I’m going to start doing quickposts in order to get over my tentative posting patterns and write more! While I don’t think they’ll always be lists, I was having a conversation earlier this evening about how ridiculous it is that many people label celebrities “an asshole” or “really genuine”. Unless you’ve actually been in the same room with them (and usually not even then), there’s no way you can say that you can affirmatively say that they’re personality is one extreme or the other. Obviously this has a lot to do with what tabloid storyline ghetto a celebrity has been relegated to – it’s been like five years, I could give a shit about what’s going on in Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie’s uterus.
That being said, there are some repeat offenders – either in interviews, leaked footage, or accounts from co-workers – that make me feel a little less guilty about making a generalization. I still like these performers/creators (with the exception of Frank Miller, Kevin Smith and Gene Simmons because their work is crap from the get-go). I learned my lesson from the 2000 election: never go with the guy you think you can have a beer with over the one that’s obviously an asshole but more qualified.
James Woods: Very conservative and very outspoken about it. His reasoning and argumentation style made him a tea partier before there was even such a thing.
Frank Miller: Ditto. Worse, he presents the misogyny and racism in his work as fact as opposed to, well, anything defensible or interesting.
Peter Sellers: Destroyed film projects, careers, a couple of marriages and his children’s childhoods with his ego.
Dennis Hopper: Very smug and took credit for a lot of things he didn’t do, but specifically the idea that he wrote and directed Easy Rider. (Terry Southern wrote the screenplay, editors at AIP pieced it together.) He also did very, very unkind impersonations of David Lynch and pretty clearly made an opportunistic move from left to right politically.
Steven Seagal: Mostly because he uses excessive force as a police officer.
Russell Crowe: Has been very demanding and difficult to work with. Besides, I’ve never seen him in a really amazing or nuanced role. Great, you can shout, now get in the corner with latter-day Al Pacino.
Christian Bale:
Vincent Gallo: Probably one of the more ridiculous people on this list. He has sold his sperm exclusively to Aryan women (and offered to “personally deliver it” to ones that were attractive), repeatedly made homophobic and vaguely fascistic remarks, all the while knowing he can get away with it because he’s so good looking.
Kevin Smith: A writer-director who does not write or direct very memorably. Some of his scenes are quotable, but I don’t think that the ability to rework some line from Star Wars so an army of dudes in shortpants will repeat it until the end of time is really a talent. Also, he’s made unnecessarily vicious remarks about Ben Affleck and Tim Burton, blaming them for projects that didn’t work out. Yes, I’m sorry your terrible screenplay for Superman didn’t work out. It’s probably because the sound of your dick rubbing against your hand was too loud.
Gene Simmons: Proud misogynist and marketer who happened to do rock music on the side. Unapologetically in love with himself.
Honorary mentions: Klaus Kinski, Robert Crumb, Norman Mailer
