As a service to Lounge, I inflicted upon myself the total coverage of the CRUISE HOLMES split
Well, I kept the parameter as being just what was in Slate, only THREE items, because, incredibly, there's not *that* much time on my hands and even I have something of a life even if it means just tearing myself away long enough to forage for junk food. I really suffered for this assignment: I thought it was going to be a lot more salacious and it turned out to be pedestrian.
Please, no sermons about the sadness of divorce or how other people's private relationships are none of my business or that I should use emoticons, although a fairly good point might be that even the Lounge can be abused.
But if this topic is too boring, here's a heads-up: In Slate there is an item about whether cats looking at videos of other cats recognize what they're seeing. You're welcome.
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/06/29/tom_cruise_and_katie_holmes_split_scientology_won_t_fare_well.html
[font size=5]Why Scientologists Are Crying[/font]
By Libby Copeland
All right, Tom and Katie are getting divorced. Enough about them. We know the big question on everyone’s minds is: Is this bad for the Scientologists? [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"] [/FONT]
Yes, most definitely. This whole summer will be bad for the Scientologists. Ever since the news that Katie Holmes’ marriage to Tom Cruise came with a Scientology conversion, public perception has been that he forced his religion onto this one-time good little Catholic girl, and that she wasn’t happy about it. Never mind that Holmes should be able to make her own mind about religious matters; tabloids and celebrity sites have relentlessly pushed the notion of [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]Cruise as a creepy control freak bent on spreading his creepy religion[/FONT]. Maybe he forced her to convert, much like Jason Lee’s ex-wife has said she was forced. Maybe it was part of some contract—why else would any sane woman even consider a silent birth? Or maybe she was [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]hypnotized by his pinwheel eyes[/FONT].
In 2009, when Holmes reportedly enrolled 3-year-old Suri in a Catholic pre-school, the Daily Mail presented it as a victory for her. (“Holmes, 30, has not been seen at the Church of Scientology for more than five months,” the paper reported). It’s more than likely that in coming weeks the barrage of gossip emerging about the couple’s split will include details about their religious rift. What are the odds Holmes remains a Scientologist post-divorce?
[FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]This is shaping up to be a crummy season for Scientology. New Yorker writer Paul Haggis is said to be writing an exposé of the church. The movie The Master, due in the fall, takes a highly critical look[/FONT] at a church/cult that appears awfully similar to Scientology. And of course, Scientologist John Travolta has been inundated with lawsuits from several men, including massage therapists and a personal assistant, alleging he made unwanted sexual advances, including asking one of the men to “take me.” This is not the sort of scandal Travolta can fix by simply kissing his wife on the red carpet, though he did try. Given the persistent rumors that Tom Cruise is also gay, there will be no doubt those who joke that the men’s marriages are dissolving so that they, at last, can be together. [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]We, however, will not make this joke[/FONT].
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/06/29/tom_cruise_and_katie_holmes_split_scientology_won_t_fare_well.html
[font size=5]Was the Cruise-Holmes Marriage Good for Their Careers?[/font]
By L.V. Anderson, J. Bryan Lowder, and Daniel Lametti
News that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will divorce after five and a half years of marriage has reignited speculation that their marriage was intended primarily to benefit both parties’ careers. Of course, this kind of gossip is pretty much impossible to corroborate, but it made us wonder: Whose acting career has benefited more since Holmes and Cruise married in November 2006?
In terms of critical acclaim, Cruise’s career seems to have neither benefited nor been damaged by his marriage to Holmes, a period during which he appeared in such films as Tropic Thunder, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, and the recent Rock of Ages. (Slate film critic Dana Stevens said that the “real reason to see Rock of Ages” was none other than Mr. Cruise.) The Rotten Tomatoes average rating of Tom Cruise movies during the actor’s marriage to Holmes is 60 percent, only slightly below his career average of 64 percent. He fared slightly better during his marriage to Nicole Kidman, which lasted from December 1990 to August 2001, and between his marriages to Kidman and Holmes: During both of those periods, his mean Rotten Tomatoes score hovered around 70 percent. (Cruise was also previously married to actress Mimi Rogers in the earliest stages of his acting career.)
Financially, though, Cruise’s career has suffered since he married Holmes. At the box office, his movies have earned an average of $70,963,395 domestically since November 2006, according to data from Box Office Mojo. This is just 58 percent of his average movie gross during his marriage to Kidman ($121,369,835). The flushest period for Cruise at the box office was between his marriage to Kidman and his marriage to Holmes: Then, his movies earned an average of $135,522,399.
Conclusion: Americans were more willing to shell out cash to see Cruise when he was a divorcé. This may bode well for his post-Holmes career.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/trending/2012/06/29/tom_cruise_and_katy_holmes_getting_divorced.html
[font size=5]Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Divorce Will Spur More Speculation About Their Relationship[/font]
By Slate V Staff|
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting a divorce after five years of marriage.
The two wed in 2006; it will be Cruise's third divorce, and surely spur more speculation about the star's romantic life, and what might happen to the couple's young daughter, Suri.
Cruise's career up-and-downs have often been linked to difficulties in his personal life; strange behavior in an interview with Oprah Winfrey just before he and Holmes were married led many to question the actor's mental stability. Cruise's recent film Rock of Ages has been a box office disappointment.
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