I didn't see the interview on The Today Show this morning (I keep forgetting The Today Show has a third hour - I mean, really, three hours?!), but everyone is talking about it as a "battle." Did anyone see it? I did hear Al Roker say that he thought Cruise was "rude" to Lauer during the interview. MSNBC has a transcript (and video) at the link below, but I haven't watched the video yet. Transcript and video of Lauer and Cruise
I didn't see the interview on The Today Show this morning (I keep forgetting The Today Show has a third hour - I mean, really, three hours?!), but everyone is talking about it as a "battle." Did anyone see it? I did hear Al Roker say that he thought Cruise was "rude" to Lauer during the interview. MSNBC has a transcript (and video) at the link below, but I haven't watched the video yet. 














Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-24-2005 @ 2:18PM
Man said...
I saw it, Tom was preaching and if you pay close attention he uses the old techniique of calling a person by their first name to gain an advantage. Everything he complained about psychiatry is the same arguments people have about religion. I don't want to throw the term brainwashed around but...BRAINWASHED. Matt held up good and gracefully stopped the run around knowing he could not win.
Eventually Tom is going to be interviewed by someone who knows science and that will be good as we see all of tom'd point be crushed, lets see if he's that gracious then.
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6-24-2005 @ 3:08PM
kerry said...
Yeah, I caught it, too. I usually watch a portion of the third hour in the 15 minutes I'm getting ready for work, and this is the bit I caught this morning. I wouldn't totally agree about Matt Lauer keeping his cool, because it really did turn into a fight, especially when Lauer was taking the stuff Cruise said personally (re: the ritalin). The whole thing was the worst kind of argument, though, with Cruise spouting nonsense and then yelling "I know this! It's a fact! You don't know what I know!" and Lauer just totally not getting that Cruise isn't opposed to people's personal choices about psychiatry and psychiatric drugs, but rather he thinks the entire concept is bullsh*t. Lauer keeps asking questions like "What about people who say it works for them? Isn't it their choice?" and doesn't get that choice isn't the issue with Cruise, it's this whole conspiracy, "if there isn't a blood test it must not exist" thing. It did have me laughing through my morning routine, though, which is a good thing(tm).
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6-24-2005 @ 5:03PM
Kasamaan Drakon said...
hmmm....Tom sounds like he wants to burn anyone and anything against him and his beliefs "at the stake"...
i can guarantee we're going to be hearing some weirder stuff coming from the Cruise camp in the next few weeks
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6-29-2005 @ 11:44AM
Anonomous said...
Mr. Cruise I feel an apology is in order to the millions of citizens around the world who suffer
from Bi-Polar Disorder, ADD,depression OCD,schiophernia,and other disorders. I am a parent who's children have experienced ADD,post partum depression, and SCHIOPHRENIA. Not everyone has the support they need from community, fans,and endless resources to help cope with debilitating illnesses that can be managed with appropriate professional advice.
Where would my child be with out ABILIFY? In
an institution with a labodamy insted of the
beautiful, spiritual, talented, loving human being God has inteded him to be.
Ms. Shields will always have a spot in my heart for bring a taboo topic into the lime light so that other overwhelmed, depressed, Moms can seek proper treatment for themselves and their families.
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6-24-2005 @ 6:19PM
wendell said...
I am quite aware of what Tom Cruise "knows". Scientology's core beliefs are based on a not very good Science Fiction story about an ancient "Galactic Federation" and a leader named Xenu that solved their overpopulation problem by sending surplus people to Earth (they called it Teegeeack), and blowing them up with "H Bombs" in volcanos, "freeing their souls" to inhabit different body parts of humans on earth... In the words of Dave Barry, I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. L. Ron Hubbard did. If they're against psychiatric drugs, it's because they help people to realize how bats*** crazy it is. Followers who haven't been let in on the secrets just haven't been adequately brainwashed to accept it yet, and those who do are sworn to say nothing more than "You don't know what I know!". That's why Cruise went ballistic on the reporter who asked him how the aliens in "War of the Worlds" related to his own belief in Scientology (IMO, one of the best journalistic questions of the decade! Put this guy in the White House press corps!). Unfortunately, a multi-decade campaign of misinformation, intimidation, obstructionism, and nuisance lawsuits have paid off for them, because a journalistic expose of this cult would be one of the highest-rated shows in the history of TV.
DISCLAIMER: I use perscription anti-depressives, and, believe it or not, I did take my meds today.
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6-24-2005 @ 6:49PM
hdtv said...
Cruise criticized Shields' use of antidepressants as "irresponsible" during an interview with Access Hollywood. Shields responded with "Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them."
Tom Cruise is losing it. That's what happens when you're so involved with cults like Scientology and Christianity.
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6-24-2005 @ 8:55PM
Mark Rabinowitz said...
Apparently, those of us with Macs can't watch this. MSNBC's enhanced vieo only works on IE 6.0 and above and there is no version of 6.0 for the Mac, as they don't support Macs anymore. Grrrrrrrrr.....
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6-24-2005 @ 10:44PM
Man said...
It took me seven times to open this MSNBC video and I couldn't even move the mouse or everything would freeze up, I have WinXP.
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7-01-2005 @ 2:31AM
Greg Tingle said...
Cruise was also rude to Australian 60 Minutes reporter, Peter Overton. It will be interesting to see Cruise's interview with Rove on Australia's Network Ten this Tuesday night.
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6-24-2005 @ 11:41PM
Keith McDuffee said...
I saw the interview this morning as well. Matt should have posed this question to him instead: Brooke Shields was on the brink of suicide, and the only thing that kept her from being dead right now was anti-depressants. In her utterly depressed state, where in your eyes, Tom, should Brooke have turned instead of phychiatry?
I'm a whole-foods, vitamins and healthy living person myself, so drugs aren't part of my life, not even aspirin. But that's *me* and there's no way anything should be shoved down anyone's throats publicly like that. It only pushes people further away and your whole point is shot anyway. What works for some may not work for others.
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6-25-2005 @ 3:05AM
Andy said...
If this kind of thing keeps up, Cruise will not be able to sell movie tickets the way he has in the past. He's consistently coming across as a moron and a nutcase.
Spielberg has got to be cringing.
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6-25-2005 @ 4:12PM
Sonburn said...
In front of the camera, the guy is awesome. I don't think he is ever going to have a hard time selling tickets to his movies... especially when it's a one-two punch with Spielberg. His personal life, is unfortunately public, and is our critical fodder. He is entitled to his beliefs and is answering questions that are being asked of him... not flying ariplanes into buildings to make the world aware of Scientology.
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6-27-2005 @ 12:11AM
TheBiskit said...
Perhaps Mr. Cruise would benefit greatly from an extensive psychiatric evaluation and some of the medical resources he so vehemently denounces. It would also be interesting to know exactly what “research” he has done on the subject, aside from the L. Ron Hubbard publications. If he wants to publicly proclaim himself so knowledgeable in the field, let him back it up instead of just talking it up.
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6-28-2005 @ 6:44AM
Peg said...
Tom should shut up and sit down. I have not suffered post partum like Brooke or even Marie Osmond, but I understand them when they speak of it. It's a side effect of iving birth and Tom doesn't have a clue. I have a family member who suffers from schizophrenia. It's not fun for the victim or for the family members. Tom, why don't you check in Bellvue for the standard 72 hrs? Or be Baker Acted in Forida? We can talk then.
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6-27-2005 @ 10:02PM
Karen said...
check this out - www.cchr.com Its is crammed with factual validated information. Its time to take a look at the big picture.
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6-28-2005 @ 3:51PM
gslax said...
yeah, cchr.com isn't biased:
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) was established by the Church of Scientology as an independent body to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.
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6-29-2005 @ 9:49AM
M Easdon said...
I find it interesting that Mr. Cruise, with the benefit of his high school education, feels qualified to discredit categorically one of the most highly researched fields of science. I too believe that options other than medications should be the primary avenue treatment response for psychiatric disorders. However, the brain has unique chemicals, just like every other organ in the body, and sometimes medication is the only option to treat those chemical imbalances. (Most illesses are the result of one kind of imbalance or another!) For example, an obese individual with diabetic tendencies should be counseled to diet and exercise rather than immediately committing to life-long insulin use. But you wouldn't tell a 10-year old child with new onset diabetes to tough it out...they will die if that option is elected. I would love to review Dr. Cruise's statistically valid research (conducted during the "down time" of one of today's most prolific movie stars).
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7-01-2005 @ 12:37PM
L Jaxon said...
There is no objective test that can measure a chemical imbalance in the brain. That is a fact not an opinion. To diagnose and treat people based on a theory that is unproven with toxins that cause suicide is not science. Tom's comments have psychiatrist arguing with each other about this fact. The problem is that the public taking these drugs do not know the facts. Get the facts people, make educated choices and when Johnny feels like killing himself, don't wonder why.
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7-03-2005 @ 3:37AM
Patty said...
I don't normally pay much attention to the rantings of any hollywood star, but the comments Tom Cruise made about there being no such thing as a chemical imbalance that needed treated with any anti-depressant, just sent my hackles up. I was not aware that he had college degrees in medicine and psychology.
It is obvious to me, however, that he has never been seriously ill, or lost a loved one so close to his heart, that he felt like he had died too, or watched as his own child lay dying in his arms. He has no idea how a hormone imbalance, resulting from child birth or any other stress, can destroy an intelligent, healhty, normal woman. Apparently he has never been raped at knife point or molested by his father or grandfather. I wish I had known these little golden bits of knowledge he spewed forth on the Today show, when my long time friend of 30 years, was going to a therapist to try to get rid of the fear and terror she constantly suffered in her life as a result of both of those things. I could have just told her not to waste her money, all she needed was some vitamins and a jog in the park. If she were lucky, she wouldn't get raped again.
I used to think Mr. Cruise was a good guy who used his status and means to help benefit others. Now it appears he is just another hollywood dolt who has no clue what life is like in the real world. I hope he realizes that he won't be one of the 'beautiful people' forever. I wonder how well his wisdom will serve him then??
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