Alec Baldwin
A few weeks ago, a woman in Michigan was arrested for soliciting her seven-year-old daughter for purposes of prostitution to an undercover policeman. That, folks, is bad parenting. So it's hard to see why there's been so much tut-tutting about Alec Baldwin leaving his daughter a voice-mail where he calls her a "rude little pig."First of all, those who don't have kids can't imagine what kinds of things a person can say in the heat of anger (and by all accounts it appears that Baldwin's anger was really intended for his ex-wife, Kim Basinger, with whom he is going through nasty court proceedings). And for those with kids, how many would like their every move scrutinized by the press?
That Baldwin had to subject himself to the sorry spectacle of apologizing to the biddies on The View is indicative of the society we live in today, where celebrities seem to live their entire lives in fishbowls. The only apology Baldwin needed to make, if he found it necessary, was to his daughter, in private. As for her, maybe she was being rude, and if the worst thing she is ever called in her life is a rude little pig, she will live a charmed life indeed.
A lot of people get rich by exposing the private lives of celebrities, and I find it disgusting. This national mania about the comings and goings of people like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sells a lot of magazines and so-called "entertainment news" TV shows. I suppose for people who live lives of drudgery, this is what passes for excitement. I actually know someone who once told me that they were "worried" about Jennifer Aniston, after Brad Pitt left her. I find that an interesting statement. Of all the things I worry about, the romantic life of a young, multi-millionaire actress is pretty far down the list. I imagine she'll endure okay, and if she doesn't, well, it's not much skin off my nose.
Sorry, but I beg to differ. I don't have kids, but I was a kid. My parents never called me names, no matter how angry I made them-that's part of the job of being a grown up. I knew that my home was safe, and that I was loved and respected unconditionally, even when I was mistreated by other kids in school. As a result,I never accepted that I deserved the abuse the other kids heaped on me. So, yes, people survive being called names by their parents, but the fact she'll survive doesn't make it acceptable. And I guarantee that no matter how evolved she becomes, and how much forgiveness she finds it in her heart to give, she will always be able to recall that someone who claims to love her desperately enough to fight for her called her a rude little pig, and she will remember exactly how that felt. An elderly relative once told me a story of being hurt emotionally by his parents when he was a teenager. This kind, successful, loving man, who has lived a full life and found enjoyment in that life, still felt that hurt 70 years later-the tears welled in his eyes as he recounted the story that he had kept to himself for so long. Ireland did not ask for two parents who don't have enough common sense to know that their love for their child should trump their hatred for each other. If her greatest response to this media circus of a divorce is rudeness, they're damned lucky.
ReplyDeleteSorry, forgot to clarify something- I'm not particularly angry at Alec Baldwin, and I'm not looking for his apology. But I think by saying "at least he didn't sell her into prostitution," you trivialize the real damage verbal abuse can do.
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