Katie Holmes

[pachengala]

Aug 22, 2011 16:36:47 GMT -4 Mouse said:

Brangelina's kids aren't used as PR props[...]They're able to be kids.

While I agree that Brad and Angelina's kids have much, much more normal, kid-centric lives than Suri, Angelina is as image-conscious and Tom and Katie; she trots those kids out for photo ops as much as Tom and Katie do and she seems hyper-aware of how good they are for her PR.

It's easier to cut her slack about it, because A) she seems to actually be a caring parent who interacts with her children, and B) She's just way, way better at the PR game, so she comes off better than Tom and Katie could ever hope to.

[MrsCatHead]

I agree, pachengala. Completely.

[kostgard]

Aug 22, 2011 17:59:38 GMT -4 Ginger said:

I don't think I've ever seen a picture of Suri just playing with or even near a kid her own age.

The picture that always sticks out in my mind is Suri having an animated conversation with a doll while her mother shopped. It was cute.

But no, I've never seen her anywhere near a child her own age.

I remember that one too, which is why I think she probably is an imaginative child -- hell, if she has no friends, she has to dream up her own.


I have no feelings about Brangelina one way or another. If they do use their kids as PR props, they at least do so while taking them on kid/family-related activities and the kids are getting something out of it.

And that's where Tom and Katie fall down. The Brangelina Brood are dressed and seem like relatively normal kids out doing kid and family stuff. The Affleck kids are always photographed doing family stuff or everyday stuff like coming home from school or dance/karate lessons.

Poor Suri always seems to be dragged to things that aren't really all that kid-friendly and usually at an hour that isn't exactly kid-friendly. The photos of her never seem to be of them going to or from kid-related stuff. She's always there as a prop for her mother (mostly) as she goes about her own business. That's why I feel sorry for her. I get the impression that the other kids have something of a normal life. I don't think Suri does at all.

I wonder why they haven't put her in school or something like that. I'm sure that they have clam preschools. But I suspect that she'll be tutored like Tom's other kids, which is even sadder, because the other kids at least had a few years in school before Tom with super-nuts with the clams. I wonder if Suri will be allowed to play sports with other kids like her siblings, or if she will continue to be isolated.

[gitsie007]

What kostgard said about the differences between the Jolie-Pitt kids and Suri.

[azaleaqueen]

Isn't taking Suri to events that aren't child-centered and at times that aren't child-friendly tactics to make people think she's sophisticated beyond her years? I don't think I've ever seen pics of the Jolie-Pitt kids at adult events at late hours.

[Freelance Exorcist]

Aug 23, 2011 9:06:42 GMT -4 azaleaqueen said:

Isn't taking Suri to events that aren't child-centered and at times that aren't child-friendly tactics to make people think she's sophisticated beyond her years?

It sure seems that way to me. I shudder to think what it will do to her when she's old enough to feel the pressure of always having being Princess Perfect OT9000 Scienobot to the public. She's being paraded around as being this child prodigy/fashion icon, but in reality she's probably just average.

[Spinderella]

Oh, noes! Cupcake "Emergency"!! Must. Get. Cupcakes!

• Katie Holmes made a trip to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Los Angeles after calling the shop at the last minute with a "cupcake emergency." The actress – a major cupcake fan – bought four-dozen assorted flavors, arrived by herself to pick them up and sipped a diet soda while waiting for them to be boxed up.

[mmmkrimpets]

Isn't taking Suri to events that aren't child-centered and at times that aren't child-friendly tactics to make people think she's sophisticated beyond her years?

Yup, but then they wrap her in a blanket and tote her everywhere like she's a 10 month old. That's where the headscratching comes. People aren't in awe that she is dragged to musicals, fashion shows and trendy restaurants. It's more odd that she has no friends, she is the stylist for her womb donor who handles her like she's sticky and in another six months will be the same height as her "father". The clams are so stupid. They have no clue. Take the child to build a bear (with other non-clam people actually there not in an empty store). Show her playing with another child. Put her in Keds and a t-shirt, but that will never happen.

[azaleaqueen]

I remember those pictures of her birthday party at which there were no kids to be seen. If there had only been grandparents and the like I would've said okay, but the guest list was made up of Scieno royalty.

[Brookie]

Just lifted this from the "Operation Clambake" site; it's an excerpt from a book written by Janet Reitman, a (now ex-) lifelong Scientologist:

Over the years, the world has watched as Suri Cruise has grown from a tiny baby into Scientology’s most famous kid. But now, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter’s charmed life could be changing in a big way, thanks to the rules of the mysterious church. The bizarre details of her secret world are being exposed for the first time in a new book, Inside Scientology, by Janet Reitman.

Growing up as a Scientology child, “I was in a completely isolated community,” Kendra Wisman tells Reitman. “I had no contact with non-Scientologists. None.” Which means that Scientology kids like Suri often lack real-world friends whose lives they can compare to their own.

Though things are pretty normal for a Scientology child’s first few years, at age 5 — Suri’s age — things start to change with the introduction of auditing, a type of church confessional.

The book — which the church claims is full of inaccuracies — reveals that in order to be a good subject for auditing, children are restricted to a bare-bones diet of organic vegetables, fruit, bland carbohydrates, and vitamin supplements. So Suri may have to forego her usual sugar-loaded snacks like ice cream and chocolate. The previously pampered tot — who was reportedly fed a mixture of barley water, milk, and corn syrup as an infant — already seems to be strong-willed about her diet. According to Tom, Suri once refused her father’s meal suggestions, saying, “Dad, I really don’t think you should try to force me to do something I don’t want to do.” With that attitude, perhaps Suri will avoid a scary-skinny look like mom Katie!

And it’s possible the outspoken Suri will throw a tantrum over another new rule — an early bedtime. Scientologists are advised to get a full eight hours of sleep before auditing, which could put a cramp in her evenings out with her celebrity parents.

In her private Scientology-themed education, Suri might take on a role most kids would enjoy — spying on Mom and Dad. “Scientology children, like their parents, are taught to report on one another,” Reitman explains.

Will the feisty Suri break free from the demanding religion, or continue to grow up as a Scientology princess? Only time will tell.