I'm gonna drop my two cents here, as I've wanted to do since this topic that was originally posted. I've spent that time deciding "what's the best way to reply?" Well, here it is:
You're wrong.
It's a rare thing for me to openly call a friend out on an issue such as this, and I believe The Curmudgeon has some good points otherwise. I mean in no way any disrespect or hurt feelings, I'm just offering my blunt opinion just as my good friend has already offered his in the original post. In the end, it's just wrong. And I'll explain now why.
1) The public gets the best of The Hoff every time he graces the camera or crowd of people for whatever event he's featured in. It's the smiling, charming Hoff that we all know and admire and dammit...respect for what he is, represents and has accomplished thus far. The reality is that being in a family, sad to say, requires that you must ALSO give them your best. Clearly he has not been.
2) The Hoff hasn't been drinking in public venues where fans get to see the terrible effect it has on him.(until now, sad to say) His family did, has, and has been since...whenever he would come home from giving his all to the audience, the fans. They got to put up with him being that drunk...and more. If you have read up on his alcoholism, you might have caught that this has been going on for years. He's upset alot of people (not just his family) with this problem.
This might easily explain to an extent why Gary A. Larson, creator of KNIGHT RIDER, has such a love/hate relationship with him (**note** I encourage all of you that can to listen to the commentary again on KNIGHT RIDER pilot from the Season 1 DVD set and imagine for a moment that Hoff's had a beer or two just before recording it and see if you think I'm right). It's also sad to report that at the WORST point of his alcoholism, he physically attacked his wife. This was her breaking point to why they ended up divorcing. The question remains, how bad did it get? Did the girls see this go on? Without a doubt they did, I've been through a situation like that myself and drunks aren't exactly quiet.
3) The girls in the video, although stern sounding, were pleading with him that they loved him and didn't want to see him like this. THE. WHOLE. WAY. THROUGH. It's been awhile, but if one remembers how Bon Scott died then they are not far off from the truth of the "pyscho-babble" that they were saying to him. Would anyone out there thought differently had, instead of the video clip, read that the next day after that night he was found dead, choked in his own vomit because of the copious amount of alcohol had caused him to vomit while he was postioned wrong?
I'm sure due to the lengthy battle of alcoholism he had and the people upset by it, the producers of THE PRODUCERS (no pun intended) purposely included in the contract that if he were to be drunk on ANY given day that he'd be fired. And he signed it, therefore agreeing to it. Dealing with friends over time that have had addictions (anything from candy to hard drugs...the latter landed a decent friend in for murder one when he beat a friend to death during a robbery to get more money for drugs) not to mention living in a country where I can find a grown man lying in a ditch stone drunk at 9am Monday morning makes it all the more clear to me that one cannot, CANNOT, just say "pretty please" in a nice way to get an alcoholic (or ANY addict) to stop. Hence the video and the stern tone.
But that's the toughest love of all to give; a love to stand in front of someone and say "stop hurting yourself becaue it's hurting us, too."
Remember, they've seen him like that alot more than just one video clip length. I hope I have a "bitch daughter" that loves me that much if I have something wrong I'm doing that I can't obviously see that she'll find a way to say it, no matter how degrading to myself to see. And that "fffffuck you" comment from The Hoff? Chilling, to say the least, especially when the daughter has just said to him "You have us. We love you. You don't need to do this."
4) There's NO WAY the girls posted that video. That's their dad, and he's so famous that I gaurantee many, many of their classmates are probably making fun of them and their dad right to their faces even as I'm typing this. Constantly. I can remember what it was like for the first week after my mom got since to prison for a bad tax claim (stupid oversight on her part but she got more than she bargained for on it). An famous, alcoholic parent can only googleplex that. Ugh. I feel sorrier for them with each passing moment.
If anyone posted that video, it's the ex-wife (and I feel almost 99% sure it is). I'm sure she was told by the daughters when the video was made and saw it for herself, so she'd know how to get her hands on it. She probably did it to either A)get revenge on the beating she got from him when he was at his worst B) to get the upper hand in some settlement issue **which, ironically, there was a settlement just agreed upon** or C)decided that the only way to get him to quit was to out him in public, since he only seems to respond what the fans say. Celebrities too often get the "Oh, you're God and the words you speak are scripture and naysayers are devil worshippers" treatment from the people surrounding them.
To be a celebrity is hard, to be a celebrity with a family is harder. A fine line has to be drawn on both sides. I don't think the video's appreance was called for (it wasn't) but what's done is done now. He's gotta say "Man, I've screwed up. I've got two daughters that love me although I've been battling alcohol right in front of them. I lost the family unity we had once when in a drunken fit I hurt their mom. Clearly I've lost control over what I think is "just a quick one." It's caused me to lose sight of what's right in front of me. I drink to forget when I should be smiling to remember."
"To err is celebrity, to forgive is PR." (c)2007 InvisibleWolfMan heartwarming statements Co.
It takes a big man to do what's right, it take an even bigger man to admit he's wrong. And David Hasselhoff, man of 1000 charms, is capable of that. His personality says it, which is why KNIGHT RIDER does (and will continue to) define him. He's just being himself.
And that's all he needs to be. Watch the video again, and tell me if that's the Hoff you see on TV or the Hoff that breaks your heart. It clearly did for his daughters.
Kindest Regards,
InvisibleWolfMan
.jpeg)
