Althouse: That "rude, thoughtless, little pig" is beautiful.

January 26, 2009

That "rude, thoughtless, little pig" is beautiful.

That beauty sitting with Alec Baldwin at the SAG Awards was his 13-year-old daughter Ireland — the one he left that infamous phone message to.

36 comments:

vbspurs said...: Wow, she's gorgeous. Very Black Irish. Nicely done, Big Mouth and Kimmy.; 1/26/09, 5:22 PM
Big Mike said...: If there's any genetic component to personality, then a daughter of Alec Baldwin will certainly be a rude, thoughtless, little pig. 'Cause he is.; 1/26/09, 5:27 PM
blake said...: Ireland went to the same gym school as my kids. I wouldn't have recognized her mother except she wore the I'm-a-celebrity-disguise (big floppy hat and sunglasses).

(I do this just to needle Trooper York.); 1/26/09, 5:28 PM
Roberto said...: Good lord...give it a rest.

It was two years ago...and if the daughter can forgive and forget...what's the point of this thread?

Other than revving up the standard Baldwin haters to jump in.; 1/26/09, 5:29 PM
Roberto said...: And here it starts:

Big Mike said..."If there's any genetic component to personality, then a daughter of Alec Baldwin will certainly be a rude, thoughtless, little pig. 'Cause he is."

What would possibly make you believe Alec Baldwin was a "pig?"

He's respected by his peers, is a good actor, has apologized over and over again...yet assholes like you just cannot let it go.

Get-a-fucking-life.; 1/26/09, 5:32 PM
Matt Eckert said...: I thought luckyoldson only defended Roman Polanski's relationships with 13 year old's.

You see something new everyday here.; 1/26/09, 5:36 PM
Anonymous said...: She is stunning. But isn't that dress a little sophisticated (ie, low cut) for a 13-year-old?; 1/26/09, 5:39 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/26/09, 5:44 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I suppose she'd have to be pretty gorgeous. I don't know where she'd get the genes to be otherwise.; 1/26/09, 5:44 PM
vbspurs said...: But isn't that dress a little sophisticated (ie, low cut) for a 13-year-old?

Hey, class-factotum. :)

I would say you are right in theory, but she looks easily 18, towering over her dad.; 1/26/09, 5:49 PM
ricpic said...: If it's humanly possible both parents should do everything possible to keep her out of the public eye. That would give her a chance to get through her teen years without a disaster. Otherwise, lookout.; 1/26/09, 5:57 PM
David said...: My kids have forgiven my most serious transgressions against them. But they have not forgotten.; 1/26/09, 5:57 PM
William said...: I knew the son of a respected major league player. He was a borderline klutz. He was always being told what a disappointment he was. His adolescence was no bowl of cherries. There was another kid, also the son of a major leaguer, in my school. He was a supremely gifted athlete--all-state in every sport he played. He got an athletic scholarship and did go on to play professional ball, but he never made it out of the low minor leagues. There are microsecond differences between a major leaguer and the rest of the world. I suppose he had to dowshift his dreams of glory, but he did get to go through high school as a demigod.....The daughter is very good looking, and pretty enough for all high school purposes. There is some micrometer in a raised eyebrow or snub nose that differentiates a movie star from a pretty girl. The jury is out on that.; 1/26/09, 6:17 PM
john said...: Michael said - "He's respected by his peers, is a good actor, has apologized over and over again." Maybe I lost track of the buzz, but what did he need to apologize for? I have a lot of sympathy for the guy's daughter problems, so I hope he didn't continue to go public on that.

I also really like him as an actor. He would be even better as an Australian actor. He had the chance I recall.; 1/26/09, 6:19 PM
Anonymous said...: Amen, John. The girl had it coming. Baldwin was simply trying to stir some semblance of responsible thought in her 11 year old skull. She should be thankful.

She IS a beauty. There are a lot of ways she could turn into a disaster as a person. Can't blame Alec for trying to avoid some of them.; 1/26/09, 6:33 PM
al said...: I don't recall Baldwin ever apologizing for wanting to stone Henry Hyde. He kinda reminds me of Lloyd Bridges character in Airplane now.; 1/26/09, 6:54 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: CF, my thought exactly. (Hi!)

I also think Ireland looks very much like her mother. Dislike Kim's hair in the picture. Some hairstyles are oblivious to me, as one of my former coworkers was wont to say.; 1/26/09, 6:58 PM
lowercase said...: Not surprised considering how abusive and obsessed with her he was (is?).; 1/26/09, 7:22 PM
traditionalguy said...: Un-usually for an actor, Baldwin sounded like a control freak at home. He used his kid's to attack the mother for avoiding him. Does any one remember the plot of the Greek play Medea?; 1/26/09, 7:25 PM
jeff said...: Baldwin has said many things politically that are pretty stupid but as a comic actor is is damn good. I really enjoy him on 30 rock. As far as the phone call, I wouldn't condone it, but I completely understand it. While the Henry Hyde thing was non-defensible, at least he hasn't tried to justify Polanski slipping a roofy to a 13 year old girl and raping her. I am also surprised luckyokdson would venture into this territory. Maybe time to change names again.; 1/26/09, 7:40 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: I have to say that if my dad called me a rude, thoughtless pig I'd turn my phone off too. I doubt seriously that that's the first time he used abusive language to her.

And "I'm sorry I said X but Kim drove me to it" isn't an apology.; 1/26/09, 8:06 PM
Big Mike said...: @Michael, I pick on Alec Baldwin because he deserves it.

Clearly we differ on his acting ability, which I do not much respect. And he is so stupid that when he did the songs from "South Pacific" on PBS with Reba McEntire she had to point out to him where they were in the libretto. You'd think he would have enough professionalism to keep track of what was going on.

I didn't much like him in "Red October," nor have I particularly enjoyed his work in the handful of other Baldwin movies I've had the ill fortune to see. Whereas I'll go see just about anything Will Smith or Morgan Freeman do, I wouldn't walk across the street to see a Baldwin flick if they handed out free tickets, a free bag of popcorn and an extra-large Icee.

In his public pronouncements Alec Baldwin comes across as a knee-jerk member of the left-wing lunatic fringe, with emphasis on the word "jerk." He has his liberal talking points memorized and can reproduce them as needed, but there is no ability to lay them against this little word "reality." He's kind of like you that way.

Since he can't act a lick I can only assume that Baldwin does well on "30 Rock" because there he is pretty much playing himself -- an opinionated, egotistical, asshole.

Kind of like you, Michael.

Your problem, Michael, is that I'm an atheist and not a Christian, so I don't have to turn the cheek. You and Baldwin want to dish out hate by the bucket? I'll dish it back, bucket for bucket, volt for volt. If you don't want to receive it, don't dish it out.

And my life doesn't copulate.; 1/26/09, 9:33 PM
Beth said...: I love Baldwin on 30 Rock; really, he's a master of comedy. Drama, too. He's great on screen and on stage. That being said, I've listened in on a couple of phone screeds he left for a friend of mine, who produced something Baldwin was involved with and neglected to accomodate a couple of minor details (little backstage comforts and last-minute seating for his friends at a sold-out event.) Believe me, it was embarrassing to listen to -- I wasn't embarrassed for my friend, but for Baldwin, to think that someone could be so petty and egotistical. And it went on and on and on. Once we got over the horror of it, we played it over and over because it just got funnier and funnier.

I still love him as an actor. I even don't mind some revelations about his temper (I recall him winning a court case right after the birth of this girl, when he punched out a papparrazi chasing his family down their driveway, as he and Kim Basinger were bringing the baby home from the hospital. Who wouldn't have rooted for him in that instance?) And yes, parents should keep their kids from becoming rude little pigs. But he's an ass, there's no doubt about that.; 1/26/09, 10:41 PM
OSweet said...: By following the rules of the Film Actor's Guild, the world can become a better place; that handles dangerous people with talk, and reasoning; that, is the fag way. One day you'll all look at the world us actors created and say, "wow, good going, fag. You really made the world a better place, didntcha, fag?"; 1/26/09, 11:36 PM
Anonymous said...: I hold a LOT of things against my family, and calling me a selfish little pig when I was 11 would definately be one of those things I held against them.

Not cuz I'm spiteful, but because my parents were so spiteful When I was EFFING 11!!! EFFING YEARS OLD!!! is something significant.

And yeah, she don't look 14, she is a doll, and has clearly gotten over the situation, but thats cuz she's filthy Effing Rich, and prolly has special concessions in her fathers will.

A normal kid dealing with that? would carry it throughout most of their life, and THEY SHOULD!!!

Ever read "Angela's Ashes?"

That book is a masterpiece, but judging Alec is irrational?; 1/27/09, 12:29 AM
josil said...: I think Baldwin's best role was in "Miami Blues" where he played the role of a psychopath. Of course, many claim that the role did not require much acting on his part.; 1/27/09, 12:30 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Alec's looking a wee bit puffy.; 1/27/09, 5:17 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: He's a fine actor, probably one of the better ones out there.

He's still a flaming asshole though and not just for being a dickhead to his kid.; 1/27/09, 5:17 AM
Harsh Pencil said...: Alec Baldwin didn't make that tape public. Didn't
it have to be the mother (Basinger)? It may have been the girl, but does an 11 year old know who to contact to get a tape out to the public? If it was Basinger, then she's as guilty or more guilty than Baldwin in this whole sordid affair.; 1/27/09, 7:16 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Then again this is Hollywood we're talking about. In the words of Obi Wan Kenobi: You'll not find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.; 1/27/09, 8:42 AM
TheCrankyProfessor said...: If she's more than just a pretty face she's keeping notes for her version of Mommie Dearest. I'm surprised Traditionalguy doesn't think actors make good control freaks - Joan Crawford aside, film rewards the compulsive with repetition until things are PERFECT.

I'm not at all surprised that bleeds over into their family lives.; 1/27/09, 9:07 AM
knox said...: Beth, that pretty much encapsulates my feelings about him. He's always been great on SNL too, of course. He's a jerk, but I just can't bring myself to loathe him like I do some other celebretards.; 1/27/09, 11:14 AM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: Harsh Pencil, if it was Kim who publicized the tape, and not, for instance, the parents of one of Ireland's friends, she may have done so b/c embarrassing Alec was the only way to get the abuse to stop.

If that's the case, to say that what Kim did is as bad or worse is to say that abuse just needs to be kept within the family. That kids need to be spared the embarrassment having their abuse made public (thus enabling it to continue indefinitely). I don't think we want to go there.

As to those who say Alec was right to try to prevent his daughter from turning into a pig - as a parent myself, I can tell you that calling your kid ugly names is not the first thing that should come to mind as an effective character-shaping stategy. I don't think you can dress a temper tantrum up as an effort at fine-tuning a minor child's attitude. Or even coarse-tuning.; 1/27/09, 11:26 AM
blake said...: As to those who say Alec was right to try to prevent his daughter from turning into a pig - as a parent myself, I can tell you that calling your kid ugly names is not the first thing that should come to mind as an effective character-shaping stategy.

I doubt somehow it was the first thing.

It's a foolish exercise to try to analyze a single datum for significance.

I can say "Americans have killed millions of Germans". This is true, but if you analyze it by itself, you might come to the conclusion that Americans are a bunch of jerks who hate Germans, neither of which is true. (Well, okay, "jerk" is debatable.)

Without the contexts of the Revolutionary War, WWI and WWII, you don't have the data to analyze the first datum.; 1/27/09, 4:21 PM
Roberto said...: knox - "He's a jerk, but I just can't bring myself to loathe him like I do some other celebretards."

YOU know Alec Baldwin personally?

This is like ding-dong school for jealous fools.; 1/27/09, 11:44 PM
Roberto said...: jeff - Are you still sucking cock?; 1/27/09, 11:46 PM