Mission: Impossible: III

Posted by Amber Nasrulla Apr 19, 2006

I just got a press release from CTV in which the publicist gushed that its entertainment program, eTalk has been "invited to follow the cast of Mission: Impossible: III for its promotional tour around the world."

Apparently, last year, reporter David Giammarco went global with star Tom Cruise and now he's going to be reunited with the father of three. eTalk is going to cover the film on not one, two, or three show, but EIGHT shows over two weeks (April 24 - May 8) as the cast travels to London, Rome, L.A., New York, Mexico City and more. Will the audience be able to handle a two-week Cruise even if he is aglow with the birth of his child?

Sadly, this pricey junket says a lot more about the reporter and the show's producers than it does about the colossally powerful Cruise, who reportedly was paid $75-million for this job. (Thanks to Diane Sawyer for that salary tidbit.) Giammarco is a nice enough fellow although he's prone to giggling nervously and fawning during celebrity interviews. Those traits are forgivable, we've all gushed in the face of glittering fame, but this blatant promotion, leveraging Cruise and the rest of the cast for everything they've got, is overkill.

Bias Stated: I worked at CTV publicity for three years and still consider many of my former colleagues dear, dear friends. So it's hard for me to write this and very hard to be critical at all of a publicist and the producers who work doggedly to secure the interviews. This just feels so icky to me, it seems so, well, weak.

Thing is, is Cruise going to talk about Scientology? Is he going to talk about Katie Holmes and why she reportedly appeared dazed and drugged during his recent interview with Parade? Is he going to talk about why he's not raising his adopted son with any knowledge of Black History? Cruise emphatically said to Oprah last year, "He's MY child", when she asked that question. He considered the matter closed.

True, those sorts of questions are uncomfortable for a reporter and his/her subject; but discomfort is no reason not to ask them. Is eTalk going to cover any of that? I'll bet you a bottle of Mr. Clean they won't. While eTalk is a perfectly solid show, this time around, it's doing a disservice to the rest of us reporters who are trying to untangle the idea of celebrity and navigate the world of superstars. Hopefully this Cruise worship won't become an annual event.

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