Why Can't They Be Friends?

Angelina Jolie against her father, Jon Voight. Candy versus Tori Spelling. Jennifer Lopez facing Gwyneth Paltrow. Celebrity feuds are as frequent and well publicized as divorces in Hollywoodland; and usually much more messy. Since Bette Davis and Joan Crawford allegedly battled on the set of "Mommie Dearist", the media has lapped up every minor and greatly confrontational spat that goes on between the stars of the screen. While I'm sure many of the men in the world wouldn't mind a mud-wrestling match between Paltrow and Lopez, a mud-slinging competition can turn from ridiculous to pathetic before you can say "tabloid cover". It would be quite wonderful indeed to imagine that all the beautiful and glamorous actors and directors of Beverly Hills and LA floated about as gods and goddesses of our pop culture, yet for every Entertainment Tonight story chronicling Bono's charity work, there is another for Rosie O' Donnell and Donald Trump having a battle of the bad hair. While many of these feuds are blown greatly out of proportion by entertainment media outlets, one wonders why many celebrities, such as Trump and O' Donnell would allow their war of words to go so public. It does no benefit to eithers career, unless you count Rosie as being awarded "Most Annoying Celebrity" at Hollywood.com. Other than the somewhat tragic daddy issues of Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight, the most emotional reaction that the engagers of these arguments can expect from watchers is an eye roll and shake of the head.  

Most recently, two of the more talented living directors, Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood have found themselves in a verbal confrontation that most would have expected to be below the two legends. Lee took Eastwood's statement to "Shut his face" regarding Lee's remarks about the racial makeup seriously in Eastwood's films seriously. Come on, Spike Lee! This is Clint Eastwood! Out and about Hollywood Republican and Badass, he's not one to be subtle. "Shut his face" could easily be interpreted as "Ok, whatever" when said by a more passive person. This is the man, who, when asked about gun control, responded, "If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it," and later on a CNN interview clearly stated how his mind worked, "I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it." Lee does have something of a point about the lack of African-American soldiers in Eastwood's war films, but his remark of, "First of all, the man is not my father and we're not on a plantation either," has all the tact and class of Eastwood's previous remark. Many a film fan would expect and hope that two such prestigious directors as Lee and Eastwood would be able so resolve, or at least pass over their differences instead of bringing them to national attention. One can only hope for a reconciliation, so that these two men can resume what they do best- making movies.