Arrogant Schwarzenegger

Yikes! Arnold's performance on the Today show was so clueless it even made me feel bad for him. I think people are about to discover exactly what a movie star is like as a person--and it's not what they think. I have had the misfortune of dealing with a few stars here and there, and by and large the one word most people who deal with movie stars use for them is apt: "babies."

They are babies in that they are used to having all of their needs taken care of by the people around them, and their behavior is never questioned. While burping, shitting, crying and demanding constant food and attention would be inappropriate for most adults, any movie star, surrounded by yes-people and gushing admirers, can get away with all that and more. Stars are insulated from the realities that you and I deal with every day, and accountability is one of them. There is no democracy in a movie star's bubble of a universe--without exception, a star's political system is a dictatorship. Even the entertainment "press" works for the star--allowing him or her literally to dictate the conditions of coverage in exchange for access.

And now reality comes crashing into Arnie's world. Matt Lauer treated King Schwarzenegger as if he were a politician running for office, asking him direct questions, and cutting him off when he tried merely to recite his campaign script. Toward the end of the interview--I kid you not--Schwarzenegger resorted to pretending he couldn't hear the questions. This is something a movie star could easily get away with when dealing with the entertainment press. He would simply pretend not to hear, exit the interview, the offending moments would be cut out of the piece, and the reporter who dared insult the star would be fired and banished from the entertainment field permanently. This is the media world to which Arnold Schwarzenegger has become accustomed.

It's actually painful to watch the little emperor find out that life doesn't work this way outside his kingdom. If you think you can handle it, watch the video.