As I mentioned in an earlier
article, I generally refrain from referring to scandal and criminal charges
among celebrities unless I either am familiar with the creative forces or am
personally stung by it. I was appalled by the recent crime saga involved the
supposed attack on Jossie Smollett, but since I never watched Empire, I don’t really care one way or
the other. I was upset when Jeffrey Tambor, a comedic and dramatic acting force
was accused of sexual harassment on the set of Transparent, but because I was never clear on the details, I didn’t
feel free to comment.
But when the news hit. that a group
of celebrities were linked and, in some cases, being arrested, for being
involved in bribery charges in order to get their children into colleges like
USC, I think its safe to say that I was hit hard in a way that so many of the
other scandals involving celebrities have not affected me. A lot of the
publicity has surrounded Lori Loughlin, best known for playing Aunt Becky on Full House. But on a more personal
level, I was hurt by the fact that one of my favorite actresses (and almost
certainly her equally famous husband) are being charged and are facing trial.
It really gutted me that Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy are involved in
such corruption.
To explain why, it helps if one
knows what their resumes have been, particularly on television. For the last
few weeks, the media has delighted in playing a clip from Desperate Housewives where Huffman essentially bribes the head of a
preschool to get her terrible children into it. But the fact is, Huffman’s character
Lynette Scavio was always the most grounded and rational character on the hit
series, and almost certainly the one who went through the most personal
struggles. In the first season, she got addicted to her children’s Ritalin. She
had a cancer diagnosis that pretty much affected her throughout the entire
fourth season. She had a pregnancy with twins in season six that led to a
miscarriage one of them. In a world that seemed to be forever bizarre, she was
the most level-headed, and to me, the most appealing of all the characters.
Even though that was Huffman’s most
famous role, her body of work on TV has one of the most consistently brilliant
of the last twenty years. I’ve mentioned in various articles how impressive her
work as Dana Whitaker on Sports Night was,
and her versatility on the underwatched American
Crime would have no doubt netted her as many Emmys as Regina King have we
not been seeing a surplus of great female performances in limited series.
William H. Macy is, if anything,
even more brilliant than his wife. I have noted in articles how fully repugnant
I find Frank Gallagher to be on Shameless,
but in a way, that’s a tribute to Macy’s chameleon like ability to take his
affable personality and become someone this disgusting. It’s also worth noting
that, prior to landing what is most famous role on television, he was known for
playing Everyman characters. His most famous role in the 1990s was in the
recurring role of Dr. David Morgenstern on ER
(which brought him into contact with future Shameless creator John Wells) Morgenstern’s role was genuinely a
rock of stability that other characters would lean on. When he was written off
the series in Season 4, I begin to sense the long creative decline that would
plague the series as they would begin to center around more and more unpleasant
people.
He also did a series of exceptional
TV movies for TNT, where he would show his versatility by playing characters
completely opposite of his normal talkative self. His most awarded performance
came for playing real-life cerebral palsy afflicted salesman Bill Porter in Door to Door in 2003. He would win Emmys
for writing, directing and starring in it. Even more versatile was his work in The Wool Cap where he played a deaf-mute
trying to help an unwed mother, which got him another Emmy nomination. (His
work at TNT alone got him four acting nods)
And that only begins to cover his
work in television. He is best remembered for his incredible work as the
beleagured Jerry Lundengaard in Fargo
What I’ve always liked best about
Huffman and Macy is that celebrity seemed to have touched them so little. They
deal with the award shows and other events like the characters they play –
asked to present at this year’s Emmys, they came in just saying ‘witty banter,
witty banter.” Which makes the scandal that has involved them all the more
devastating.
I think what I find hardest to take
away from all this is: why? Huffman and Macy may not be superstars, but they
are surely famous and multi-millionaires. Why on earth would they feel they had
to bribe a go-between and falsify documents to get their kids into college at
all? What does it say about the system of higher education that even the famous
don’t feel secure unless they get involved in bribery and falsehood?
I also feel bad about who’s been
charged. So far, Huffman has been pulled into court but Macy hasn’t. I don’t
understand the proceedings here – Loughlin’s husband was charged as well – but
I find it difficult to believe he is isn’t involved. This will do damage to
their marriage, which has been one of the strongest in Hollywood
There’s a lot to take away from all
this, but there is one more thing that troubles me. Huffman was charged and
hauled into court. Meanwhile, Louie C.K. is back doing standup. I’m not the
kind of person that believes in moral equivalence, but surely C.K.’s crime was
at least ad bad as Huffman’s, and he seems back to normal. I find this tremendously offensive.
All of this may come to nothing.
The law, as we all know, doesn’t apply to the famous as does to everyone else.
Lori Loughlin still has her job making movies at Hallmark, and there doesn’t
seem to have been any move to fire Macy from the series he helped build. But
it’s a stain on two of the last actors I really thought would ever be involved
in a scandal, much less a criminal conspiracy. And it’s a blow that’s bigger
than just seeing them pillories in the 24-hour news cycle.
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