In defense of Christian Bale

Done listening? Okay, here it goes…

I have been in his position before, minus the pressure of remembering lines and ACTUALLY being in the film (I do extra work for spare change). On the set of “Binky” with Janeane Garofalo, I can remember spending two hours filming this one short scene and it drove me to the point of insanity. After several missed takes because of Garofalo’s inept co-star (the guy had constantly screwed up his lines and nearly ran me down during one take), we had this one shot nail down perfect… Except for the one idiot from ACTRA who didn’t bother to shut his cellphone off for the take… Smart one…

You can’t imagine how angry myself and others were when after two hours of doing everything to get this scene right, after two hours of mistakes and missteps, from a fussy director to an incompetent D-list actor, that when everything was finally “clicking” that this happened. While it does look bad for Bale, I will say that, having been in a similar position myself, I completely understand. If I had been one of the stars in that film, I myself would have lashed out and demanded this guy been fired, threatening to quit myself. You don’t walk into scenes ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS (as Bale indicated during his rant) and expect to NOT get torn a new one for incompetence…

Not being an actor by trade, not having that kind of pressure placed on me, I can’t FULLY understand Bale’s feelings here, but even with my limited show business experience, I can tell you that his actions are defendable. I think Christian Bale is definitely one of the better actors in movies today, and this outburst doesn’t compare to some of the blatant stupidity we are seeing from disgraces like Ashton Kutcher, who recently threatened to kill his neighbour because the “dickweed’s” renovations were too loud for him…

With that said, for those like TMZ (who broke this “story”), who profit by making celebrities miserable, I can’t defend them… Paparazzi like them are leaches and should be treated as such…

UPDATE: This from Slate’s Christopher Beam…

In a three-minute expletive-laced tirade, Bale yells at the director of photography for walking into the frame and threatens to “kick [his] fucking ass.” (Audio here; full transcript here.) Is verbal abuse ever illegal?

Yes. The First Amendment protects all kinds of insulting language but not speech that qualifies as “fighting words.” In the 1942 case Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court defined fighting words as language that creates the threat of immediate physical conflict or that “by [its] very utterance inflict[s] injury.” For Bale to be found liable in a civil suit, the plaintiff would first have to establish that the actor’s words could easily have led to blows.

HUH? Explain to me how this was illegal. It is a heated argument, and any lawyer worth salt could defend Bale in court if charges were to be brought because of this. State of mind anyone? Beam is stretching a story to not onlykeep this paparazzi garbage in the press a while longer, but to promote himself, to boost his own image. Could it be that maybe there are other stories to be reported on? Far be it from Slate to pay attention to Democrat scandals or Barack Obama blunders…

Oh no, that would require integrity, and many journalists don’t seem to possess that anymore…

UPDATE: Now even TMZ is reporting that T4’s assistant director and associate producer, Bruce Franklin, said this outburst was a “non-event”. It would be nice if Slate’s Christopher Beam would get that message… What a tool…

UPDATE: Wow, I actually agree with Whoopi Goldberg on this one…

On The View she admitted that she, too, will derail if people screw up on set. “We don’t know if this [happened] at the end of the day, we don’t know how many hours [the cast had] been working,” she said. “It’s tough. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I too have gone off on people, because if you’re a professional, you know what you’re not supposed to do.” While filming Sister Act, she fought so bitterly with Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg she eventually took Carrie Fisher’s advice to send him a hatchet with the note, “Please bury this on both our behalfs.” He repaid her with a gift of two brass balls.

Just as I said, acting is very stressful, and here is more proof for my point. While I don’t always agree with her, I have to had it to Whoopi for being in Christian Bale’s corner.

UPDATE: My friend Kirk has the story on Christian Bale’s apology for his rant. Personally I don’t think he needs to apologize, but it shows what a “class act” this man is.

Hopefully this will put an end to the non-story… Pathetic…

UPDATE: While on the subject of Garofalo, it seems she has taken shots at both the GOP and Sarah Palin recently, as NewsBusters.org’s Lynn Davidson reported. On the set of “Binky”, the movie I was an extra in (as I discussed above), I had the “pleasure” of meeting this so-called “political genius”, and I have to say, I was less than impressed. Instead of showing off her socio-political prowess, she spent a few minutes with her co-star discussing “life-changing” impact the movie Super Troopers had on her.

Anyone who’s life is forever altered by a low-brow comedy like Super Troopers isn’t worth listening to… No one seeks “spiritual guidance” from American Pie right? Pathetic…