In Defense Of Christian Bale

So, by now everyone has heard Christian Bale’s rant, listened to the remix, heard the apology, read his director’s support quotes, bought the T-shirt, and everything else imaginable. The whole episode is everywhere now, from a thousand different angles, and it’s even getting far too much exposure from Entertainment Weekly this week, wherein there is a Star Rant Guessing Game.

Christian Bale rages like a lunatic at Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut for four minutes or so, and ultimately apologizes for his terrible behavior.

christian2

So, what do I mean by defending him?

Well, first of all, let’s just set the groundwork by saying that Christian Bale is a great actor. I don’t mean some donkey star popping up some crap films like The SkullsThe Skulls reviews, or DrumlineDrumline reviews, or Mr. 3000… I mean he’s really a good actor. He’s also a very serious actor. He works at his craft very seriously, and he has gone through a lot of quality roles, working with some serious artists in the game. I don’t mean like some dumbass who spins together some garbage like Charlie’s AngelsCharlie’s Angels reviews: Full ThrottleFull Throttle reviews, or produces some made-for-idiots television, or whips together some moronic half-naked girl band that sings one-line songs, and then wants everyone to call him McFluffy Pants either. I mean people who make great films.

At a very young age he was indoctrinated into the whole world of moviemaking by getting a little role in Empire of the SunEmpire of the Sun reviews, where he got to be shown how things go by Steven Spielberg. He moved from that to Kenneth Brannagh directing himself in Henry V. And, bang, things were pretty serious right out of the gates. Now, okay, he made NewsiesNewsies reviews, but what the hell are you gonna do?

After decent turns in Swing KidsSwing Kids reviews and Little WomenLittle Women reviews, he moved on to The Secret AgentSecret Agent reviews and then a truly fine performance in Metroland. He then moved to The Velvet GoldmineVelvet Goldmine reviews, working with the very serious Todd Haynes. He jumped to A Midsummer Night’s Dream to work on a bit of Shakespeare, and then played Jesus in Mary, Mother of Jesus. That’s pretty serious stuff that is.

Next came his go in American PsychoAmerican Psycho reviews, a cult classic, and if nothing else a brilliant job of acting. And, insofar as you can be serious while hacking people up with an axe to Huey Lewis, pretty serious.

He then went on a short streak of not quite the winningest stuff, coming out with: ShaftShaft reviews, Laurel CanyonLaurel Canyon reviews, Reign of FireReign of Fire reviews, and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Maybe not the best work, but not bad by any stretch, and not quite We Are Frickin’ Marshall.

Then he moves to the horribly underappreciated EquilibriumEquilibrium reviews. Then, The MachinistThe Machinist reviews, directed by the mostly brilliant Brad Anderson of last year’s wonderful TranssiberianTranssiberian reviews. Then we have Batman BeginsBatman Begins reviews with serious and very cool Christopher Nolan, Harsh TimesHarsh Times reviews, and Rescue DawnRescue Dawn reviews with Werner For Crying Out Loud Herzog. The PrestigeThe Prestige reviews in which he was amazing, with Nolan again, and then 3:10 to Yuma, and I’m Not ThereI’m Not There reviews.

So, here we are, and Christian Bale finds himself something of a hot property, and someone says, “How about making a TerminatorTerminator reviews movie, and look at all those zeroes.”

But, now Christian finds himself surrounded on one side by a guy whose claim to fame is creating TV shows with episodes called “Asslane,” and selling naked women who sing about having sex with them, and on the other by a guy who is at least moderately familiar with what it means to be a director of photography by way of working on a few of the more mediocre and meaningless films to come out in the last few years.

Now, I’m stretching things a bit, and I’m not really trying to bash Joseph McGinty Nichol (because if he thinks I’m calling him McG, then he’s even dumber than someone who wants me to call him McG). I mean, if I could go from music videos to huge-budget Terminator movies by way of… I have no idea what, I’d do it too.

Seriously though… let’s say that Christian was right during his rant, and assume for the sake of argument that Shane Hurlbut is a stupid, unprofessional donkey who doesn’t know how to do his job, and walked into the middle of the scene several times… am I saying that excuses Mr. Bale’s behavior?

Not at all. I’m saying what the hell does he need an excuse for? Since when do we need excuses for calling stupid people stupid?

Did Julia Roberts need an excuse when the video came out recently of her cussing like a drunken sailor at some poor Papparazzi guy? Her lunatic rant might not have been quite as long as Mr. Bale’s, but minute for minute it had just as many Fs. Did she need an excuse? Did anyone start calling raving rants in general “going all JuliaJulia reviews on his ass?”

Hell, no. She just paid that shit off, and now the videos won’t play anymore, and no one mentions a thing about it, because you damn sure better not mess with her. She’s an icon of (Pffff) really great acting and whatnot, and everyone loves Julia Roberts, because… well, that’s the law.

You might not even know what I’m talking about there, but I saw the video before it got shut down.

In any event… why does Christian Bale need an excuse or an apology?

Do you need an excuse or an apology when your secretary writes down the wrong phone number for the tenth time, or some donkey is just sitting there for thirty seconds after the light turns green, or your doctor amputates the wrong leg? Screw that noise. You go off on those F&%$*& Dumb&$$%$, and why wouldn’t you?

What’s really ridiculous about the whole thing is that everyone is making such a big deal out of it. Like you don’t cuss people out ten times worse every single day. Just because he did it outloud doesn’t make him a bad guy. Give me the days when you could rip someone a new one if he was wasting thousands of dollars by causing reshoots over and over.

Dumbass.

Are You Screening?

Clip of Bale”s Tirade Released (cbsnews.com)
Bale’s Apology, In His Own Words (perezhilton.com)
Christian Bale rant: Best of the mashups and spoofs (telegraph.co.uk)
Bale-istic Batman’s F-Word Frenzy (news.sky.com)
The Christian Bale Murderous Rage Remixes (jossip.com)

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Tagged as: Christian Bale, Christian Bale Rant

dkjoker

Bale is a GREAT actor but he's not saving anyone's life this isn't open heart surgery it's acting. He needs to get over himself STFU and do his job, ACT. And the Cinematographer has to do HIS Job which isn't kiss Bale's ass it's get the shot, move the lights and make Bale LOOK good. Actors can go to their PRIVATE trailers and run lines but, if they NEED to be on set they NEED to be respectful to the crew. Either way it doesn't give him the right to go off on ANYONE like that, he can get off his high horse come back down to earth and realize he's not royalty he's just an ACTOR. Which is why it's ironic and funny to hear how professional HE was bitching on set like some amateur primadonna. He should 86 the ego and focus on the acting, give us another reason to like him besides his narcissism.

areyouscreening

Where does all this ego talk come in? If someone keeps doing something stupid, and someone yells at them, that's an ego trip?

jarrod

Yes the DP was wrong to walk in his eyeline. who knows the context of what really happened. In the end an actor should never react like that to a crew member, never.

miko

Bale wasn't wrong or out of line in the least. I'm sorry he apologized.
In fact, Bale SHOULD have kicked that guy's ass.
For what a DP is paid in Hollywood, he should know how to conduct himself
on a set.

Let's get professional!

miko

refine

Why does Christian Bale need an excuse or an apology?

Bale is a great actor but that does not exclude him from his own behavior.
In comes a God-complex remark where he wants to take someone’s job away for a simple mistake. His actions cover dwelling on the past and uncontrollable emotion instead of moving forward.

Reasoning based on a person’s immediate status can justify any action.

Using your article's reasoning and method, consider a scenario using a fictional media giant dubbed Moviestar Interrogator.
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A well respected media critic from -Moviestar Interrogator- stumbles across your article. At first they degrade you based on areyouscreening's popularity compared to their own company. After the pseudo-humiliation they express how your opinion is irrelevant based on the current state of your career, with how little they know about it. Then the quote "Do you think victim's of medical malpractice agree with your bold analogy of false limb amputation compared to someone accidently walking where they shouldn't have? You are an imbecile, and incapable of doing anything. I want you fired."
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This in turn begins a little war between readers who know, or think they know you and the aforementioned company.

Should Moviestar Interrogator apologize to you? Your article implies there is no need to, they are more successful.

You may think people are stupid based on small details that you didn't think through very well, or have an emotional bias towards. Not everyone does.

areyouscreening

It's a very curious stream of logic, and by curious I mean of course laughably flawed in so many ways.

Saying its a simple mistake is really downplaying the thing to a point that belies your lack of knowledge of the events and/or their relation to the situation. It wasn't a simple mistake, it was a huge mistake that you wouldn't find anyone doing in 1 out of 100 movies, and he did it several times. Firing people for such mistakes is in fact largely encouraged.

My articles reasoning gives no weight whatsoever to Bale's "status" in a way that is remotely relevant to your scenario.

The inclusion of the amputation example was a hyperbolic amusement aimed at the many people who said there is no circumstance at all that would warrant yelling at someone for a mistake on the job the way Bale did. I submit that I would yell at such a doctor sufficient to turn Bale blue only to dissuade all the talk in absolutes. That you took it as more of a serious statement is... cute.

The relevant analogy would be something like Roger Ebert criticizing my work. Such an analogy would find me working with Mr. Ebert on a book or some similar joint project. Now, capturing the actual details of what happened would get a bit tricky. Something like - for the third time in a row, Mr. Ebert discovers that I have gone through and somehow written 5,000 words over his 5,000 words, destroying his work, which he has to then do over completely. After the third such encounter, he loses his cool, cusses at me for five minutes, and says I should fired.

Should he apologize to me?

I don't think so.

I actually think people are stupid based entirely on whether or not they act stupidly, or say (or write) stupid things.

refine

I didn't take it as a serious statement but thanks for the assumption. :)

One of the main points of that was to show that things are taken out of context by everyone because it's impossible to avoid.

How could you expect someone not to interpret your article as a 'status' representation? The first few paragraphs just insult movies that Shane Hurlburt was a part of. Mr 3000, Skulls, Drumline. Sure they weren’t my cup of tea either. Then goes on about how great Bale (career, not the person) is.

I consider both of our analogy’s equally meaningless when it comes to the actual situation.

Yours may have been closer if Ebert went off on you, and gave the impression that he’s going to bail on his work and leave the publishing (or whichever) company out to dry because of his moment of weakness. It then seems appropriate to apologize to you for the actions, not the situation. The situation obviously was not working. (Stating that there were far more circumstances than just you and Ebert on the production phase of the project would also be needed, including the source of confusion. Simply having facts in front of you then writing something else is an entirely different story.)

Bale’s words in essence were assuming mistakes were done intentionally, on purpose to sabotage. His own analogy even used the concept of going around and tearing down lights. Does Shane really want to sabotage a huge budgeted movie like Terminator and flush his career? Something needed to be corrected but Shane’s mistakes are unlikely to have no causality behind them. Simplifying the situation is extremely unfair.

Bale’s outburst was not looking for answers, it was focused anger and pure insults. “The F--- is wrong with you” is not a question, it’s an observational degrading statement.

There are absolutely situations that can justify outrage. Bale’s was not one of them, and warrants an apology. Everyone has their moments, not being able to admit you made a mistake is an extreme character flaw.

areyouscreening

I didn't assume anything, it's inherent in the statement you made. Though, I may not have given you credit for the sub-level of merely passing that statement off in pseudo-subscription.

I didn't take status to mean the respective merits of their careers. One is a low-level (at best) cinematographer, and one is a very skilled actor, are about their professionalism and abilities, not their status. Status is more like, hardly anyone is ever going to hear of the cinematographer no matter how good he is at his job, whereas Bale is a big star and everyone knows him, etc. At least that's what I mean by status.

I suppose it is a very debatable point though. Still, I could have said he's the best cinematographer ever, and his status is still miles below Bale's. Since you seemed to be talking about Bale having the status and that meaning something, I thought you were on a similar view of status.

If you find your own analogy meaningless, I frankly don't understand discussing the point.

I think you're completely wrong about Bale's words. I think he was assuming the mistakes were done because the guy is a moron, and I don't think the idea of doing them intentionally, or to purposely sabotage things was ever remotely in his mind.

If, for example, Gordon Ramsay starts screaming at one of the chefs on Hell's Kitchen for undercooking chicken, and he says, "Are you trying to poison the customers!?" That doesn't imply that he actually believes they are really acting with the intention of poisoning the customers.

His own analogy, thrown out in a fit of rage, talks about tearing down the lights, because what else could he say? What he could accidentally do that would mess with the cinematographers job? Nothing. There would be no analogy.

His mistake of walking into the scene so that he was in the shot is unlikely to have no causality behind it? I don't know what that means. Someone shoved him?

Why does he have to be looking for answers?

How do you know that Bale's situation was not one that could justify outrage? You weren't there, and you have absolutely no idea what the situation was.

The whole point of this article, by the way, is not that I think... Hooray for Bale going off on that guy... it is that it is totally ridiculous that anyone cares one way or the other, nevermind everyone just going berserk with the holier than thou attacks on him.

As I mentioned in the article, a video came out at about the same time of Julia Roberts going off worse than Bale on a Papparazzi, and did anyone suddenly say she needed massive therapy, and needed to apologize to the guy? Not likely. The video was bought off in a matter of days, but plenty of people saw it, but is anyone going to talk about it? No. Not sweet, apple pie Julia Roberts.

It's all nonsense.

refine

Yes, it's all nonsense :)

I mean causality in a non spiritual, non forceful way. None of us were there so we have no idea. We can just speculate. Perhaps whoever was supposed to keep the set in order wasn't doing a very good job at managing the direction of everyone. Perhaps he misjudged the field of view of the camera by a couple feet, tried to make a correction and over-judged the boundaries. The judgment error could have been an assistants fault, set designers fault, anyone that has something to do with the scene. Maybe he was a moron, but the sheer complexity of the project suggests otherwise. Passing around blame is always below finding a solution.

There can be over 100 people on a set like that, it needs management that one person can't handle on their own no matter how amazingly talented they are.

It's not Bale's job to handle any of that, he is there to act.

Bale's apology sounded thoughtful, he called himself a punk for his actions; we all lose it now and then. He stated that Shane did an amazing job on the film from the post-production he has seen. Completely assuming a thought process of a character like John Conner has to cause quite a bit of psychological stress, and it can overlap into judgment of reality. They claim to have resolved the issue the same day the argument took place.

A more thought out way of responding would be to stop and figure out exactly what was going wrong so it could be avoided. Push crew members back a couple feet or whatever it takes. That's why there are so many people there to handle the situation. We need each other.

I was trying to think of an analogy that involved too many circumstances to be easily explained, I failed with that.

Doesn't mean the anger is avoidable, but there's no reason to let it control you. Some people do live for anger like a masochistic drug, but that's more of a psychological debate.

Julia Roberts. ha. I doubt as many people would care if she just laughed at herself, explained her dislike of being hounded in an intelligent way and moved on. Legal stalking is a pretty serious issue, but she chooses to do what she does and that's a part of it. They'll also shout or say inappropriate things just to get the money shot, it's her choice if she gives it to them or not. Got to get paid. :)

Walt

Nice view point. Good thing now that's he has been called to the carpet on it he may realize he went overboard. A type people in business go through this stuff a lot and it does show how concerned he is with the project. Also - he can get any chic he wants so that leads to big heads.

Here is where I rank him in alltime posts...

http://www.waltsense.com/home/2009/2/6/christia...