I suppose one of the other questions is just how much the 'bad deed' casts a pall over the character of the actor. What does it say about who they are, who they were and how they got to that place? Are they seeking forgiveness or is that too just an act?
The forgiveness angle is fascinating. There's already something inherently weird about the fact that we're all being apologised to by a stranger - millions of us simultaneously - for something they did to another stranger. The apology itself isn't given to us directly, because it can't be. And there's no way to gauge if it's sincere, because we don't really know the person and they have every incentive in the world to be faking (they probably didn't even word the apology themselves).
Of course, sometimes a celebrity feels the need to apologise for a public, general remark - a tweet or something - and how else can they do that but in public? But then there are cases like Michael Richards', where he was insulting a specific group of people and didn't know he was being filmed. But it became a public incident, so he ended up giving a public apology. It's a fiendishly complicated area.
I suppose one of the other questions is just how much the 'bad deed' casts a pall over the character of the actor. What does it say about who they are, who they were and how they got to that place? Are they seeking forgiveness or is that too just an act?
The forgiveness angle is fascinating. There's already something inherently weird about the fact that we're all being apologised to by a stranger - millions of us simultaneously - for something they did to another stranger. The apology itself isn't given to us directly, because it can't be. And there's no way to gauge if it's sincere, because we don't really know the person and they have every incentive in the world to be faking (they probably didn't even word the apology themselves).
Of course, sometimes a celebrity feels the need to apologise for a public, general remark - a tweet or something - and how else can they do that but in public? But then there are cases like Michael Richards', where he was insulting a specific group of people and didn't know he was being filmed. But it became a public incident, so he ended up giving a public apology. It's a fiendishly complicated area.