Alec Baldwin's a Bad Dad, and I Don't Care

Alec Baldwin sounds like the prototypical abuser. He engages in a sickeningly abusive and threatening tirade against his daughter, then blames everyone else - whoever "leaked" the tape, the media, his ex-wife, her lawyers. For himself, he only acknowledges being "frustrated" - and again, blames eveyone else for that. Does the thief caught on tape get to complain that he was recorded without permission in as "bad moment"? Baldwin's situation is like the "first time" drunk driver -the first time you catch one in the act is probably the 500th time they have offended. If his daughter didn't feel like taking his call, can anyone now question why? Anyone incapable of seeing through this guy isn't looking very closely - or just maybe, is breathing a sigh of relief that his own conduct toward his children hasn't been recorded yet.

As a Christian and a Boy Scout leader, my heart goes out to ANY kid with this kind of dysfunction in their home. That being said, it is a private matter even if it was made public. Why add humiliation to a verbally abusive situation. I get my dose of comedy by listening to "a GREAT American" Sean Hannity on the 30 minute drive home. He and "the GREAT one" Mark Levin ambushed Baldwin like a couple of 13 year olds on a sleepover a year or so ago when Baldwin was guest hosting a radio program. To this day, Hannity still palys excerpts almost on a weekly basis. He has had a daily segment of his radio program each day this week lambasting Baldwin and talking about how much he fears for Baldwin's daughter. Methinks he likes to devolve to tabloid status if it means another point share in the ratings more than he really cares about Baldwin's daughter. I've quit watching pundit TV after the last election, so I don't know how all the others have handled it.

But I agree, while I feel sorry for the girl, I don't really care about any actor's personal life as long as they do their job well.

Child abuse is never, never a private matter. If more people got involved and didn't consider it private, more children would be spared. Many of us know this from personal experience. Sympathy from afar doesn't help anyone. One man's "personal life" can be his child's Hell.

Bird, I agree. It all depends on what one defines as "abuse". My dad was a patient, kind and loving man. There were a few instances where he really got PO'ed and unloaded on me. I didn't like it at the time. Looking back as a parent now, I understand why he did what he did.

Just saw a story that says Baldwin has had a long talk with Dr. Phil (for what that is worth) and will apologize publically today on TV.

Dysfunctional home? we have no idea what their homes are like. What is dysfunctional? I know my parents have lost it at times- I got over it.

As a parent now, I can see where the pressure of life mounts up to a boiling point. It happens. To say we all should live in some fairy land story where no one gets mad or overwhelmed is unrealistic.

It is part of life and stress- He had a melt down and apologized for it.

I am sure every kid could recall an episode taken outside of context that would have half the nation screaming 'child abuse'

Watched Baldwin's apology on The View, and was very impressed.

The fact is that Bassinger has been literally certifiable in the past, and its easy to sympathize with Baldwin, and find his story believable. Personally, I hope NBC does let him out of his contract -- if he really doesn't want to do it anymore; Tina Fey can easily create a new character to replace him (and get someone high-profile to do it), and the last thing the show needs is a performer like Baldwin who will "phone it in" if he is unhappy.

It is truly amazing how people who pretend to be no-nonsense and "tough" would actually mock people interested in protecting children from abusive adults. It is not merely "part of life" to speak to a child the way Alec Baldwin did, any more than other sick things are a part of life that people should ignore or excuse or laugh off. Those who are apologists for Baldwin's disgusting behavior may have experienced it - or engaged in it - so many times themselves, they have been desensitized by it and completely lost touch with the devastating impact it has on a child. The many, many times Baldwin told his little girl that he was coming to see her and "show her" just how angry he was would have struck fear into the heart of any kid, just as it was intended to do. Blaming the pressures of life or the other parent for one's destructive behavior, and issuing empty apologies on national television to improve one's P.R., are a coward's tactics. His so-called apology was a 30-minute monologue in which he interrupted anyone who tried to speak or ask a question. He went on and on and on about himself, not his child. Baldwin's conduct shows him to be a controlling, self-serving bully who rages at anyone who finds a way to avoid his wrath.

double standards much, poniewozik?

it appears james cares some of the time, but not other times. specifically, if he's kinda partial to someone, he'll excuse the bad behavior. however, if someone he doesn't particularly like missteps, then it appears unforgivable (i take from some of examples cited, he's no 'red stater')

from his own blog post, the kramer in all of us:
"It's going to be hard to look the same way, say, at the episode in which Kramer inadvertently dresses up like a pimp."
[snip]
"It is too facile, however, to simply separate the work from the artist. The work is the artist; to the extent that we respond to it, it is us too."

i know alot can change over 6 months....
but to come up with completely different reactions to similar infamous outbursts....
seems interesting...

I don't know if it's fair to take a few minutes from a 12 year relationship and jump to the conclusion that Baldwin's an abuser or a bad father. I could agree that he's hot tempered but not all hot tempered parents are abusive. I survived some considerable maternal rants that would put Baldwin's to shame but normally it was because I had been acting like a gigantic brat. If someone recorded my mother during a rant and didn't know the rest of the facts about our relationship or my behavior, could they jump to a conclusion and say I was being abused? Yes. Was I actually an abused child? No way in hell. So I'm not jumping to any conclusions about Baldwin.

That being said, the only thing that really makes me care about Baldwin's private life is if it affects him being on 30 Rock. I know NBC is holding him to his contract but I hope that after the tabloid hurricane that he's in calms down, he'll be able to focus on his work again and continue to make Jack Donaghy the comic gold he made him this year.

nitish, fair point. As I said about Tina Fey, it's not an absolute rule: there are instances where what I know about someone's life affects how I see their performance. The pimp scene from Seinfeld was disconcerting to watch because it was Michael Richards literally dressing up as a specific racial stereotype. If I could think of a scene from 30 Rock where, for instance, Jack Donaghy had a trouble controlling his rage with his tweenage daughter, it would probably be weirder to watch now. But there isn't anything like that there.

Anyway, since you read my Richards article, you also know that I didn't say I could no longer watch Seinfeld, or that people shouldn't. In fact I wrote: "This is not to say that Seinfeld was racist. It satirized cultural tensions and p.c. conventions, usually hilariously, often uncomfortably, sometimes insensitively-- but it did confront them, unlike most sitcoms" And: "Some people swore off Seinfeld reruns after Richards' explosion. I say watch them again, and think about how the comically ugly characters reflect him, and you."

So in that sense, no, I don't need to like Michael Richards to appreciate his performances, either. Kramer is still funny. The pimp scene, by the way, is still funny too--it just has another layer to it now.

if I didn't know better, I'd think nitish was a spoof.

The idea that you can even compare someone's private conduct with what a performer does on stage is risible.

Furthermore, while I'm not a regular 30 Rock viewer, the few times I did see it I saw no reference to Jack having a daughter. In other words, there is (as far as I know) nothing in Jacks circumstances that which relate to what Baldwin said. This is not the case with Richards -- his remarks provide a new context in which "Kramer as pimp" has to be viewed.

What is most telling, however, is the way this "Red Stater" inadvertently acknowledges the racism that is endemic among "conservatives." By superimposing a political context on Jamie's comments re: Baldwin, when there is absolutely noting political about those comments, and by attempting to compare a private failure toward his daughter with Richard's blatantly expressed bigotry toward african americans, nitish betrays his own personal agenda --- defending racism through bizarro world accusations of hiprocrisy of those who decry racism.

OK to talk about the show? I loved the quick shot in the final episode when Liz first came into Jack's hospital room...She's out of focus, and you think she's being seen from Jack's hazy perspective, but then the camera focuses and pulls back and you see Jack laying there. I'm not describing it well, but it cracked me up....

I love 30 Rock, and find Alec Baldwin hilarious, but actively hate him as a person. Accordingly, nothing would make me happier than if NBC enforced his contract against his will, his relationship with his children be damned.

Again, about the show and the Star Wars references... when Donaghy and Lemon are interrogating Kenneth about the whereabouts of Tracy, they're simultaneously screaming at him, but when (thanks to my DVR; it took another pass to sort out the shouting) Lemon threatened "I will gut you like a Tauntaun!" ... my inner geek was howling.

Let us not confuse the issue here. Alec Baldwin is not a poster child for wronged fathers. He is a poster child for a father who did wrong. I suspect that his ex is woman enough to take the heat rounds from him directly. My guess is that anyone who does not think that what he did to his daughter was a problem, probably does the same to his/her own children. Guess what? It is not typical in most homes no matter what hype is being put out there about this. As far as I can tell his only remorse about this is that it got out there and his reputation is taking a serious beating over it. Small wonder that he wants to slink off to some hole until the firefight is over.

Wow... So much self righteousness from both sides of the arena... The fact of the matter is that no one is a poster child for anything here. If anyone is to blame, it's the American people for sensationalizing this and turning it into a big retarded deal. Yes, I said retarded.

We have become so gullible to the media that we believe anything that anyone says on the E! channel or in US weekly. Are we really this weak minded? I mean, come on... We all huddle in our tents in fear of the next terrorist attack when more people were killed in car accidents last year than in the last 20 years of terrorism... Who's afraid of their car?

Wake back up to reality. We are a society of "everyone's a winner!" soccer games... OUR KIDS ARE ALL GOING TO BE SISSIES IF WE DON'T SHOW THEM THAT EVEN PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU CAN HAVE ENOUGH! eVERYONE SCREWS UP! What's important is that we try to be better for our mistakes.

Stop being such crybaby wussies...

Ohhhh....so now we have been misled by the media and although the audiotape spoke for itself this was really a media contrived event. Sorry but that just won't fly and nobody could have made this one up.

This event raises the consciousness level of all reasonable (and a few unreasonable) people to the reality that our most defenseless, our children, are not being abused by strangers, but more often within their own homes by those charged with loving and building self esteem and character, not tearing it down.

As to whether or not Ireland needed to learn this "lesson" from her Dad my vote is "NOT". I know that she would have done just fine without it. Sissy indeed!

Response to JGoodman:

I didn't say it was the media. I said it was you, me, the guy next door, all of us. I personally don't like the idea of being led around like a sheep and blaming my problems on others. You're right in saying that this was not a media contrived event. This is actually a man who's at least making an attempt at being a father and having a bit of a difficult time. We've now all heard what was probably two of the worst minutes of this man's life, and now he has every douche bag in the world passing judgement and telling him why they're better than he is. How dare we? Was what he did right in any way? Of course not. But it pales in comparison to what we as a society are now doing to that entire family.

Impersonation of Alec Baldwin as he dances on a stage:

I-I-I-I-I-I-I LOVE A TIRAAAAADE, THE STOMPING OF FEET, I LOVE EVERY BEAT THAT I THROW AT KIM.
I-I-I-I-I-I-I-LOVE A TIRAAAAADE, WHEN I HEAR THEM CRY, I JUST WANT TO STAND AND CHEER AS THEY CRY.
THAT RAT-A-TAT-TAT, THE BLARE OF MY BUM HORN, THAT RAT-A-TAT-TAT, MY IMAGINARY UNICORN, THE SIGHT OF BLOOD WILL GIVE ME A THRILL, I THRILL AT THE SKILL OF BRUTALITY, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-LOVE A TIRAAAADE, A HANDFUL OF FISTS, I'D PUT THEM IN LINE FOR A FIRING SQUAD, FOR I-I-I-I-I-I-I-LOVE A TIRAAAAAAAAAAAADE!!

Thank-you, thank-you very much, now gimme an oscar for my song or I'll leave a nasty message on tv for all of you thoughtless little piggies out there in Fanland!!

I don't like Alec Baldwin… I mean, I don't like his way of acting…anyway… it's not our right to judge the way he rise his daughter… why are we all so interested in stars personal life????
Ada Technology Transfer Company