Bad Behavior

Reese Witherspoon and her husband clearly had a few too many cocktails when out on the town Sunday evening.  Her husband was driving erratically enroute home, and when a cop signaled him to the side of the road on suspicion of DUI, the Oscar-winning actress pulled a Diva move and started harassing him (“Do you KNOW who I am?”).  Well, not one to be bullied by a movie star who hasn’t had a good film in some time, the law man hauled Ms. Witherspoon and hubby to the hoosegow for glamour “perp” shots and a booking. 

 Demonstrating how well aware of who she is she was, Ms. Witherspoon quickly issued a Monday morning apology by confessing to “one drink too many” and her subsequent deep embarrassment.  She’s married to her manager, so she obviously understands the cost of misjudging the special alchemy that exists between performers and their audience.  While we may admire, for example, the acting technique of a young Jennifer Lawrence or the chameleon-like Daniel Day Lewis, what we really applaud is when they stumble to the podium because of an impossibly poofy gown, or are funny and self-deprecating about their “mythic” talent when they’re handed the Oscar.

This is a painful lesson that poor Matt Lauer has had to relearn every day since Ann Curry shed her final “Today Show” tear.  This too is the sacred compact with the public that Mitt Romney never fully grasped:  Americans loath arrogance and will turn away when they sense it.  Likeability, however, sells lots of tickets, wins blue and red states, and dominates ratings.  Not a deep insight, I know, but important to keep in mind if you need the public to care about you.

I suspect, however, Ms. Witherspoon also knows that Americans love to forgive.  (Matt Lauer is hoping that’s true while being forced to endure on-air auditions with replacement candidates like Ryan Seacrest.  Humbling experience.)

We are a nation of second chances and triumph over adversity or weakness.  So look for Reese Witherspoon to engage her public in the right way, with just the right amount of self-deprecation once the shame passes and the reality of her next movie’s imminent opening forces her to sit down with David Letterman, the only late night host with the right mix of checkered past, smarty-pants knowingness and sixty-something gravitas to be truly worthy of her regret.  If she’s smart (and I think she is), she’ll mean it when she says, “Oh Dave, boy I’m really sorry I was such a [BLEEP].” 

As for Matt Lauer, the jury’s out.