point
by Corinne Low
The thing about Tom Cruise is that I never really felt the same about him after he dumped Nicole. I’m starting to think that Nicole’s fabulousness was exactly why she and Tom would never work out: She was just a little too appealing for him. Nicole had personality, had star pull, had presence. Has presence. In the end, she and all her je ne sais quoi likability was dampening his Days of Thunder. Tom tried to find a lesser-known star in Penelope Cruz, but even she was a little long on the Spanish fire, a little short on the screaming schoolgirl. So Tom moved on. He searched far and wide for someone who would buy into his self-righteous Scientology BS and always shut up and let him talk to the nice man with the microphone. He found it in one Miss Katie Holmes (or is it “Kate” now?) of Joey Potter fame.
Some people have been calling the whole affair a publicity stunt, but the truth is, it’s much sadder than that. Call it instead a… self-esteem stunt. Instead of an antic to beef up his public image, I believe Tom Cruise’s deep-end dive is a desperate gamble at building up his own ego.
Think about it: he has finally found someone whose career will never overshadow his (take one look at Batman Begins to confirm this), whose convictions will yield to his all-knowingness, whose love—or something that closely resembles it—will be unwavering. Those who have seen Katie with her new Scientology watchdog might wonder, “Is she on drugs? How in God’s name did she get so deluded?” The answer is simple. Katie has said in interviews that she grew up wanting to marry Tom Cruise—and that’s exactly why she shouldn’t. She’s so blinded by her dream-come-true that she can’t even see that her Top Gun is nothing but an imploding star.
Tom keeps going around telling everyone how happy he is. Really, Tom? Because happy people don’t relentlessly criticize other people’s choices. Happy people don’t throw fits over practical jokes. Happy people do not snap at reporters, wag fingers in people’s faces or deliver condescending lectures to everyone they encounter. I’m sorry, but the barking Napoleon we’ve been seeing on the red carpet just doesn’t seem like the happy, serene, “clear” guy he claims to be. He seems like an aging celebrity calmed by the idea that as long as he puts a ring on her finger, he’ll always have a fan. And there ain’t nothin’ glamorous about that.
Counterpoint
by Robert Winterode
Brangelina, eat your heart out.
TomKat is totally like the best thing ever. Like yeah. As the leading lady and gentleman of the summer’s biggest movies, they’re totally sporting the season’s hottest accessories: each other.
And what isn’t there to love about these two?
The two button-nosed cuties embody the best of America, the idea that two perfect people can find each other and transcend age differences… and religions.
Plus it’s good for their careers.
Katie Holmes—plagued by the regrettable Dawson’s Creek stigma—couldn’t catch a break on Sunset Strip as she was cast in flops (see Phone Booth) and indie trash (see Pieces of April). On the other hand, Tom Cruise after a reliable (and predictable) film stint had to finally reupholster his image and play the bad guy in Collateral. Scientology just wasn’t cutting it for him anymore.
Thus, TomKat was born, and its creation has risen the stock of everyone involved—including that of their individual movies and their personal svengali, the Hermes-defying hot mama goddess herself Oprah Winfrey.
(All hail Oprah.)
As for alleged gossip that Tom had a short list of other silky starlets, including Scarlett Johansson and Kate Bosworth, to woo in a massive marketing campaign for WOTW, I say poppycock. Everyone has a short list. Mine includes Paris, Gwen, Britney, Amerie and Shakira.
No matter.
Another supposed rumor I’ve been hearing is that Katie Holmes’ time has arrived and all of this TomKat publicity will hinder her chances at engaging in Oscar-worthy performances the way fellow foxes Halle Berry and Charlize Theron did (if only briefly). And in truth, rumor has it that Kate—as she’s known to be called now—recently turned down some impressive films. I say it’s all for the better. It’s high time that admirable celebs like Holmes, Madonna and Kutcher started harkening back to that old-fashioned relic of the ’50s: the stable nuclear family unit.
I mean look at what happened to crackpot Lindsay Lohan, the poor product of a very broken home.
So, you know what?
It’s a free country and if TomKat want to declare their love by closing down the Eiffel Tower, blanketing Access Hollywood with their effervescent shenanigans and pimpin’ on 106 and Park, it should be (and has been) totally embraced by the national media.
And if it’s love, hey, that’s just icing on the celeb wedding cake.
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