Tom Cruise gets it in the face!

[thaiboxerken]

Compare a coach getting the gatorade splash at the end of a football game with someone randomly getting the gatorade splash as they walk down the street. Is there a difference? I think so.

I don't think this was a random squirting. I could be wrong.

If he'd hurt himself avoiding the water, would you still think it funny? Would you still think it isn't an assault?

It would be even funnier. And no, I wouldn't think it's assault. I think some people are just a bunch of fuddie duddies.

And Three Stooges ROCKS!

 

[DavidJames]

Squirting water, throwing food, etc... is out of line. Toddler-level behavior.

Don't like Cruise? Stop watching his movies.

Thank you!

As the baby boomers are collectively get older, I think the maturity level of the following generations is getting lower.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Wow. Is all this just internet message-board bickering, or would people here actually wet their pants in fury and terror if someone squirted them with a water gun, and go crying to the police? Teacher, teacher, Timmy threw water on me!

I think the masculinity quotient of the board dropped about fifty points with this thread.

 

[thaiboxerken]

I think the lesson to be learned here is to only prank those people who have a sense of humor.

 

[headscratcher4]

I think the lesson to be learned here is to only prank those people who have a sense of humor.

That is exactly the lesson -- otherwise, it is an assult (technically and according to common law and many state laws).

BTW, from the standpoint of publicity, Cruise should suck it up, smile, bail the guys out and offer to pay their legal fees and go on their show...but, he has no sense of humor...or sense of context.

 

[Grammatron]

Wow. Is all this just internet message-board bickering, or would people here actually wet their pants in fury and terror if someone squirted them with a water gun, and go crying to the police? Teacher, teacher, Timmy threw water on me!

I think the masculinity quotient of the board dropped about fifty points with this thread.

So Mr Monkey, Tom Cruise should have thumped his chest and twisted the guy's head of as he let out a loud "roar" for violation of his alpha male status in front of his future mate?

 

[Grammatron]

That is exactly the lesson -- otherwise, it is an assult (technically and according to common law and many state laws).

BTW, from the standpoint of publicity, Cruise should suck it up, smile, bail the guys out and offer to pay their legal fees and go on their show...but, he has no sense of humor...or sense of context.

He'll probably drop the charges but I think he has a sense of humour if only because of that old bit from MTV Movie Awards.

 

[thaiboxerken]

He'll probably look at this as a good opportunity to tell those guys about Scientology. They'll have to attend a 3 hour seminar or face charges for their "crime".

 

[TragicMonkey]

So Mr Monkey, Tom Cruise should have thumped his chest and twisted the guy's head of as he let out a loud "roar" for violation of his alpha male status in front of his future mate?

He could have just glowered angrily, said something rude, taken a swing, mocked his attacker with a clever remark, grinned and bore it, or simply disdained to notice it. I think the latter three are the best choices.

Actually, since he is a celebrity, he should have been savvy enough to know that he should pretend to find it amusing and be a good sport, no matter how annoying it is, because the media always has the last word. Complaining about it makes him a whiner, and now he'll be looking at his whining on television and in print for months. Look at David Letterman when Penn and Teller dumped all those exotic cockroaches on him. Was he amused? Probably not. Did he grin and bear it, and come out looking like a man? Yep.

 

[Grammatron]

He could have just glowered angrily, said something rude, taken a swing, mocked his attacker with a clever remark, grinned and bore it, or simply disdained to notice it. I think the latter three are the best choices.

Actually, since he is a celebrity, he should have been savvy enough to know that he should pretend to find it amusing and be a good sport, no matter how annoying it is, because the media always has the last word. Complaining about it makes him a whiner, and now he'll be looking at his whining on television and in print for months. Look at David Letterman when Penn and Teller dumped all those exotic cockroaches on him. Was he amused? Probably not. Did he grin and bear it, and come out looking like a man? Yep.

Well it looks to me like he did fire back with insults and the police acted on their own with out a request from him.

 

[Ed]

Actually, in the tape I saw he responded well. He didn't appear upset and told the guy to "not run away" (which he didn't). Then TC gave him a fairly mild, but to the point tounge lashing.. The idiot that pulled the trick looked througholy embaressed and very foolish.

I think that celebraties (like TC or anyone hit by a pie) ought to do everything they can to teach these children a lesson. This kind of activity could get ugly and I for one see nothing amusing in it, no matter who the target.

 

[Number Six]

I can't believe some people are defending this. Physcially humiliating someone in public is a no-no, whether it be the people that go around throwing cream pies in peoples' faces or spraying water at celebrities.

Now if they asked him some tough questions then that's fine. He pushes Scientology so highlighting the siller aspects of that in questions to him is fair IMO. But physically doing something to him, even if it seems harmsless to the doer, is crossing a line.

 

[Mark]

So if you're a Scientologis or have a wacky religion, or any religion that mean it's ok to be an a**hole to you, got it.

Grammy, but I am in total, 100% agreement with you on this one. Just because Cruise is a famous goofball, does NOT give people the right to assault his person---even with a water pistol. Or, if it does, then surely he should have the right to respond with a boot up the perp's arse.

 

[Number Six]

Oops, sorry, I accidentally posted that one twice.

Anyway, I love The Three Stooges but that is a fictional show that is put on, not reality. There are lots of things I find entertaining if depicted as fiction but that I don't want to see in real life.

Playing tricks on someone you know or drenching the coach with gatorade...those are things people don't usually ojbect to because there is an implied agreement there. If the practical joke on a friend becomes too extreme then the implied agreement is being tested...maybe you'd play a practical joke on a friend where he gets hit in the face with a pie but you probably wouldn't do it where he gets hit in the face with spray from a skunk.

But people with which you have no personal relationship have a reasonable expectation that their interaction with you won't involve any physical interaction beyond what is commonly accepted, such as a handshake or a pat on the back. Going beyond that line is wrong IMO, especially when it's done with the goal of humiliating them.

And I seriously doubt that the people saying otherwise in this thread would laugh it off if, say, they were walking down the street and someone said "Excuse me, sir, I'm talking a survey, can I have a minute of your time" and you said "Yes" and they then smacked you in the face with a pie or squirt water on you.

And if I'm wrong on that then such people are the extreme exceptions, not the rule, and they should realize that in their interactions with others.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

By definition, assault is assault. Of course there are degrees of severity, but that doesn't alter the term's meaning. And physical contact--either direct or indirect--that is unwelcomed by the receiver clearly qualifies.

 

[thaiboxerken]

I think Sharon Osbourne handled it in a much better way.

 

[shuize]

TC's movies are usually O.K. His religion is dumb.

As already posted, if I were TC I'd drop the charges and hire others to follow the jokers around and splash water on them at the most inconvenient times possible: on the way to work, job interviews, dates, etc ... And then, once soaked, I'd have them say, "Hey, just kidding! No hard feelings, right?"

*edited to add: Before posting I could not get the video to load. After I posted I watched it and have to say I agree with those above who point out how restrained TC acted. News reports of his "berating" the film crew are very exaggerated.

 

[Renfield]

stupid, crude, lame, sophemoric and not funny.

oh look, i just hit someone with water, and got an annoyed reaction from them. har har.

what do you expect?

i hope these gits land a few days in jail. do they deserve it, i don't know. that whole mentality just irritates me, and i'd like to see them experience a little discomfort themselves.

 

[rdtjr]

I'll ask again if the reaction would be the same if Cruise was asked to sniff a flower on the "reporters" lapel and got water squirted out of that instead? That has to be one of the oldest visual gags in broadcast/film history. Is it just because it was from a gag microphone?

Better watch out for waterballoons at the next company picnic too... unless you explicity sign a waiver to be hit with one the bosses kids had better not throw one at you.

Oh, I saw a team mascot use a supersoaker water gun on the opposing team's bench inbetween innings at a baseball game last year... ASSAULT!!! And when the team jovially retaliated dumping a bucket of ice on the mascot... ASSAULT!!!

Yesterday I, literally, patted a worker on the back for a job well done... without her permission! It was uninvited physical contact. I didn't know it was assault. Better hope she doesn't call the cops.

Geeze... if this had been on candid camera (a show similar to what I understand this crew were working for) would we even be considering this a big deal? Again, if it had been a squirt from a fake flower? Or is it just because T.C. is a celebrity?

 

[Orangutan]

I'm suprised people don't think this is assault and/or battery.

Basically we live in a society that says you are not allowed to touch someone with something they don't want to be touched with.

You can make faces at them if you like, but don't squirt them.

No I'm not a fan of TC's but I think he has more of a chance of pressing the charge because it was caught on video.

Actually, according to scientology, shouldn't he ask the guy to repeat the action that caused the harm, or something like that, to help him get over it?

O.