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Subject: Tom Cruise Imitators

Author:
Conrad
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Date Posted: 09:36:48 03/27/08 Thu

I have noticed over the last month an extraordinary phenomena on YouTube which has to be a first in show business, and I want to comment on it here.

As many may know by now, some months ago a segment from a Scientology film featuring Tom Cruise was uploaded to YouTube. Apparently it was part of a much longer motivational film of some sort. Now, it's not my church, and I personnally don't care what Tom Cruise believes; that's his business. But what is fascinating is that this film has created a "cottage industry" on YouTube of Tom Cruise imitators that seems to have no end in sight.

Every time I go back to YouTube I find somebody new doing their own version of that video, and as time goes along they get more and more creative and they get further and further removed from the initial video from which they sprung.

The original video simply shows Tom,wearing a black turtleneck sweater, sitting in an easy chair in what looks to be a comfortable living room. To be honest, it's a rather banal speech, which Tom speaks very awkwardly. It reminds me a lot of those old military training films I saw in the service. The monotony is only broken when Tom bursts into unexpected gales of laughter, which are puzzling because we don't really understand what he's laughing at.

It wasn't long before YouTube people were making their own comedy versions of this viedo. The first ones simply had people dressed like Tom, sitting in similar looking living rooms and doing stand-up-comic style routines using variations of the original speech. But as time went on, the imitators got more creative, ranging from the hilarious to the awful.

Among the best was a man in a Darth Vader suit, putting the speech in a "Star Wars" context. One of the most adorable featured a sweet little girl explaining what it takes to be a magical fairy. Another good one is a lady explaining how to make a good scrapbook.

The worst contain a lot of swearing. The most bottom of the barrell has to be a rotund, bearded gentleman who uses his variation to advertise his rock band. He concludes his version by waving his arms around wildly in every direction.

To see some of these gems (and some of the worst)type in "Tom Cruise Parodies" under YouTube's search.

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Replies:

[> Subject: I like your 'gales of laughter'! Yes, Tom's talk WAS a bit bizarre, he seemed more to be having a conversation with himself, rather than to people who weren't 'in' on it. I think Craig Ferguson was the first, or one of the first, to parody Tom. His was very funny...he's just a funny guy! Hey, changing the subject a bit, but the Wilhelm Scream was a Jeopardy question, last week! Of course, I got that one!

Author:
Judith
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Date Posted: 23:08:07 04/01/08 Tue

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[> Subject: Glad to see you back Judith, I was getting worried. I just a few moments ago left you a comment on My Space, but that was before rechecking the Movie Forum. Three cheers for your blog about the Olympics!

Author:
Conrad
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Date Posted: 00:03:49 04/04/08 Fri

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[> [> Subject: Thanks Conrad....Yeah, I hate seeing the Olympics held there, unless they mend their human rights violations. Have you ever seen the Frontline (on PBS) documentary about Tienimen Square, and the brave soul who stopped the tanks in the street? What an eye-opener it was...it told all that had lead up to the students being shot or run down. So many many people had risen up, young and old, and their own military shot them down. Not to get too morbid, but I reccommend that doc....for everyone to see! The young people over there now, don't even know what happened, not that long ago....they can't even search the info online.

Author:
Judith...and I HAVE been watching some movies, just haven't been writing about them, yet. I will, soon!
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Date Posted: 17:14:51 04/08/08 Tue

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>I have noticed over the last month an extraordinary >phenomena on YouTube which has to be a first in show >business, and I want to comment on it here. > >As many may know by now, some months ago a segment >from a Scientology film featuring Tom Cruise was >uploaded to YouTube. Apparently it was part of a much >longer motivational film of some sort. Now, it's not >my church, and I personnally don't care what Tom >Cruise believes; that's his business. But what is >fascinating is that this film has created a "cottage >industry" on YouTube of Tom Cruise imitators that >seems to have no end in sight. > >Every time I go back to YouTube I find somebody new >doing their own version of that video, and as time >goes along they get more and more creative and they >get further and further removed from the initial video >from which they sprung. > >The original video simply shows Tom,wearing a black >turtleneck sweater, sitting in an easy chair in what >looks to be a comfortable living room. To be honest, >it's a rather banal speech, which Tom speaks very >awkwardly. It reminds me a lot of those old military >training films I saw in the service. The monotony is >only broken when Tom bursts into unexpected gales of >laughter, which are puzzling because we don't really >understand what he's laughing at. > >It wasn't long before YouTube people were making their >own comedy versions of this viedo. The first ones >simply had people dressed like Tom, sitting in similar >looking living rooms and doing stand-up-comic style >routines using variations of the original speech. But >as time went on, the imitators got more creative, >ranging from the hilarious to the awful. > >Among the best was a man in a Darth Vader suit, >putting the speech in a "Star Wars" context. One of >the most adorable featured a sweet little girl >explaining what it takes to be a magical fairy. >Another good one is a lady explaining how to make a >good scrapbook. > >The worst contain a lot of swearing. The most bottom >of the barrell has to be a rotund, bearded gentleman >who uses his variation to advertise his rock band. He >concludes his version by waving his arms around wildly >in every direction. > >To see some of these gems (and some of the worst)type >in "Tom Cruise Parodies" under YouTube's search.
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[> Subject: Glad to see you back Judith, I was getting worried. I just a few moments ago left you a comment on My Space, but that was before rechecking the Movie Forum. Three cheers for your blog about the Olympics!
Author: Conrad [Edit]	Date Posted: 00:03:49 04/04/08 Fri [ Post a Reply to This Message ]