Discuss Mission: Impossible - Fallout
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Narcissism disguised as an action movie?
posted by fan_of_filmsSTAFFMOD on July 26, 2018 at 5:30 AM
The reviews for Fallout are mostly very positive but if you put that to one side, you could argue MI:Fallout is all about Tom Cruise telling everyone how great he is.
"Look at me, I'm hanging from a helicopter!"
"Look at me, I'm jumping out of a plane!"
"Look at me, I'm hanging from a cliff!"
"Look at me, I'm jumping over high buildings!"
Cruise and the marketing keep selling the fact he does his own stunts. Cruise keeps saying "I want to entertain people" but I think a psychiatrist would offer a different explanation. He/she might suggest Cruise is inherently narcissistic. He needs the attention, he need to be validated and he does this be showing us how great he is, how brave he is. Notice how Cruise says he jumped out of the plane over 100 times. Most people might say "we had to do several takes on that scene" but Cruise, the narcissist, overcooks it -"I did over 100 jumps!" He did the same thing with Rogue Nation: "I held by my breath for seven minutes, we did lots of takes of my holding onto the plane."
It's all about Cruise's feats of endurance, how brave he is. Everything has to be exaggerated. He's done this for years. In 2014 he said
My Job's As Hard As Fighting in Afghanistan
Tom Cruise not only thinks he trains harder than Olympic athletes, he believes his job as a professional actor is as grueling as fighting the war in Afghanistan -- this according to legal docs obtained by TMZ.
As we reported, Cruise recently sat for a deposition in his $50 million libel suit against a magazine publisher that claimed he abandoned daughter Suri -- and his quotes are GOLD.
First, the Middle East -- Tom says his location shoots are just like serving a tour in Afghanistan, "That's what it feels like. And certainly on this last movie, it was brutal. It was brutal."
As for his physical training, Tom said, "There is difficult physical stamina and preparation. Sometimes I've spent months, a year, and sometimes two years preparing for a single film." But the kicker, he adds, "A sprinter for the Olympics, they only have to run two races a day. When I'm shooting, I could potentially have to run 30, 40 races a day, day after day."
Tom forgot to mention that filming is done in stops and starts. Tom and the cast don't film non-stop for 12 hours a day. They stop when the camera has to be positioned from another angle. The lighting and sound and the rest have to be checked. They have lunch breaks. And last time I checked, movies are made on location and sound stages, they're not done in real war-zones.
It's kinda the same as Donald Trump's politicking. Trump has to tell everyone how great he is, how he can make America great again, how everything is peachy while he's in charge. It's no different to Cruise telling us how great/brave he is for wanting to entertain us. He wants to entertain us he says, but he's getting a big fee for doing so. He wouldn't hang on to a plane for one million dollars - "forget that," Cruise would most likely say, but for twenty million or more he would grace us with his bravery.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder with a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. Those affected often spend a lot of time thinking about achieving power or success, or on their appearance. They often take advantage of the people around them. The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of social situations.
Cruise is a leading member of Scientology - a cult that is not known for its empathy! It's known for brainwashing its members and taking money from them.
To be fair to Cruise, he doesn't come across as cold or lacking empathy in interviews. My guess is he is a decent enough guy (if we forget about his links to Scientology) but wants and expects validation from movie goers. All the people seeing Fallout this weekend are going to say "wow, Tom is amazing for doing all his stunts" and I guess Cruise gets a kick out of that. It's no different to Trump doing his rallies and getting unconditional praise from the audience.
Reply by wreckage3001 🎃🏠☕🍪
on July 26, 2018 at 4:20 PM
Ethan Hunt or James Bond, the hanging, jumping, running, killing, they do it for us, so you can feel as if you were doing it. You could look up to them and they, yes, they are true heroes, I'd be like them (and also have the women)
The best thing about being an operating thetan or whatever the name of the highest level is that Cruise can promote his movie in every city, no, any place in the universe he wants, at the same time!
Reply by Rtodd110
on July 26, 2018 at 7:54 PM
tom cruise is an alien, he will men in black us in his 80s with that creepy ass laugh on some talk show. actors are inherently narcissistic and they all strive for the "hey look at me role", I don't get your issue here...
Reply by Poetist
on July 27, 2018 at 4:02 AM
I can see how it is redundant. If you watch enough of these interviews, they blur together. I mean what else to see in this movie other than the stunts that Tom does? Does any other cast member do anything? What about the villain? The storyline? The pacing? The suspense? Something other than stunts to set it apart, because I can assume the audience/fan of MI know that there will be stunts.
Tom should be boasting about his acting abilities as opposed to how many halo jumps he does. Otherwise, he might as well be a stuntman.
Reply by Xyberfaust
on July 27, 2018 at 6:07 AM
Somebody's jealous.
And that's what a Hollywood movie star is paid to do: promote themselves and the movie. They are the product. That's why they talk about themselves. That's the point. That's why we watch those shows/interviews/promotions, because we are interested in the movie and in them. Otherwise, change the channel, get off a movie website, and stop complaining about the obvious while trying to badmouth someone you are very jealous of.
Reply by fan_of_films
on July 27, 2018 at 6:23 AM
If you like I can delete this thread. It can self destruct in five seconds!
To be fair, Fallout looks good, has some amazing critics and general movie goer reviews. I'll get round to seeing it when its on digital release.
I was merely offering a different take on Cruise and the MI films. Tom hanging onto a plane (Rogue Nation) takes bravery or craziness so fair dues to the guy but the marketing of Fallout was all about how amazing Tom Cruise is. It's a tad self-indulgent. If anyone tells me Tom Cruise is not narcissistic and not wanting people to praise him for his derring-do. I'll suggest they are deluding themselves! He has a history of people praising him "hardest working actor in Hollywood, blah blah blah." He's had this bullsh*t promotion. He doesn't have the monopoly on hard working actors but so many of his co-actors go on about he's the most hard working actor ever. What, you mean all the other 12 hour per day actors in Hollywood are not as hardworking? Gimme a break. I guess it's to sell him as a top Hollywood actor although the Scientology association has tarnished his image.
Reply by Poetist
on July 27, 2018 at 7:00 AM
Point taken and there is nothing wrong with voicing a different perspective. I can see both sides. As an actor, there is some self-promotion, but you are so right. Tom takes self-promotion or narcissism to a whole another level.
Personally, I enjoy Tom Cruise's movies, and I'm quite interested in the person. I would like to hear something different from him other than the constant theme that consisted forever.
Reply by e3m88
on July 28, 2018 at 1:58 AM
I liked the movie even more because I know Tom was doing a lot of his own stunts. He is the best action actor of all time for a reason.
Reply by fan_of_films
on July 28, 2018 at 12:07 PM
I wrote:
And guess what appears online... this!
https://www.eonline.com/news/955735/mission-impossible-fallout-cast-exposes-the-real-tom-cruise
Hand on heart, I've never seen so many items like this about any other actor. Seriously, never seen articles like this about any other actor. "Brad Pitt is so wonderful. Will Smith is amazing. Tom Hanks is so amazing how much love he spreads around the set."
Do you ever see people gushing about other movie stars? Nope. And even if does happen it's never to the gushing level that goes on with virtually every Cruise film. He works harder than everyone else, he takes years to learn how to hold a Samurai sword or fly a helicopter, or to run! Cruise may be the most wonderful man that's ever lived, he may be the complete opposite and knows and approves of every wicked thing done in Scientology (and there are many ex-Scientologists that claim it's a bad organization) - who knows, but it wouldn't surprise me if all the constant praise heaped on Cruise has some Scientology involvement. If Henry Cavill were to dare to say something negative about Cruise I'm guessing people at the top of Scientology would put pressure on casting people in Hollywood to blacklist him.
"Tom is a cool guy but when he mentions Scientology he makes me feel a bit ill and I have to make an excuse to leave the set."
Can you imagine any actor daring to say that to Tom Cruise? Nope.
There is an online interview with Mel 'crazy rant' Gibson and he said Hollywood is a brutal place. I doubt there is much love for anyone in that place but if you can fake insincerity and fake admiration for others it probably helps you climb up the greasy ladder to movie success.
Reply by ScorpionQ2
on July 28, 2018 at 6:43 PM
@fan_of_films said:
Nope and I agree with you, but I still like Tom Cruise and I think Brad Pitt is wonderful and Will Smith is amazing.
Reply by Poetist
on July 30, 2018 at 1:41 AM
I agree, but I think Tom Cruise PR team needs to let the film speak for itself or dial it down. My goodness talk about a tongue bath.
Reply by revengine
on July 30, 2018 at 4:22 AM
I think it's pretty much safe to say that most actors in Hollywood suffer, to some degree, from chronic narcissism mixed with high levels of histrionics. I think the best thing you can do is just to take Tom Cruise at his word when he says he wants to entertain and to avoid the interviews and other media pluggings as much as possible.
Reply by ScorpionQ2
on July 30, 2018 at 12:17 PM
@Poetist said:
LOL!
Reply by Poetist
on July 31, 2018 at 6:20 AM
Scorpion, are you watching Big Brother? Sure been missing you.
Reply by ScorpionQ2
on July 31, 2018 at 10:42 AM
Poetist,
No, sorry.
Reply by Poetist
on August 1, 2018 at 4:53 AM
Bummer. I think this season is better than the Paul show.