Who's Behind Tom Cruise's Massive Image Overhaul, Tom Cruise Or The Church Of Scientology? - Page 2
Cruise, Church Rethink Strategy
The 2005 out-of-left field attack on Brooke Sheilds for using medication to overcome her battle with post-partum depression threw Tom's female fans for a loop. To compound the madness, Cruise then did the infamous Today Show appearance with Matt Lauer, which turned into a verbal sparring match, with Tom accusing Matt of being "glib," and ending with Cruise proclaiming to be all-knowing about matters of the mind (courtesy of Scientology's teachings of course).
Throw in the Oprah couch-molesting incident and obnoxious displays of affection for new child-bride Katie (we must now call her Kate) Holmes, the crazy cat was out of the bag. In a 2006 USA Today/Gallup Poll, a least 50% of those surveyed had an "unfavorable" view of Cruise, which Redstone and Paramount used as grounds for severing their relationship with the tainted superstar.
Juxtaposed to that Cruise's Paramount split, was the star topping a Forbes list of the 100 most powerful celebs. So on one hand, Cruise is the most powerful celeb, but on the other, his ability to connect with fans dropped to 50%. Clearly Paramount wasn't willing to take the gamble and saw the writing was on the wall. It would take Cruise's camp (aka Scientology minders) a little while longer to figure out what industry insiders were seeing all too well. No matter how powerful or popular Cruise was, using his star-power to pimp Scientology's not-so-secret agenda against psychiatry and the pharmaceuticals industry was having a deeply negative impact on his well-crafted image.
In fact, these days if you are planning to interview Tom about his new film, there are several rules you must agree to before hand. You must have seen Valkyrie, you must have enjoyed Valkyrie, and you must read over an official Scientology document which states the organization was never banned in Germany. Oh, but you can't ask him anything about Scientology.
To the astute observer, this image overhaul reeks of many things, but most overwhelming is the smell of desperation from a once internationally known uber-star. Cruise's career has spanned three decades and as he approaches middle age, (he'll be 47 this year) time, controversy and criticism have worn grooves in his once youthful good looks. Those made-for-an-Oscar leading man roles are growing fewer and fewer and ever-elusive statue continues to fall just beyond his grasp (Cruise's been nominated 3 times, but has yet to win). Tom Cruise is a teetering star on the edge, and with the right push, he could fall off into oblivion.
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