Christian Bale rocks and you’re all whiney bitches: FACT

Christian Bale can kick your ass: FACT

My favourite story of the day has already raced its way around the web any number of times, but there’s one thing that seems to be lacking from the vast amount of commentary that has been posted on t’interweb.

Spent the day under a rock? Well, it seems Christian Bale lost his rag at a co-worker while filming “Terminator: Salvation.” Check out the tirade here, then we’ll continue.

Well, firstly, will all the Americans in the room stop complaining about Bale “dropping the F-bomb.” Stop being such a bunch of pathetic puritans. He’s a Brit and we swear like Pirates. We’re the best swearers on Earth. Only the Aussies come close to the awesome swearing power of a Brit in full-flow.

Secondly, and here’s where my anger gets let off the leash and… well… I can’t really describe this, so I’ll have to wholly mis-appropriate some commentary from around the web to illustrate the dumbness surrounding this tale:

These from tmz.com

this a-hole has a huge ego…just because he was in Dark Knight and it won awards, he thinks hes better then anyone else..F’ HIM!!!

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LOSER!!!!!!!!! With a big ego and mouth. Someone should have bitch slapped his puny little ass.

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am shocked! I have absolutely NO interest in ever seeing another movie with him in it.

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Christian Bale has lost a fan….me.

I could go on, but that gives you the flavour of the mindless spite that’s out there.

Now, I can pretty much guarantee you that none of these whining ticks have ever set foot on a film set. They haven’t got the faintest clue as to on-set-etiquette. They’ve never worked a 14-hour day in their lives. And they certainly haven’t had a multi-million dollar production resting on their shoulders.

I really hope these pathetic idiots don’t go and see this movie, or any other movie for that matter. The fewer assholes in the cinema, the quieter it’s going to be for the rest of us.

This whole situation really is a no-brainer – answer these questions and you’ll see that:

1. What the hell was the DoP doing walking thought shot?

A.s.s.h.o.l.e! If ANY crew member wanders around set during a shot, they deserve a slap. That’s just the way it is. You’ve got a room full of people all striving to one goal – the next shot. You interrupt that or mess it up and you’ve just wasted the time of dozens of people. You are, therefore, and asshole.

This wandering fool begs the question…

2. Where the hell were the 1st AD and the Runners?

Who’s running this set? Can any asshole just drift around the stage? Let’s see the bit of the risk-assessment where it says “assholes are free to wander blindly around during the shoot, causing a distraction and wasting everyone’s time and production’s money.”

The AD’s should be shot for not dragging the DoP off set the second that this fight kicked-off. How spineless can they be, that they let a screaming match like this to happen on set? They should have stepped in right at the start of this row.

But the biggest question has to be…

3. Who the hell has leaked this?

Whoever in the sound department who let this tape get out should be run out of town on a rail. This is a serious breach of trust. Whatever happened to “what goes on tour, stays on tour”?

Bruce Franklin, an AD and Associate Producer on the movie, has insisted the rant has only been released to slander Bale. He goes on to say…

…that Bale, a “consummate professional,” just had a bad day.

“If you are working in a very intense scene and someone takes you out of your groove…but was the most emotional scene in the movie,” said Franklin. “And for him to get stopped in the middle of it. He is very intensely involved in his character. He didn’t walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed.”

E! Online

It’s tragic that he’s been put into the position that he has to defend Bale. He’s been backed into that particular corner by a vicious little douchebag who’s leaked this tape for their own gain.

If it is someone in the Sound dept (I can only assume it is) then they should have their Union membership rescinded – seriously. Then we’ll get the DGA to chuck the spineless AD’s out of their gang and, as the grand finale, we’ll strip the DoP of his accreditation and send the twat back to film-school, where he can re-take his freshman year and learn the basics of working on-set, before anyone lets him loose with a pan-glass and a lighting crew.

I think it fascinating that, amid all the hundreds of sniping comments on tmz.com, there are a number from people in the business who, almost to-a-man, stand up for Bale:

It is clear that none of the people who have posted a comment have ever actually worked on a movie set, let alone worked in theater, as a professional. Do you know all the facts about this story? No. Is it likely that the guy being yelled at was a stupid ass? Yes. It is more than likely that Bale had good reason to be pissed by this guy’ lack of professionalism. And what you all clearly don’t understand is that acting is not nearly as easy or glamorous as you think it is – especially if the actors are doing a technically difficult scene which requires real focus. Should Bale have been so vitriolic – well, probably not, but one can understand his frustration if some idiot has interrupted the scene not once, but TWICE. Lay off of Bale, and grow-up.

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have any of you people ever worked on a set? I have. do you have any idea how early some of these actors get up, how late they stay, how hot the lights are, how frustrating take after take after take can get?
most of you would have blown a gasket long before most of them do.
big deal, he got pissed. it happens. you never lose your cool?
actors, contrary to popular belief, are not machines created for your amusement, they are PEOPLE. god forbid they ever react like human beings.

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I have worked with Shane Hurlbut (the DP that he is yelling at) on a movie. It was awful. He was condescending and misogynistic. And his lighting was fair to middling. What a jerk! He was not a team player. He only lights the set not the people.

This does not excuse Christian Bale’s behavior, totally non-professional. But he probably had enough of Shane’s snarky-ness.

Zing! Oh, that’s a good one, but my personal favourite comes from someone who was there, it seems:

In all due respects to what you all may hear here, and what you all may be imagining, Mr. Bale was totally justified with his verbal outburst. The director of photography distracted Mr. Bale while he was trying to act in a scene.

There is a time and space on the set for the DP to work and set lights and cameras, and there is also a time and space for the actors and actresses to work. The DP was “intruding” on Mr. Bale’s acting time and space.

I totally understand and respect Mr. Bale’s being upset at that specific time.

From my point of view as one of the boom operators on the set at that time, and from my point of view using my experience of 22 years in the motion picture business, Mr. Bale is a professional actor, a gentleman, and excellent at his job.

Unfortunately, this incident has been taken out of its context, and the sound bite you hear does not make sense unless you were there.

So quit your bitching, fools.

~ by mchawk on 3 February, 2009.