Tom Cruise and the history of psychiatry

Tom Cruise gave a strange, candid interview on NBC's Today show with Matt Lauer. He starts off, rather smugly jovial, as only Cruise can be, talking about how Katie Holmes is "the real thing". Who wouldn't be flattered at forty to be fucking her? Apparently she's "open" to Scientology, the religion/spirituality that Tom is into (there's a rather spooky Hallowe'en store in London next to the Goodge Street tube station, or at least I thought it was for Hallowe'en, until I saw that it was a Scientology mission post - and I bet that's not the only thing of Katie Holmes that's "open". Not going anywhere fast after Dawson's Crack? I'd better hang around with this weirdo and hope that someone like Kubrick makes a movie about us one day). So what? He's happy and he's talking about it, instead of trying to sell his new (and probably ghastly by the look of it) film, War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg, who is not, as Cruise claims, "the greatest storyteller cinema has ever known". ::Excuse me while I speak to Huey and Ruth in my little paper bag::

Then, and the MSNBC edit doesn't show you how they get on to this, they start talking about Brooke Shields and the history of psychiatry. Much of what Cruise has to say I'd agree with: that we're too reliant on the pseudo-science born by Freud, that too many people are prescribed anti-depressents, and kids are overdosed with Ritalin because they're hyper from their TV and sugar diets. What grates like Freddie's fingers on the blackboard is the patronizing way that Tom goes about it, without any attempt to explain what he has learned about The History of Psychiatry and all the Research Papers he's read on the subject (I wonder if he's a subscriber to The Fortean Times). Maybe he should write a piece for an academic journal or speak on a show with more breathing room to explain his position, instead of just patronizing poor Matt Lauer, who, thankfully, unlike many of his other US network colleagues, isn't quite as sychophantic as the norm (but then, with Cruise sitting next to you, why would you be?).

I'm even more determined now to boycott said movie, unless, of course, someone else pays for my ticket.

How did I get on to this subject, when normally I don't really give a fuck about what shellabrities are up to? Well, I saw a clip of TC spouting off on the news (Channel 4 I think it was) and then I read this post on Odessa Street.