Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch with Willa Paskin

Willa Paskin (of Slate's Decoder Ring) brings Sarah back to 2005, when Tom Cruise jumping on a couch became the talk of the town.

We will return to Amityville (part 3 of 3) next time!

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Tom Cruise on the couch notes

Oprah episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=930BhfJxFxU

Tom Cruise Kills Oprah meme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRbhE3GRiUE

Amy Nicholson's revelatory piece reframing Tom Cruise and the couch jump: https://www.laweekly.com/how-youtube-and-internet-journalism-destroyed-tom-cruise-our-last-real-movie-star/

Rich Juzwiak piece on the meaning of the couch jump: https://www.gawker.com/5912665/gone-and-back-tom-cruises-couch-jumping-remembered

New York Times hand wringing about the event:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/02/movies/how-personal-is-too-personal-for-a-star-like-tom-cruise.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/fashion/sundaystyles/i-love-you-with-all-my-hype.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/opinion/two-top-guns-shoot-blanks.html

A few other interesting, what it all meant pieces:

• https://www.laineygossip.com/looking-back-on-tom-cruise-maniacal-couch-jumping-on-oprah-fifteen-years-later/66337
• https://www.theringer.com/tv/2018/8/1/17631658/tom-cruise-oprah-couch-jump

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I can’t believe you didn’t mention Scary Movie 4

Discounted a star just bc I remember when all this happened and very soon after Scary Movie 4 came out and had Tom Cruise snapping Oprah’s hands off and swinging her around the stage and nobody could shut up about that scene and it pretty much replaced my and many others’ original memory of the actual Oprah episode. Iconic.