It was a solid performance by Reese Witherspoon on Good Morning America today. Her voice was exactly the right level -- low, quiet, measured. She played humble and contrite. She said the right things -- being accountable, her actions were not acceptable, and doing whatever it takes to make it right. Making it right is a lot easier when you drink and drive and, very, very luckily, don’t hurt anyone.
As for pulling the celebrity card, her explanation was that she was literally bombed out of her mind and had “no idea” what she was saying. It was the alcohol you see. So she was so f-cking smashed she had an out of body experience, with no conscious control over her words and actions...except that she “just panicked”, because she saw her husband being arrested, and just wanted to help him.
It’s not supposed to make sense, you see?
It’s just supposed to sound good. And it’s supposed to make us feel better. Because forgiveness is infinitely easier. Forgiveness not only absolves the person who made the mistake, it releases us from having to confront the reality about how it could have been worse.
Those who are inclined to believe Reese when she says that that wasn’t the real her who behaved so inappropriately will argue that we’ve all been blitzed and we’ve all said things we regret and that that ONE moment shouldn’t define our character. Can we say the same for Mel Gibson when he was pulled over for drunk driving a few years ago and went on an anti-Semitic rant? I’m serious. I want to know what you think. What is the answer to that? Is it only character-defining when the offending remarks reach a certain level of reprehensibility?
As for Reese and whether or not this will follow her...
Of course it won’t follow her. She’s too cute for that.
