Friday the 13th : Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th"…

Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th"…

Apparently, on his movie review program he revealed Betsy's address and encouraged people to write her hate mail all because HE didn't like her movie. I have never liked Gene Siskel. He was a pompous, smug, sanctimonious asshole. I can't even fathom the nerve it would take for such a dick move.

Though, it seems he didn't get her address right, so Betsy got the last laugh!



"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

That was a real pricky thing for Gene Sickel to do.

Yes, this is really me.

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

He was a critic, which is in a way nothing more than a glorified parasite, and he's got the nerve to try and shame somebody who actually DOES something that other people can enjoy. What an entitled asshole. I'm not necessarily a fan of Roger Ebert, but he was a lot easier to take than his dickhead crony.

And I love Betsy Palmer.

"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

Siskel was deluded and elevated himself to heights of being more important than what he actually was.

And who was Palmer at any rate when she wasn't home? She wasn't exactly a big name star, or on the radar as being massively popular. She was a random t.v. star and she accepted a role that gave her notorious fame. Good for her! Who else really hated on her and got all outraged, except for Siskel?

The obnoxious and arrogant prick, thought he could start a trend to stop slashers from getting made because the poor conceited snob was precious. He thought he was a voice of reason and could influence a demographic and where they should spend their money, mostly teenage kids. As if movie moguls reaping it in over a silly slasher would give him credence….

Go f<>k yourself Siskel! I seriously doubt hardly anyone misses you, or even knows who you are.

Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

A really, really obvious thing that Siskel seemed to completely overlook was that Besty Palmer was a WORKING ACTRESS!!!! She had to make money for food and rent like everybody else! And he also most likely didn't know (or certainly wouldn't have cared) that Besty's car broke down one day and soon afterwards she got offered the part of Mrs. Voorhees, which paid $10,000 which was exactly the price of the car that she wanted to get! How awesome is that!

So, yeah, go f<>k yourself, Gene Siskel!

Here is Betsy telling her cool story…



"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

A really, really obvious thing that Siskel seemed to completely overlook was that Besty Palmer was a WORKING ACTRESS!!!!
Exactly! I'd say he would have been a privileged and fiscally comfortable snob, that was cutting down someone who had to work hard like any decent person just to survive in life. He was out of touch and that is why his reviews stunk.

I hope she got a percentage of the box office receipts as well.

Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

I like her approach to the character. I think it shows she was a smart working actress.

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

Who else really hated on her and got all outraged, except for Siskel?
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As far as I know, Siskel stood alone in his hatefulness.

The reason why I even started thinking about Gene Siskel in the first place was that last night I watched "The Seduction" (1982), starring Morgan Fairchild. It was hilariously awful, one of those unintentionally funny movies that I can never seem to get enough of and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But amidst everything else was a decent performance by Fairchild. I was actually pleasantly surprised. So, I started looking up stuff on YouTube on the movie and I see that S&E had reviewed it.

No surprise at all that they both hated it. However, shiny penis head got real personal and said unnecessarily rude, nasty things about Fairchild. It was totally uncalled for. Apparently, the man really thought he was something special.

He also condemned the movie's plot, bitching about the awful movie trend where the female would be stalked/harassed by some creepy male which is pretty goddamn ironic considering that a couple years earlier Siskel had incited strangers to do the exact same thing to Betsy Palmer.

A prick.

"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

He also condemned the movie's plot, bitching about the awful movie trend where the female would be stalked/harassed by some creepy male which is pretty goddamn ironic considering that a couple years earlier Siskel had incited strangers to do the exact same thing to Betsy Palmer.

A prick.
I haven't seen The Seduction. I recall when it was screening, but I couldn't bring myself to view it. It didn't look overly appealing at the time and it looked trashy. I will have to check it out. I knew it was made just to cash in on Fairchild's popularity in Dallas. As I never watched the show, I can't comment on her acting ability.

Siskel, sounds like he was a do as I say, not as I do hypocritical kind of schmuck!

Penis Head…. In fact, that is an insult to a penis, since there is nothing wrong with a penis.

Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

I can see where some people would have found "The Seduction" to be trashy and, in a way, I guess it was. Ebert pointed out that the movie was made to cash in on her tv fame (I never knew she was on "Dallas") which I hadn't even thought of.

It is in no way a good movie, but that is beside the point for me because I was laughing so hard and enjoying myself throughout. I think it is very badly directed and every scene was just really tacky. And there's no exposition whatsoever. Right off the bat, Andrew Stevens is obsessed with Fairchild. He plays a photographer and the hysterical highlight was when she opens her door and immediately he starts snapping away on his camera and she starts screaming and yelling at him to leave her alone and get out and his badly-conceived psycho character gets more and more excited the more she yells at him. It was so strange. I am not doing it justice by a long shot. But if the director was primarily interested in showcasing her beautiful face, then maybe that's why everything else seemed so off. The movie is all kinds of inappropriate and terrible timing. And Michael Sarrazin and Joanne Linville, both of whom I like and think are good actors, fare really badly here. Colleen Camp gives a HORRIBLE performance. It's like you can't even believe it. So I can only think that the director's intentions were elsewhere.

But I am always ready for a movie like this one because it is so rare to come across a movie as lacking in self-awareness as "The Seduction" and, for whatever it's worth, I can find a lack in self-awareness to be refreshing and even endearing in a movie, e.g., Ed Wood. Watching a movie like this is a whole different kind of experience. Though, like I said, Morgan Fairchild seems to be the only one to rise above it and it made me happy that she made the movie seem less sleazy. She made her character as likable as she could. Which was the opposite of Siskel's reaction to her character. I just wonder if Morgan Fairchild aroused him and instead of owning his lust, he projected it back onto her.

I may be reaching, but Siskel seemed like the kind of person who would sneer at porn and claim he never watched it, that it was a blight on society and because he couldn't own up to his dirty thoughts, it turned him into a repressed asshole.

Siskel, sounds like he was a do as I say, not as I do hypocritical kind of schmuck!
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Exactly. And I hate this kind of person. Of course, he just RAVED about "Raging Bull", a movie I cannot stand. I also remember him interviewing Meryl Streep, and naturally he was such a fawning little syncophant. I got the impression that she saw right through him.

Penis head… that is an insult to a penis, since there is nothing wrong with a penis.
————
Of course. But he would have hated being called that!

"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

I just looked her up and she was only in one episode of Dallas. She was popular for another t.v series in the early 80's, Flamingo Road, which I didn't watch.

You have actually made the film sound very appealing. It will be a hoot and Stevens was always easy on the eye.

Siskel, was one of those fop critics that felt their opinions were the only ones that counted, because he thought he knew what they were talking about and the only ones that were right. He would have sneered at anyone who had a different opinion than him and weren't from his influential echelon critic circles. Even if somebody gave him an intelligent and insightful take on something, if they were plebs/armchair critics, he would have likely fobbed them off.

I wouldn't even want to call him a dick, because that is an insult that I never really got either. He was more of a shitty anal douche bag. Douchebags like him were responsible for elevating Raging Bull to heights it didn't deserve and all because it was filmed in black and white and De Niro put on a ton of weight and then lost it again. This does not make a film special by any means and I find it completely uninvolving and ugly.

I am so glad that Ordinary People took out the big gong that year and deservedly so. Unnominated Donald Sutherland was more deserving of winning best actor than De Niro that year too.

Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

It will be a hoot and Stevens was always easy on the eye.
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It is absolutely a hoot and Andrew Stevens is yummy.

I wouldn't even want to call him a dick, because that is an insult that I never really got either.
—————–
I had never thought of calling somebody a "dick" that way before. That is an interesting way you processed this.

"Raging Bull" is not only loud and overbearing, it is hollow and boring. It really is the movie equivalent of an uncooked potato - starchy, dense, indigestible and without flavor or color. There are some movies that win awards that many people love that I don't care for, but at least I can understand the appeal. I do not understand the appeal of RB at all. I really don't want to take away from somebody else's movie experience and say that it's just a case of the emperor wears no clothes (or however that one goes), but I'm just at a loss on this one. Is it the whole machismo experience that I cannot relate to (and wouldn't really want to, anyway)??? I can relate to certain expressions of masculinity or "maleness" on the screen, but maybe not as often as some other guys do. I very much responded to "The Deer Hunter" and fell in love with the male characters who went through that experience together. But that movie was made with extraordinary sensitivity whereas RB is almost an affront to sensitivity. (And as thoroughly unimpressive as De Niro is in RB, he is magnificent in TDH.) There is more depth in an episode of the old "Batman" show than there is in RB.

I loved "Ordinary People". I liked what you said recently about how it feels like a well-done tv movie, which doesn't take anything away from it. Donald Sutherland was excellent in the movie, should have been nominated for an Oscar and Timothy Hutton should have won the Oscar for Best Actor instead of Best Supporting Actor, but I guess that's the way that one goes. MTM was also excellent and again, the thoughtful OP took the cold, inaccessible Beth character and gave her some shadings and made her extremely believable and at least somewhat sympathetic. Jake LaMotta was as interesting as a pig carcass.

"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

Is it the whole machismo experience that I cannot relate to (and wouldn't really want to, anyway)??? I can relate to certain expressions of masculinity or "maleness" on the screen, but maybe not as often as some other guys do.
This is at the crux of why I can't enjoy Raging Bull. What exactly is the point of it and why did this rotten potato of a character even warrant having a film made about him?

I very much responded to "The Deer Hunter" and fell in love with the male characters who went through that experience together. But that movie was made with extraordinary sensitivity whereas RB is almost an affront to sensitivity. There is more depth in an episode of the old "Batman" show than there is in RB.
The Deer Hunter held emotional impact for the audience and it brought us characters that many could relate too. It operates on a completely different level. De Niro goes from one extreme to the other. He gave us one of his most natural, likeable and subdued performances in The Deer Hunter, yet gets accoladed for one of his most repulsive and ott performances.

Most douchey Scoresese fan boys would think its cool to like on Raging Bull and yet I'd say most of them would sneer at Scoresese's exceptional Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, which runs rings around RB as an entire human experience that is gritty, amusing and bitter sweet.

Jake LaMotta was as interesting as a pig carcass.
But, but, but, it was a genius performance and La Motta had a lot to offer and inspire in others….

This wasn't a case of taking on a dark character and taking a chance, it was about both De Niro's and Scoresese's egos thinking they were the bees knees. As you say, there was no depth and hardly any purpose to it.

Siskel would turn in his grave if he was to read this……

Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

Most douchey Scoresese fan boys would think its cool to like on Raging Bull and yet I'd say most of them would sneer at Scoresese's exceptional Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, which runs rings around RB as an entire human experience that is gritty, amusing and bitter sweet.
—————
Yes, I am sure and all because "Alice…" is about a woman's experience. "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" is as full of life as RB is devoid of it. It's kind of hard to believe that the same man directed both movies. I adore "Alice…"

This is one of my favorite scenes from the movie. Funny at first, builds intensity, then becomes quite touching.



"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

I am sure and all because "Alice…" is about a woman's experience. "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" is as full of life as RB is devoid of it.
And here is your machismo point in a nutshell.

Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

Never liked him since a kid either and Ebert too. But my respect just got bigger over the years for Roger.

Bing.. Wobbledy wobble, wo-wo-wobble, wobbin'
https://vocaroo.com/1hz4nrSop8zd

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

That was a real dick move by Baldy.



😺 Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 🤨 Let's go, Brandon! 🤨 Try that in a small town.

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

He was probably picked on big time at school and college and for good reason. When he became a successful critic, he projected all his bitterness into his reviews, thinking he could control the movies being made, to make up for the kids couldn't control that he grew up with. They would have likely told him to just f<>k off gorp and then beat him up…..

Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

I respected Gene Siskel. However I admit to always finding him the more arrogant of the Siskel & Ebert pairing.

Re: Gene Siskel tried to publicly shame Betsy Palmer for making "Friday the 13th

That was a real dick move.



😺 Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 🤨 Let's go, Brandon! 🤨 Try that in a small town.
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