WHICH WAY TO THE BOTTOM?

Is that all?

Headlines like the one seen here, while chilling most of the world, actually provide a little comfort for people who would otherwise be closer to the top of the newsfeeds. 

People like, say, two actors whose personal reputations were never cuddly to begin with. Reputations that have curdled even further, like milk that's been left out of the Amana way too long. 

One of these actors is in the strange position of being lucky to be dead. The other is less lucky to be alive and well (physically if not psychologically). Let's start with the guy who still walks the earth.

He'd rather break Baldwin's neck.

Five months after, alas, only temporarily derailing his career, Alec Baldwin has been sued by Matt Hutchins, the husband of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. 

It must be a shock to Baldwin, since he confided to us, Trump-style, that many people in the legal world were sure he was in the clear. Even the Santa Fe District Attorney appears to be coming around to his side, which seems to be a strange thing for a D.A. to say before the investigation is completed. But I'm not lawyer, so what do I know?

If you didn't know who they were,
you'd run in the opposite
direction. Come to think of it,
you'd run knowing who they were.

I'll tell you what I know! That Baldwin likely increased the chances of being sued by
weeping to George Stephanopoulos that he wasn't responsible for Hutchins's death despite holding the gun. And then he and his wacky wife doubled down by posting pictures and home movies on Instagram as if nothing happened. 

The Baldwins weren't just rubbing it into the faces of Matt Hutchins and his eight-year-old son. They were slapping, smacking, smiting, and thwacking it, then went trick-or-treating just for kicks and giggles. 

In an interview on Today, Hutchins said, "Watching him I just felt so angry. I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her." That's what happens when you're up against a sociopath.

OK, thousandth-and-first.

Actor #2 in this week's "any news is bad news" section is Jerry Lewis. Despite having gone to that great telethon in the sky almost five years ago, Jerry was back the other day, and not to shove a drinking glass clear into his mouth for the thousandth time. 

Thanks to a scathing report in Vanity Fair, America's favorite funnyman (at least until 1963 or thereabouts) was exposed as a sexual harasser and assaulter of some of his female costars. And unlike others who have gone through the same thing in recent years, most of these women have names familiar to us (and by us, I mean over age 60). 

Renee Taylor, Lanie Kazan, Jill St. John -- they might not have necessarily been A-list by today's standards, but they were far from the extras, up-and-comers and almost-somebodies that fell victim to the likes of Harvey Weinstein.  Which is not to say their words count more; it just makes one re-think their movies with Jerry.

Not what you expect to see at the beginning of
a Jerry Lewis documentary.

You know the story's bad when the accompanying video carries a warning. I'm not going to recount the women's experiences, other than that one of them describes an incident that Louis CK made famous in his encounters. Weinstein, too, now that I think of it. What is it with not-so-good-looking guys and what they think chicks want to see?

That's what he thinks.

As I've written before, my feelings about Jerry are mixed. There is no taking away his talent, both in front of and behind the camera. Just like there is no ignoring his often ham-fisted, obnoxious humor and personality. Too, his dislike of most contemporary female comedians who aren't named Ball or Burnett has been on the record for years. 

The latter could be put down to There goes Grandpa again. Just ignore him, he'll be OK in a few minutes -- at least to people who grew up watching him. Subsequent generations weren't having any of it, though, and likely vomited at the kind words spoken at his passing. 

Not every woman who worked with Jerry has horror stories. Connie Stevens was never mistreated on the set of The Nutty Professor. Sylvia Lewis (no relation), a dancer in The Ladies Man, even said, "he was always very kind and respectful to me. In fact, I can say during my Hollywood years I was never treated better by anyone." 

Which one would you rather meet?

Maybe it's a simple case of Jekyll & Hyde -- or in Jerry's case, Julius Kelp & Buddy Love. Whatever it is, the reaction to what's described as Jerry's "dark side" should be interesting to see. 

Will the celebrities who mourned his death feel compelled to take it back? And the baby-boomers who grew up loving Jerry -- will they feel icky the next time The Disorderly Orderly airs on TCM? Will TCM even air his movies again?

But pity must be given to the younger generations -- how can they cancel somebody who was really cancelled in 2017 at the age of 91? 

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My obituary of Jerry Lewis can be found here.