"Emanicipation" and "Rust": You Can't Shame a Star; Don't Even Try

The sudden turns in fortune for Alec Baldwin(in October of 2021) and Will Smith (in March of 2022) were different in one big way -- Baldwin's scandal involves the death of a human being(a young attractive woman with a husband and child.) But in both cases, something out of the ordinary enough occurred that the "general public discourse" seemed to be leaning towards punishment for Baldwin (for a wrongful death on set via a gun he fired) and Smith(for rather ruining almost a century of Oscar ceremonies with an assault and profanity on national television.)

Whatever the ramifications for Baldwin and Smith...surely each would "lie low for a certain period of time" and show contrition for their misdeeds.

Nah.

"Rust" is going back into production in January of 2023.

Will Smith's recently completed movie "Emancipation" -- once pushed back to 2023 release -- will be put up for release and Oscar consideration (!) in 2022 as planned.

The issue here -- and maybe it isn't an issue at all -- is: you can't shame a star(and in Will Smith's case, perhaps a superstar.) So don't even try.

These are very successful people who achieved considerable fame and fortune in a very competitive field. Strong egos "come with the territory" and also -- on the "readable evidence" of their remarks and lifestyles -- a certain amount of low level madness, too. Not necessarily "clinical" madness, but ...something. Hell, I'm not trained in this. Neither are you. But we get to express our opinions. And I'll opine: hey, at least sociopaths, they are.

With Baldwin, I was shaking my head a little when I read his complaint in recent months "I've lost five jobs over this." Five jobs. The woman in question lost her life; her child lost a mother.

The courts of law will handle Baldwin and he's already "winning"(at somebody's great cost) by putting the widower of his accidental victim on board as Executive Producer of "Rust" and getting the lawsuit settled in return.

What Smith did was not legally actionable (other than the "guild punishment" laid out by the Academy) but he, too, was expected to "go quiet for awhile" and at least hold off on releasing a movie anytime soon.

But no. Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Smith want to move forward, go back to the way it was, forget about it.

I suppose that's OK but really -- could it have hurt EITHER of them to have disappeared for a year?

Still, other judgments lie ahead.

Baldwin is finishing up "Rust" to put its costs to rest -- and perhaps make money for his accidental victim's family. Smith has allowed Emancipation to be released because...well, its DONE. In the can. Collecting interest.

After these projects have had their day, we shall see what kind of careers Baldwin and Smith get to have. Will new projects of any quality be given to them?