Francis Ford Coppola almost killed himself in the middle of the disastrous shoot for "Apocalypse Now," and no one call tell me Quentin Tarantino is a stable human being. But the entire incident in early 2010 involving the release of "Cop Out" escalated to the point where even his most loyal fans were standing back and wondering where Smith was headed mentally. If his tweets and massive tirades have anything to do with his current state of mind, it's clear that this could be the downfall of the man who penned cult hits like "Clerks" and "Dogma." It's not really entirely clear where this path of self-destruction began, but most people trace it back to the incident in February 2010 where Kevin Smith was kicked off of an airplane for being too fat. The aftermath of this episode seemed to take a real toll on Smith who voiced his anger at this event to his fans explaining that he always buys two tickets and he felt particularly humiliated.

But through it all he seemed to be trying to save face and put up a show for his fans. Nevertheless they cheered him on and supported the man. No one wanted to state the obvious. Smith was kicked off the plane for a reason. Was this little tiff embarrassing? Undoubtedly, but it also helped many of his supporter deny the obvious: Smith was really overweight and this was probably time for him to take the hint and begin a massive diet. But his enablers didn't cop to offering this suggestion that would help in the long run. As if that wasn't enough, Smith later went on to release the buddy cop comedy "Cop Out," a movie that was met with much negativity from the outset. Right from the trailers everyone seemed down on this movie and in spite of Smith and his fans attempts to stick up for it, there was no denying "Cop Out" was guaranteed to be a lemon. And once critics decided after watching it that it was a genuinely horrible movie, Smith completely expended his energy on saving face and making excuses.

He just directed it. He was just a man for hire. He didn't have any say over the script. He had only minor say on the script. He had no control over production. He attempted to make an action movie. He attempted to make a action comedy. No he was spoofing the cop comedies of the eighties! It's supposed to be bad! But it's also a good movie! On all fronts he not only mocked critics for deriding "Cop Out," but also went on a campaign to insist that critics should pay for movie screenings as general audiences do. This is of course coming from a man who has a large following and is guaranteed money in the bank from his followers. The man who was once an alleged independent film director failed to realize with all of his hubris and absolutely ridiculous tirades that some film directors don't exactly have the option of deciding if the press should or shouldn't pay to see their movies because, unlike Smith, most independent directors are struggling to just get their movie seen and don't have the luxury of picking and choosing who can see them. Some honest filmmakers are out there literally begging critics to see their films and hanging on their every word, but Smith the once alleged indie filmmaker apparently has lost sight of that in his efforts to pad his bank account.

As if that wasn't enough, most of his sycophantic followers agreed with Smith's declaration because, hey, Smith can afford to charge people to get in to press screenings, and when you're hanging around celebrities and being able to make or break folks of your ilk, people love it when you whine and bitch pitching something that is absolutely idiotic. I also think Smith is prone to screening his movies for free for his friends and people who are guaranteed to boast about whatever he puts out, but that's just a theory. One I'll be willing to lean on, but still just a theory. He never quite explains that perhaps directors should be charged to post on news websites, and for publicity because he's a director, and they should be allowed special privileges, and I'm certain his loyal knuckle dragging followers will revolt at the notion of Smith denting his bank account to pay for coverage while asking for the press to pay for press screenings. Fair is fair right, Kevin?  He then went on to engage in an interview where he subtly blamed Judd Apatow for copying his storytelling style, admitted envy for his success in the box office, and even declared quite bitterly that he himself tried to copy Apatow's formula for success in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," however humorous it was intended to be.

His twitter rants come off like a spoiled baby throwing a tantrum quite often, if you remember the fiasco of 2010. They make no sense, they're elitist, they're pointless and random and he posits his views like an immature teenager who'd been coddled as a child. And he had been coddled with the Weinsteins who allowed him almost carte blanche on all of his films, and now this shock to his system revealed to him that everything outside of the brothers was not as he'd originally predicted. He hit the mainstream and he failed gloriously and now the perpetual child couldn't handle the criticism and realization that he probably wasn't meant for bigger things. What we saw and what we've seen is a an artist coming to terms with the notion that he simply could not grow in the mainstream. Thus he revolted and came off like toddler wanting his bottle. The true Kevin Smith was revealed and it was not an attractive sight.
 

Part Two of "Kevin Smith: Cop Outs, Sycophants, and Self-Destruction >>