cruise. I think his acting is mediocre and he seems well past 11 on the crazy meter.

The fact that this misinformation keeps getting posted bothers me for several reasons – the main one being: It isn’t the truth! I am so tired of people and organizations spreading untruths simply because it suits their agenda or helps spin up their readership. Just because I dislike the subject (Cruise) and support the “maligned” (combat troops), doesn’t mean I should be OK lying about his statement.

It bothers me because many right-leaning “news” sites have posted it – repeatedly. I place the scare quotes around “news” because, if they can’t be bothered to get the facts, I can’t take them seriously when they report the “news”. I have come to expect that behavior from left-leaning sites and even the MSM, but I expect better from our side. Even worse, I know several of these outlets have been told the truth, and yet continue to spread the lie – in one case, defending their doing so because the “concept is important” (no, I will not give them a link)

It has now engulfed Mark Wahlberg, who was asked, while promoting a movie he just completed about soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, what he thinks of actors who compare acting to combat. He, understandably, let loose with more than a couple of bad words. It doesn’t appear Wahlberg mentions Cruise by name, and he may very well have been unaware of what the interviewer was referencing. In fact, since Wahlberg references S.E.A.L. training, not separation, odds are he thought they were asking about something more general. However, this is spreading across the internet as “Wahlberg goes ballistic on Cruise“, thus manufacturing a feud out of whole cloth. (Incidentally, he doesn’t seem to be going ballistic, he seems pretty calm)

The original statement, by a lawyer, not Tom Cruise, “By your reasoning, any actor who is shooting on location in a foreign country could be charged with child abandonment, as could all of the mothers and fathers serving overseas in the military” is true. I do not have the links right now, but there have been cases where parents have had their custody challenged, and some who lost, because they were deployed.video chat Obviously the experiences away are decidedly different, as are the motivations for doing so. Still, discounting a man’s (or woman’s) parenting and accusing them of abandonment for temporary work away is not good for anyone. In Cruise’s case specifically, he had the peace of mind that his daughter was being well cared for and he was able to communicate with her on a regular basis. Video chatting is a luxury that is available to more & more parents on the road, even those fighting wars in far-away lands, in horrible conditions.

I’m tired of people sharing stuff they don’t bother to verify first. I’m beyond frustrated with people who do so even when they know it is untrue. And I am livid that organizations that claim to be Conservative and present themselves as informational have not only shared this, but continue to do so.

And don’t even get me started on how I feel about having to defend Tom Cruise

UPDATE: Forgot to add this earlier. The majority of folks sharing the “Wahlberg sticks it to Cruise” angle are lauding Wahlberg as a hero. Many of those same people were chastising Wahlberg not so very long ago for his perceived anti-gun statements. Yesterday the goat, today the hero. Both characterizations are equally flawed, but, hey, don’t let the truth hit you in the outrage on your way out.



Comments

2 Responses to “Did Tom Cruise Compare Acting To Combat?”

  1. LoganK
    November 15th, 2013 @ 10:06 am

    I know nothing of this story, but…

    Well written article, and I agree completely. I wish we could all put our rage-based viewer acquisition behind us, but, as they say, “you can’t argue with results”.

  2. Vox AZ
    November 15th, 2013 @ 10:56 am

    I guess, “If it bleeds, it leads” doesn’t play anymore. We’ve become desensitized.

    Click-bait now is outrageous outrage – and, like you say, it works.

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