GEORGE MF WASHINGTON: Mayday Mayday Mayday, This Is Hollywood Two-Zero-Two-Five… We Are Going Down…:
This reporter attended the premiere and ambushed several cast members on the red carpet in an attempt to lure them into saying something controversial. Gunn’s brother gleefully took the bait saying “yes, Superman is an immigrant… and if you don’t like that, you’re not American” with a nasty sneer plastered on his mug. Further down the red carpet, this same reporter, grinning mischievously into the camera, baited Nathan Fillion into saying “Somebody needs a hug… it’s just a movie, guys”, by telling the actor that MAGA was furious that this new “Superman” movie had the gall to celebrate immigrants.
And just like that, the damage was done. For the rest of the week leading up to its release, much of the excitement of an imminent blockbuster featuring one of America’s most beloved characters became lost in yet another round of bitter political combat caused primarily by out-of-touch Hollywood elites who just couldn’t keep their mouths shut nor their disdain for Flyover America tucked away in their vests.
On the other hand, compare this sequence of events with a similar one which occurred during an interview with the cast of the final “Mission: Impossible” film earlier this year. Once again, a reporter tried to bait the cast into commenting on American politics, this time with a question about Donald Trump and tariffs. But this time, Tom Cruise looked the reporter in the eye and declared, very simply, “we’d rather answer questions about the movie” in that quiet authoritative tone that has become the hallmark of Cruise the Hollywood elder statesman. The message was clear… we’re not playing that game here today.
It’s remarkable that Cruise, of all people, should have such great instincts for how to sell a movie while deftly avoiding the same rakes that almost everyone else in Hollywood can’t seem to stop stepping on. Remarkable because Cruise the Movie Star first became internationally famous for his portrayal of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a cocky F-14 Tomcat fighter pilot best known for flying by the seat of his pants. “Up there… if you think… you’re dead”, as Maverick describes his philosophy in the original “Top Gun.”
Read the whole thing.