This Week in Gossip #30

Brad Pitt is sad about his own mess, Kim Kardashian is a serious actor, and the bad guy from Furiosa isn’t really a bad guy.

1. No, the Guy Who Played Rictus Erectus in Furiosa Isn’t Actually a Bad Guy

Furiosa may have underperformed at the box office, but that hasn't stopped those who have seen it from being very weird about it. Nathan Jones, a wrestler turned actor who has made a career out of playing heavyweight antagonists, took to social media to ask people to back off from conflating him with his character. In the film, his character, who is named Rictus Erectus, is a sexual abuser who attacks Furiosa. That's been enough for some to believe that Jones himself is responsible for the crimes that didn't actually happen. "I appreciate your understanding and support in recognizing the distinction between fiction and reality," he wrote.

This is an old problem. I remember being a kid and hearing stories of the actors who played villains on soap operas like Eastenders and Coronation Street being unable to walk down the road without having abused lobbed at them. Linda Blair talked about being harassed by people who watched The Exorcist and were baffled by the concept of a child actor being good at her job. Name a popular film or TV series and the chances are the actors doing the bad guy roles have been forced to deal with this. Yet, while it’s nothing new, it does seem especially strange that it remains so prevalent at a time when every actor has social media and modern promotional circuits are built on showing how “relatable” and unlike their characters these performers are.

I’ve seen this labelled as an issue of media illiteracy. There does seem to be some merit to this. Certainly, I feel like we’re in the midst of a dark age for general media literacy, from the prevalence of fake news and highly profitable disinformation campaigns to more niche fandom concerns that quickly spiral into tinhat conspiracies. It’s louder than it used to be, if nothing else. The game of it all is also far more performative. A hell of a lot of people on social media like to play the role of the booing audience member or the spectator who blurs the lines between fiction and truth. They may think it’s fun or harmless to be one of many spreading such hate but it builds up and wears you down very quickly.

It makes me think a lot about the current age of structured reality TV series, most notably the Bravo universe and shows like Love Island. These participants seem hyper-aware of not only the narratives being built around them but of the stock roles they’ve been instructed to take on. There is always a need for a villain and, if you’re good at it, it can ensure a longevity for your career that being nice but dull can’t provide. It’s why that cheating gross loser on Vanderpump Rules is commanding more money than ever while the woman he cheated with was all but run out of town (the video essayist Broey Deschanel did an excellent piece on this which I highly recommend you watch.) That set-up gives the audience permission to play along with the heightened reality. Everyone’s in on it so it’s cool, right? But fake reality and real reality are separated only by the thinnest veil of self-awareness. Push it a bit too far and you go from enjoying the screaming matches to wondering if Andy Cohen is basically P.T. Barnum with worse fillers.

There’s this idea that being a celebrity means you’ve given explicit permission to the world to treat you in whatever way they so desire. Think of how those who push back against unnecessary press intrusion are told, “well, you asked for it so toughen up.” Art is meant to inspire strong emotions. If you walked out of Furiosa wanting to punch Rictus Erectus then the actor and crew did their jobs right. But if you think that means the actor is indistinguishable from the part they played then that’s really a personal problem. At the very least, I would hope that the character being named Rictus Erectus would be a solid sign of what’s going on.

2. Brad Pitt’s PR War Against His Family Continues, And Shiloh is the Pawn

Brad Pitt is still on his bullsh*t, my friends. Since Shiloh turned 18, it seems as though the headlines have gotten more plentiful and more desperate. I’m always hesitant to talk about stuff involving the kids of celebrities, even when they become adults, because they didn’t ask for this life and turning it all into content for the masses is problematic, to say the least. But when it comes to Pitt’s continuing PR battle against Angelina Jolie and their kids, it’s tough to ignore how an accused abuser is using the media to deride his own offspring.

The newest story, courtesy of Us Weekly, details how Pitt allegedly objected to letting his and Jolie’s kids, particularly Shiloh, testify on their own behalf at the custody hearings. The judge sided with Pitt and awarded him joint custody, but that changed when Jolie appealed to remove the judge because he hadn’t shared his business relationships with Pitt’s lawyers. The article uses this as an excuse to lament that poor Brad now no longer has a good relationship with Shiloh, who hired her own lawyer so that she could legally change her name to drop Pitt's surname. Pitt was “devastated” by Shiloh’s decision, one of a few sources say, but he's putting on a brave face during this tough time.