These days, The Cable Guy is best known (if it’s known at all) as just another movie with Jim Carrey’s teethmarks all over the sets. But back when it was announced, it was a landmark film for a reason other than its depressing, irritating unwatchability.
From the LA Times on June 22, 1995:
When superstar comic Jim Carrey signed a deal last week guaranteeing him at least $20 million to star in the comedy “The Cable Guy,” it marked a historic–and, to some, troubling–upping of the Hollywood salary ante.
One studio head, who declined to be identified, called it “as seminal and destructive a payment as when Larry Gordon and Barry Diller paid $5 million for Bruce Willis to do ‘Die Hard’ [in 1988]. That also came out of nowhere [Willis was as yet unproven as an action star] and set the pace for actors’ salaries…”
“Dumb [and Dumber]” cost only $16 million to make. Naysayers were silenced when “The Mask” and “Dumb” each grossed about $120 million domestically. And though comedy doesn’t always translate around the world, “Ace [Ventura]” and “Mask” proved potent box office overseas.
Still, if Carrey is making $20 million now, where does he go from here? That’s the real significance of the Carrey deal, industry executives said, as well as the potential ripple effect.
“If Carrey is getting $20 million, then what are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Hanks worth?” wondered the anonymous studio head.
A lot! Carrey’s $20 million payday set the standard for movie-star salaries ever since. Recently he’s become better known for the movies he hasn’t made because he’s an overpaid diva, and for the relatively reduced offerings he’s accepted for the ones he’s graced with his presence. But for several years he was able to ask for what he thought he was worth, and he got as much as the market would bear.
He even told a heartwarming story about his many years of Hollywood poverty, when he carried around in his wallet a check he wrote to himself for $10 million. Thanks to his drive and determination (and… talent?), he doubled that with just one bomb. He worked hard and didn’t give up, and his adopted home of America rewarded him beyond his wildest dreams.
There’s a name for that, isn’t there? Oh yeah: Capitalism.
Now that Carrey’s box-office magic has faded, you might think his appreciation of capitalism has faded as well. And you’d be right!
From the Chicago Tribune via BigHollywood.com, here’s Carrey promoting his new film A Listless Failure A Christmas Carol:
Charles Dickens’ most popular creation, Ebenezer Scrooge, usually takes on the tenor of the times, so it’s not surprising that Robert Zemeckis’ new performance-capture animation version of “A Christmas Carol” has its star, Jim Carrey, musing about where his Scrooge fits in today.
“I was thinking about it this morning, how this story ties into everything we’re going through,” says Carrey, who, thanks to the technology, plays Scrooge as well as the three ghosts haunting him. “Every construct we’ve built in American life is falling apart. Why? Because of personal greed and ambition. Capitalism without regulation can’t protect us against personal greed.”
Let me show ya somethin’!
That’s Jim Carrey’s house. One of ‘em, anyway.
That’s Jim Carrey’s car. One of ‘em, anyway.
That’s Jim Carrey’s girlfriend. One of ‘em, anyway.
He sure has a lot of great stuff. Do you think he got it because he’s a nice guy? Because he makes people laugh? The world is filled with people who are nicer and funnier than Jim Carrey. It’s hard to think of anybody who isn’t. So maybe there’s another explanation.
Do you agree with him that American life is falling apart because of personal greed and ambition? Then you should impose your own regulation on capitalism by refusing to see A Christmas Carol.
The rest of us are way ahead of you.
(Hat tip to Mark Steyn)
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But…but…he’s a star! The rules don’t apply to him because he’s speh-shul!!
I don’t get these people that benefit so greatly from capitalism and then slam it. Either they are incredibly stupid or they think we are. Probably both.
Yeah, I read a similar interview today with that august presence, that eminently-talented dip, Sir Ian McKellen, about how “The Prisoner” is ALL ABOUT THE EVILS OF CAPITALISM. Because there’s no choice about leaving the village, y’see, and there’s no escape, and a big old Sharpei-faced dictator is telling you what to do for your own good. It’s the spitting image of something, but it ain’t capitalism, you hypocritical, know-nothing, pompous assholes. I wish all these overdressed afterbirths would pack up and GO to a communist country, and LIVE THERE FOR A@#$%WHILE DAMMIT.
How the slipsliding HELL do these farcical douchebags think they got the great flipping wodges of cash they throw around? Mao sure as hell didn’t give it to them. F**ktards.
Hey Beige, I read your comments all the time with great wonder and anticipation. But this time, i just have to ask you to please PLEASE tell us how you really feel. I get no sense at all from this post as to your position on this matter.
(Seriously, though. I love reading the comments. I never comment myself because i have a feeling (like with this post here) that I’m just not Deceiver commenter material.)
Well I am willing to Mr. Carrey a huge favor and offer to take all that evil cash off his hands. Since he doesn’t want it an all…you know because I am a giver and willing to sacrifice
I really should proof read before pos….
Say what you want but the man is talented and the cable guy is a great movie.
Can someone give me Jim Carrey’s number? I’ve got a bone marrow transplant coming up, I’m sure he’ll be willing to spare a couple million, right?
While we’re on it, I’ll graciously decide to accept just a small $100k donation for my student loans… maybe if he won’t, Soros will.
Yay for a Mark Steyn hat tip!
Obviously Hollywood needs a Actor Pay Czar asap.
I don’t think it is a stretch to say we shold pay them for the services they are worth. If we use that as a guideline the cap for actor’s pay would be no more than $100k a film with a base starting at $36k a year.
What’s that you say Jimbo? How dare you say the government has the right to cap your income?
Few people realize that Amendment XXVIII (you know, the one after compensation for Congress) says: Section 1. Go f**k yourself
“Every construct we’ve built in American life is falling apart. Why? Because of personal greed and ambition. Capitalism without regulation can’t protect us against personal greed.”
—–
Note to Mr. Carrey:
WE’RE ALREADY REGULATED INTO THE G-DDAMNED GROUND!
There’s already a zillion effin’ regulations on the books for every nook and cranny of the market. We’ve got a tax code that fills volumes. And we’ve got a political party in power that’s already expanded the power of the federal government to insane proportions, with 1/6th of the economy about to be nationalized. We’ve got more “czars” than you can shake a stick at, each having powers over this or that segment that were never mentioned or authorized in the constitution. Government is bailing out industry after industry, with an abundance of red tape and stipulations attached to those bailouts.
Just what the f*ck more do you want, Mr. Carrey?
Only people with scads of cash can bitch about how money is destroying our country. They can afford to talk , the rest of us wage slaves have jobs to worry about holding onto.
Hello. My name is Catharine, and I’M GREEDY!!!
Wow, that felt good.
Greed is good.
Besides the threat of physical violence and fear of starvation it’s the only real motivator that gets people off their ass to actually try to accomplish something. You remove wealth, remove greed, remove class, remove private property, and the only way to keep people going to their job is at the point of a gun. And since you don’t actually ‘own’ anything, when the government comes and tells you they need your house to build another shrine to the benevolent dictator, you better start packing your bags.
That’s literally the entire reason why third world communist hellholes suck so much ass. I can’t make it any simpler than that.
The reason that fascist third world hellholes suck so much is because the greed of one man or group is allowed to dominate the nation’s economic interests. Other side of the same suck-ass coin.
Capitalism is the happy medium where people can get super rich but at the end of the day the consumers have the power to destroy you by refusing to buy your product. It’s like what Churchill said about democracy – it’s the worst possible system, except for all the others.
See, it’s that last part he’s not so happy about.
Damn, where’s Ayn Rand when we need her?
i’ve disliked carrey since he first showed up on ‘in living color’. his crude, slapstick style of humor does nothing for me .. and yet, i happened to see ‘the cable guy’ once and… i kind of enjoyed it !… apparently, i have some serious flaw, but it has nothing to do with being a greedy capitalist. carrey is still an ass.
I agree with you el polacko. The cable guy is, IMO, his only decent movie. Those Ace Ventura movies are terrible yet that character seemed to vault him into stardom. And that last picture of him in this post – gah!
Beige, I’m not worthy! Farcical douchebags, indeed:^)
@Vince – We do have regulation but it’s all eff-d up. It is over regulated that requires companies to spend a fortune on meeting them but then they are not enforced.
During the lending boom I cannot think of one predatory lender that got shut down. Brokers were openly lying on paperwork, lenders were not checking and the people to enforce regulations were absent (and of course joe consumer signed all the BS’d paperwork). So who is at fault here? Greed? Government?
I agree with Scott F. but companies do not have our best interests at heart, they care about the bottom line. So some regulation is needed but it’s worthless if not enforced and adding more is just stupid.
Well Carey doesn’t have to worry about me dirtying his hands or his bank account with my money. I will find people who are more deserving this holiday season.
With all that money, why is he going around looking like David Carradine?
Sheeeesh, another actor to boycott. Pretty soon I won’t be able to watch anything (had to boycott Mad Men recently due to Jon Hamm’s ad for healthcare–what a heartbreak that was).
All those who believe in abortion have already been born; and they’re not offing themselves even when they know they weren’t a planned pregnancy. ~Regan (and me)
All those millionairs who believe capitalism is bad already made their millions (and they’re not handing it over). ~Me
Let’s not forget his portrayal the Riddler couple in Batman Forever. Because nothing screams “quality cinema” like a green spandex catsuit and…Jim Carey.
On a related note, I can no longer watch Batman Forever without thinking that Two Face and the Riddler are gettin’ it on.
I don’t know how to tell you guys this, but the first time I saw “Dumb and Dumber” I laughed so hard I thought I’d puke.
If he feels that way about it, then why not give up all that he has to those who do not have anything. Oops! That would be charity, something most actors do not believe in. Amazing, once people make money, they want to hang onto it, yet expect others to go without. I cannot remember the last time I saw a movie with Jim Carrey in it that I found funny, yet he still gets paid lots of money.
Jeff Daniels had the funniest scene…
@ShyAsrai: WORD, and WORD, and WORD SOME MORE. DAYum.
@2keyboards: Heh. That’s what I get for posting w/a 103 fever. H1N1 in the house, yo.
@Simon–I used to have a roommate who did the AWESOMEST Jeff-Daniels-in-the-jakes impression. Crude, yet hysterical.
Ack, Beige, H1N1! Feel better soon. Guess you don’t work for Goldman Sachs,huh?
IMHO, he did turn in some great performances in Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine. I’m glad he stopped making good movies now though since that makes a Jim Carrey boycott so much easier. (Pretty soon, I’ll be boycotting so many people that I won’t be able to go to the movies at all.)
Oh, and I enjoyed The Cable Guy. *runs and hides*
@Beige: see, this is why we need national health care. If we had that, Obama would personally come over and heal you with his divine powers. And then he’d give you a pony for the inconvenience.
I admit to enjoying Bruce Almighty.
@Owitzia – but it will probably be your pony that he gives away
Does he actually understand what his life would be like without capitalism? I’m guessing not.
I will not be satisfied with the pony unless it is a space pony. If the Chosen One can’t bring me a space pony, well, I denounce him!
but I don’t HAVE a space pony for the Chosen One to redistribute…
I doubt The Holy Anointed Chosen Magical One could make it past the boobytraps and minefields around our heavily-fortified compound. And if he did, I wouldn’t let him touch me.
If this rubberfaced fool really wanted to keep his hands innocent of evil capitalist cash, maybe he shouldn’t have gone into what amounts to the most unregulated capitalist segment of our economy. Maybe he should have kept his talking ass in Canada and done dinner theater.
Jim C. has often spoken of the abject poverty in which his family once lived: homeless etc.. (in CANADA, no less, that place of modern socialist glory).
Why does NO ONE who spouts off about teh eevil capitalism whilst holding portfolios and accounts worth multi-millions ever give away their wealth and live as modestly as 99% of us!
I so hate pontificating self-congratulatory hypocritea.
Here’s a thought, my righteously indignant friends: Don’t support these jackasses. Don’t pay to see their films projects. I’m saddened to see Jim Carrey has lost his mind, but it happens. That second Ace Ventura film was wacky, stupid fun and The Cable Guy is one of my guilty pleasures. No more Carrey for me, thanks.
Others I actively avoid: Sean Penn (Shaddup already! You’re embarrassing yourself), Jane Fonda, “Babs”, and Alec Baldwin (unless I get to see Baldwin buy the farm… thumbs up to Mercury Rising)… basically any idiot performer who believes that fame and fortune equates to political relevance. Also, talent does not equate to intelligence. Don’t wanna see ‘em? Don’t support their dreck.
Also, I avoid anything with Wesley Snipes and Nicholas Cage (Cage is one of the creepiest looking dudes ever… what the hell is the appeal, ladies? Seriously? This freak is what you deem sexy? Okay…). They can’t pay their taxes like big boys (Read: men)? Screw ‘em.
Way ahead of you there, dude.