It pains me to write that. But it seems obvious. Alec Baldwin is totally, completely fucked. Everything bad that happens to him going forward is probably going to be traced to what happened to him last week.
This tragic case is extraordinary in every worst way:
1. I will start with the fact that Alec Baldwin is New York’s resident asshole celebrity. He’s been an asshole to just about everyone for the last 30 years or so. You might cry that this isn’t relevant to the tragedy, but of course it is. This is part of how it’s going to be remembered. It is far too soon to write it, but I wrote it.
2. No asshole deserves what happened to Mr. Baldwin. What astonishes me is the level of horrifying trauma he is going through. If you believe in karma, or if you think sometimes the universe comes to collect from bad people, you have to agree that Baldwin’s punishment is disproportionately large for what he has done as an adult. He must be going through the worst hell, unless, he is unfazed and sleeping peacefully at night, in which case, re-read #1. No one deserves such an overwhelming punishment for being an chronic asshole. Not even Donald Trump, who must be thrilled that this happened.
3. Baldwin is no longer an A-list actor. Personally, I will remember him for Beetlejuice, Miami Blues, Glengarry Glen Ross, Malice and The Royal Tannenbaum's (I forgot he’s the voice of the narrator!). He’s in the twilight of his career, unable to star in a theatrical release. So he took a role (and an executive producer credit) in a Blumhouse production that was marred by a labor dispute and a total breakdown of safety protocols. This led to him becoming a victim of one of the worst cases of negligence in the history of movie production. I want to repeat that. What happened last week was arguably worse than The Twilight Zone movie helicopter crash in 1982, or Brandon Lee’s death on the set of The Crow in 1993. That’s because it is currently believed that the gun used was a revolver, which is easier to empty. For a rehearsal, it should have been empty of any and all cartridges. It goes so far beyond ‘inexcusable.’ It should never have happened. And yet, a series of shocking errors and terrible chances led to a tragic death. Somehow a live round found its way into that gun, and that gun ended up in Baldwin's hand.
4. The inexcusable, violent death of Ms. Hutchins was the fault of many people. Primarily, the liability rests with assistant director Dave Halls and an inexperienced armorer. But in order for this to become the horrible manslaughter it was, there had to be a string of consecutive failures, including the final failure from Mr. Baldwin. He violated a critical rule: never point any gun, real or replica, at anyone. It would have been bad enough if a live round was fired during rehearsal, but hit no one. People would still be fired and banned from Hollywood. An investigation would still happen. The unions would send stern reminders to armorers and assistant directors. But this horrific tragedy is one in which a series of terrible things happened, including Baldwin pointing the gun at two principal crew members.
Are you a fan of Alec Baldwin? Did my words hurt you because I said something harsh about the star of of the insanely overrated and self-referencing 30 Rock? Well, don’t be upset at me. Just watch what happens next.
New York City now has two celebrities on death watch. Which one will go first, Alec Baldwin or Rudy Giuliani? Or will Robert De Niro crash the party with a surprise passing?
It might seem that I find some pleasure in this. I don’t, really. One person is dead and another is having his life completely ruined.
I do admit to being slightly evil and twisted. I have to be a little evil in this cruel nation.