Katie isn't winning over the public for the same reason that Meg Ryan's career tanked after Proof of Life. Once America's sweethart with a wholesome image... the Russell Crowe affair and her role in In The Cut tarnished her reputation to a point where audiences didn't really want to see her anymore and producers knew that she came with baggage. There was also the notion that some in Hollywood were taking her slighted ex husband's side and just didn't want to deal with her.

KAK is much the same. She had this wholesome, good girl image that worked for her. She was landing mostly small but decent roles or positions in ensemble casts that were pretty much the same. The good girl or the rebellious girl who was a good girl, deep down. Publically, she had a nice, wholesome image and came with little baggage. Her career as a supporting actress was actually quite solid. She was the perky friend, the precocious teenager, the girl next door, the young wife waiting at home.

Then came the Cruise and the utter destruction of her once lilly white image. Cruise already had some stink on him, after his divorce from Nicole. Infact, it was enough to coin the phase "She was Cruised," meaning that a woman's husband leaves her, just prior to the point that she would be entitled to half of his wealth. This, combined with all of the mania, surrounding the Greatest Love EVAH © destroyed KAK's reputation and image, much like Meg Ryan's shenanigans did. She was no longer the cute, sweet, girl next door. She became all that is evil about Victoria Beckham, Pamla Anderson, Kim Kardashian and all of the other tabloid freakshows. Nobody wants to see a Pamela Anderson movie and certainly won't let their kids go either. MTP's contrubution to this came during the Scientology era, early on, when he started flipping out publically and insulting people. She was guilty by association, because she "stood by her man." If the stink got on him, it got on her too. And she wasn't enough of a major player to withstand it. The image overhaul worked against her as well. She went from being a cute young girl to looking old, tired and beat up. Seeing photos of her looking like death doesn't inspire people to want to see her movies or exes to cast her in anything. It's the equivalent of showing up for a job interview in ratty jeans with dirty hair.

The reason why Meg Ryan still has a career is because she didn't try to get back into the public's good graces. She realized that she was pretty much screwed, laid low and didn't make a movie for several years, allowing people to forget about what she'd done. Ryan will never be the box office gold that she once was, but she's still working and making some decent films. Rather than learn from this, Katie has worked overtime trying to salvage her reputation as an actress and as a person, and has been executed so poorly that it's obvious damage control. She's criticized for something and fake pap photos are released. Her acting work is panned and she's given an award. Really, this amounts to Cruise/ Holmes underestimating the general public. We're obviously not as stupid as they think we are and aren't willing to lap up the pablum they're serving.

As has been stated many times, the general consensus is that Tom buys her roles and awards. Not only does the general public loathe neoptism, but they're apt to be a lot harder on her, because they think she a starf'er and hasn't earned it. If she's just laid low for a couple of years, raised her kid and taken roles similar to what she'd been doing before, she'd probably be more accepted than she is. Her quest to be Hollywood's It Girl backfired, because she doesn't have the talent and abilities to back it up. She's mediocre in every way and her attempts to prove otherwise have only highlighted that fact.

So, as someone who's close to the Cruise Debacle© may be reading this... shut her up. Keep her indoors. Stop trying. Get her a few easy bit parts, similar to the ones she had in Go and Phone Booth. Ditch the Scientology and get her some acting lessons.

But, most of all, stop trying. You're only making it worse.

Chuck Norris invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.