Somewhere past the road of fame and right around the final exit for immortality, the world got greedy and turned against Tom Cruise. How could people--and more specifically Viacom's Paramount Pictures--discriminate against a man that has done so much for money-hungry studio heads and Scientology?

Tom Cruise's original goal was to be a priest, he being a Franciscan seminary student and religious minded youth. When the possibility of super-stardom in Hollywood became an option, the talent scout had Tom Cruise at "Hello." A movie career might be just the worldwide avenue needed to deliver a message of peace and truth to a confused world looking for answers. That and the pay is not too shabby. Cruise set his sights on Hollywood and the rest really is cinematic history.

With only a handful of fair to good performances, Tom Cruise became the world's top box office star over a period of less than twenty years. His first film was 1981's Endless Love, in which he starred with a then 15 year old Brooke Shields and another freshman actor James Spader. Following that, he starred in Taps, The Outsiders, Losin' It and then 1983's star making Risky Business. As if he wasn't already building a large fan base of female fans, 1986's Top Gun and The Color Of Money helped to establish him as a true 80's sex symbol.

As a sex symbol for women, not for men. Just to make that clear, as Tom Cruise does not tolerate tabloids, websites and human beings in general who whisper conflicting rumors of his sexuality. (In case there's any doubt, just rest assured that Hollywood is an assemblage of straight, white Christians with largely conservative viewpoints)

By the late 80's Tom Cruise was progressing from popular movie star to cinematic icon. Rain Man and Born On The Fourth Of July were his Oscar bids (though only one scored a nomination) elevating his name as a man who made serious films--movies about something more than just materialism and rampant teenage sex. By the mid 90's he certainly didn't need to be dolled up in make up for Interview With A Vampire, or score another Oscar nomination for Jerry Maguire. His 15 million dollar paychecks, at the time the highest pay in Hollywood, spoke for themselves. By the late 90's he reached a pinnacle not only of his career, but even in his A list celebrity quest to contribute positive things to the world. He didn't have to wait until he was the age of Spielberg or Newman to start making a difference; he was a God of Hollywood and thought it time to start giving back to humanity.

But humanity never seems satisfied with the work of the Gods and starting in the new millennium, Cruise's off screen behavior was scrutinized by a demanding nation. In 2001, he lost many fans despite his kind act of setting Nicole Kidman free. Why did their marriage end? Could it be because he and Kidman worked with Stanley Kubrick on the notorious Eyes Wide Shut, the Guinness Book record holder for the longest shooting in movie history? You and your wife working with the late Kubrick probably feels more like twenty years in Hollywood. Tom Cruise then felt it prudent to remind his fans and doubters that he was divorcing Kidman to date other women--not men, despite what you hear in all those tabloids.

Tom then started dating Penelope Cruz, an admitted woman in Hollywood, and ended that relationship in record time. Speculation that suggests Cruise was concerned about the spelling of his last name being changed in the event of marriage is absurd and untrue.

Tom Cruise persevered and his great faith and work ethic helped him survive the difficult process of dating other people, and produced more high quality films like Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, The Last Samurai and Collateral.

Then Tom Cruise's legacy suffered a slight tumble, just as many other great show-business careers have been shaken, by appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show. (In light of recent events movie stars should really start thinking of Oprah Winfrey's show as Jury Duty) Tom Cruise created a pop culture sensation and even a new slang expression, "Jumping The Couch", by screaming his love for Batman Begins girl Katie Holmes. Katie Holmes was perfect for the Tom Cruise of 1981's Endless Love. It was a dream come true and the perfect Hollywood love story: yes, a man dating a woman. Why more of his fans turned on him following his Oprah televised antics, is a mystery even more unsettling than the ending of Eyes Wide Shut.

As the new decade went on, Tom Cruise started to give more of his time, energy and wisdom--and again, starting alienating more of his fans. In 2005 Tom Cruise criticized his 80's co-star Brooke Shields for using antidepressants. He explained the basic truth that everybody knows and accepts: that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance and that psychiatry is a form of pseudoscience (the medical equivalent of a fake diamond). Tom Cruise made a bold move by attacking the institution of psychiatry live on television and arguing with Matt Lauer. A less courageous man might have held his tongue, thinking about the people whose lives have been saved by medication and psychiatry. But Tom Cruise was not afraid. Nor did he worry about what other people thought of him.

He continued telling it like it is and fearlessly speaking the "truth" no matter the threat of facts. In Entertainment Weekly he commented that psychiatry is a Nazi science and that some medication even traces back to Adolph Hitler. All the while destroying the foundation of psychiatry, Cruise did his best to uplift the church of Scientology, of which allegedly he is a high ranking member. He took a stand for his beliefs and refused to allow the world to watch an episode of South Park called "Trapped In The Closet" that needlessly joked about rumors of his sexuality. (Rumors that have been repeatedly denied, since he dates women and is currently engaged to a woman) When push came to shove, Paramount backed down and the South Park episode was pulled for Tom Cruise's Comedy Central appearance. He also denied that he was the one responsible for the censorship, thus making the truth startlingly clear: Comedy Central pulled the South Park episode for no apparent reason since Tom Cruise really doesn't care if you believe he dates women.

Was all of this negative publicity responsible for the disappointing box office takes of War Of The Worlds and Mission Impossible 3? Was he deserving of his termination from Paramount and subsequent humiliation? Will Tom Cruise's career continue to downward spiral or will he bounce back? The latest news is that Cruise has found a new partner to finance his production company. "First and Goal" will finance his future film projects for a significantly less amount than Paramount was paying him--less than three million a year according to industry sources.

Tom Cruise is the modern day Job in many respects. He has truly hit rock bottom and has been persecuted for his beliefs even while staying true to his faith. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are now proud parents of a baby girl named Suri. They expect to get married sometime this year. Will marriage and family life slow down Tom Cruise's atomic mind or hinder his quest to teach Scientology to the world? Don't count him out yet.

If there's anything that the legacy of Tom Cruise has taught us, it's that he never gives up. And that he mutually ended his relationship with Paramount. And that he did not order the South Park episode to be removed. And that people in journalism and in the medical profession don't know the history of psychiatry. And that he dates women.

You complete us, Tom.