Foot-In-Mouth Syndrome | Christopher Glenn
When comes to putting one's foot in one's own mouth, celebrities take the cake.
Now, I know that we don't all have editors to bail us out of our open-mouth-insert-foot moments, and I didn't always, either.
One time I was at a reunion of sorts with some guys I grew up with and we all got to talking about the fights we got in when we were younger. Of course, as we all spouted those "remember the time" stories, I had to mention that "hilarious time when we threw Tony Parker in the ice-cold pond," ha ha ha.
Then I remembered my old friend Wayne — sitting in the room with us — was now dating Tony's sister — who was also sitting in the room. Great.
Open mouth, insert foot.
I still twitch uncontrollably out of the blue sometimes when that memory pops into my head.
But it gets me thinking, and that's never a good thing. As my father-in-law would say about me thinking, "There goes Mike working without tools again."
But I do wonder if Brad Pitt twitches when he thinks about saying he won't marry Angelina Jolie until everyone who wants to get married can do so legally. I wonder if he cringes when he remembers that pictorial he did with Jolie depicting a 1960s suburban family to promote "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," which hit magazine stands while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston.
I wonder if Paris Hilton twitches at the memory of Rick Solomon, or if Lindsay Lohan twitches whenever she passes Scores strip club and thinks of the time she gyrated on stage with Kate Moss?
Will Barbra Streisand suddenly twitch because something triggers the "Shut the f--- up" memory of the time she said that to a fan?
Probably not, considering one of my favorite actor/directors, George Clooney, is reportedly joking about it to Julia Roberts. According to Page Six, Roberts may have said the same thing to the big-bad paparazzi and Clooney joked, "What is it with you girls? First Barbra, now you?"
I only qualify Clooney as one of my favorite actors and directors because I really don't hate celebrities. I actually love movies and Hollywood and stars.
But we only Grrr the ones we love, don't we? I mean the only reason we get so upset when celebrities spew their politics or their religion or whatever on their fans is because we are disappointed.
Disappointed in their heroes for whatever it is they're disappointed in. That disappointment then turns inward, and soon fans are upset that they even liked the star in the first place, and then it turns venomous.
They'll blog nasty things about the celebs, or they'll boycott the music or the movies. Some go further. Just ask the Dixie Chicks. Their biggest detractors after the "We're ashamed" of President Bush comment were once their biggest fans.
The dichotomy here is that actors and musicians and other artists presumably choose their fields because most don't want any kind of structure.
Life on the road, living in one's head, studying behavior, spending more time with an instrument than with people — are all inherent to the arts.
It's ironic then that these artists would want to impose their idea of structure on others, and then don't understand why the silent majority roars.
Pray my way, vote my way, buy products my way, use those products my way — all of this stuff celebrities collectively shun as a life choice — but it's OK when they do it.
But like I said, we all have our foot-in-mouth moments.
On Tuesday, broadcast journalism lost one of its most respected practitioners in CBS News Radio anchorman Christopher Glenn. An ethical and passionate newsman through and through, the man with the golden voice was one of the most focused people I've ever had the pleasure to work with.
It's been 10 years since I was a young and eager desk assistant on the overnight shift at CBS, but I will always remember the excitement Chris inspired in me, and I know that his friends and co-workers are going to miss him dearly.
Rest in peace Chris, and God bless your soul.
Here is an obit on CBSNews.com.
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