Of stardom, male beauty and general weirdness

As a change from my normal kind of post about what seem to be 'serious' topics, I thought I'd indulge in a little light relief in the form of this surreal article in the New York Times (registration required) about [what is said to be] current feverish discussions over the potential conflicts with a number of forthcoming movies ('War of the Worlds' and 'Mission: Impossible III') in which actor Tom Cruise is involved, and his most recent love-interest. Any movie with Tom Cruise in it is likely to be a huge box-office draw; he is a good actor and he looks, well, just divine (Ooh er, missus!); he is also a well-known adherent of The Church of Scientology (official website here), an organisation of belief systems to which he is passionately devoted. However, some of his recent behaviour and requirements on film-sets have, allegedly, caused disquiet in parts of the industry. For my part, I have to say that whilst I still like to see Tom Cruise in a film, my realisation some years ago of his adherence to this church or 'cult' has left a slightly sour taste in my mouth - perhaps my instinctive negative reaction (as with the recent Mel Gibson vanity piece The Passion Of The Christ) to this kind of thing passes most people by, as commercial success seems to continue unabated for these two 'believers'.