Where's the gossip?
We had a lovely day yesterday, the hubs and me. TCM was showing Gone With the Wind--we only caught the last half (from Scarlett's "As God is my witness" speech to the end) but it was nice to sit and watch it together. (He took me to see it when it had its 60th anniversary rerelease in the theatres, too, but we really haven't watched it since. That, btw, was the Day I Saw Dan Marino At The Movies.)
After the movie they had a documentary on the making of Gone With the Wind: The Musical, which looks truly excreble (we're temped to go see it--actually, I'm tempted to invite my MIL but I have a feeling she might actually enjoy it which would ruin the fun of laughing at it), and then, a biography on Bette Davis. Who I love.
They showed an interview with Bette in which she called one of her costars "a horrendous bitch". Or words to that effect. And it reminded us of her famous feud with Joan Crawford (I believe the quote, when she heard of Crawford's death, was something like: "You should only say good things about the dead, so... Joan Crawford is dead. Good." The awesome is choking me.)
But the hubs and I realized, when thoroughly enjoying this, that we can't think of any great modern screen feuds.
Oh sure, there's Shannon Doherty vs. the entire rest of the 90210 cast, but every other example we could come up with is much older. The closest we could come behind that was Penny Marshall vs. Cindy Williams on Laverne & Shirley (I remember as a child being stunned by this, because I imagined them being just bestest friends) or possible Suzanne Sommers vs. John Ritter (RIP) & Joyce Dewitt.
It seems kind of sad, doesn't it? This "We're all one big happy family look how we all love each other" thing? I seem to recall something in the last couple of years about Lindsay Lohan and some other girl fighting over Wilmer Valderama, but they weren't working together so it doesn't count. I mean the kinds of feuds that turn movie sets into little potholes of Hell, or make series costars duck and cover when two people finish a scene together.
Is it simply that people don't talk about this stuff anymore? Or that it isn't happening? I know occasionally we'll get a remark (who was it who said of Val Kilmer, "I wouldn't cast Val Kilmer again if I were making a movie about Val Kilmer"? Although apparently Val has mellowed a bit.)
Can you think of any? Isn't it sad that our celebrity gossip is limited to boring stuff these days, lame sex tapes and oooh-they're-adopting-more-babies and are-they-married-or-nots, instead of the great personality clashes we used to get?
Did the pictures get smaller :-)? Or is everyone just a lot more boring now? I couldn't care less about celebrities these days, probably because so few of them seem to have any personality at all--maybe partly because nobody fights anymore. There's no real scandal, it seems, and it's a bit depressing. For me anyway. What about you? Can you think of any other great feuds?
12 comments:
Very true. Lately it seems it's more the famous people having spats with the scandal rags rather than each other. Tyra Banks in a size 9 bathingsuit comes to mind.
Oh! Wait! wasn't there something about Kim Cattral and SJP not talking on the set of Sex and the City...
"You should only say good things about the dead, so... Joan Crawford is dead. Good."
LMAO! D, that one is great.
Marlon Brando told Val Kilmer once on the set of Island of Dr. Moreau:
"You are confusing your talent with the size of your paycheck."
The problem is the stars these days are wimps that are afraid to confront anyone face-to-face. Back in the day the men were men and the women were women -not sniveling back-biters but people that would let you know to your face that they had a problem with you. -V95
Hmmm. I have a friend who works in Hollywood and he knows all the dirt. I'll have to get with him.
He said that Bruce Willis is the biggest butthole in Hollywood, and that Eddie Murphy was picking up those "female" prostitutes years before that story was leaked...lol.
Oh, and after watching Mommie Dearest, one can draw the conclusion that Joan Crawford was evil.
Other than a few rock bands I never really noticed celebreties much. Not my world.
Exactly, Seeley. That's no fun at all. Celebrity gossip is like office gossip; the pettier and smaller it is, the more fun and interesting it is. And yeah, there was apparently some trouble between SJP and KC, but I don't think we ever got any real details, sadly.
Oooh, Bernard, that's a good one! I also love what Sir Laurence Olivier said to Dustin Hoffman once, after Hoffman stayed up for like 40 hours or something in order to realistically portray a man who'd done just that (it was the movie with the pulled tooth, I think, which I bet you know the name of seeing as you're a man). Dustin explained why he looked so gruesome and Sir L looked at him and said, "Why don't you try acting?"
Now THAT is very true, V95. They used to be Big Personalities; not anymore.
Yes, Tyhitia, you should. Although the Willis thing surprises me, I've always heard he was really cool. Of course, I've always heard that from bartenders, and considering Willis used to be a bartender and has a rep for being really cool (friendly, good tipper, etc) to them...
Doesn't surprise me re Eddie, sadly. I've read that he's an extremely unpleasant man in real life.
And yes, lol, you can indeed draw that conclusion. Oh I love that movie. "Tina!" (dramatic pause) "Bring me the axe!"
No, not mine either Charles, but the Bette bio got me thinking. And I didn't have anything else to blog about. I've actually been having a rough week or two; this seemed more fun than public moping. :-)
As someone who's worked backstage in theatre, film, and television all my life and HATES the diva crap, let me tell you a bit about it.
First of all, you can get away with more bad behavior on a film than you can on a series or in theatre, because, usually, you're only there for 3-4 months, and if it's a big enough name, everyone eats the sh--- for a few months and deals.
With the pressures of either an 8-show week or the excruciating months of 14-16 hour days on television set, there isn't room for that kind of behavior, most of the time, and, fortunately, most producers are smart enough to get rid of the actors who pull the crap.
Actors can be written out of a series and the series will still survive.
But it can't survive if everyone dreads coming to work every day.
I'm delighted when a badly behaving actor is kicked to the curb, because there are at least 1000 other actors out there who will not only do the same or a better job, bring a unique quality to the project, but also be a joy to work with.
I have a short list of actors where there isn't enough money on this earth to get me to work with them again.
And a fairly long list of those with whom I enjoy working.
Productions are not just about actors. There are 150-200 people pulling brutally long days. There's no such thing as glamour when you're making the project -- only when you're screening it or at the opening night party!
Also, remember that some of the old-style feuds were created by the studios -- it's one of the subplots in my novel THE FIX-IT GIRL.
Did Bette and Joan hate each other? Yes. But some of the other "feuds" were created for publicity.
And with the modern lack of journalistic ethics in so-called entertainment "reporting", half the time modern reported feuds are between people who haven't even met each other.
"Gossip" used to be created by the publicity departments of the studios to publicize films. Now it's created by these disgusting rag mags to make sales.
Neither has very much to do with what really happens behind the scenes, much less any sort of "truth."
As soon as I saw your subject line, I knew it was going to be a great set of comments. Why don't you try acting? - I'm still laughing.
Great stuff.
'The Marathon Man'. Oh my, that's a beauty, D!
Well, there was that "faggot" comment on Grey's Anatomy, by the guy who played the black doctor about T. R. Knight. Knight got all hurt and eventually the black guy got fired.
As I understand it, Ethel Merman was one of the biggest divas in show business. Jacqueline Susann even parodied her in, oh, the Valley of the Dolls, I think. I never understood why she was so big- she couldn't dance, couldn't sing, couldn't act, and wasn't exactly pin-up girl material, you know?
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