Filmstalker: Tom Cruise - Movie Star or Celebrity Target?

With the build up to the movie release of Mission Impossible III (review) there's been press saturation galore on Tom Cruise, but not so much for the film itself. We've heard about his girlfriend, their baby, his scientology beliefs, and a million and one other things about his personal life. The press continue to focus on the man and his personal life and ignore the movie star, the actor.

Something Cruise himself does exceedingly well is to separate the movie star from his personal life. We can watch him on TV openly discussing his new found love, life, and personal beliefs, and the next day we see him spending a reported four hours outside the Premiere of M:I:III to work the crowd.

Despite having a new born child he comes to the premiere of his new film, not just to create headlines, but to stand and give the actual fans of the movie star Tom Cruise what they want, and what they want are his autograph, his voice recorded on their answering machine, a few words with their friend or mother, a quick photograph, and above all a moment with one of the biggest stars there is in Hollywood. Is that all bad? Does he deserve such bad press?