More Troubling Clooney News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - George Clooney has quietly withdrawn from the Writers Guild of America after the union rejected his request for a writing credit on his new film Leatherheads, Daily Variety reported in its Friday edition.
(link to entire article)

Which begs the question, why would George Clooney want to take credit for writing Leatherheads?

As the director and star of the film, as well as all-around multi-millionaire, Clooney's not some little schmo who needs the bump in pay, obviously, so...it must be about respect?

And yet, Leatherheads is a screenplay most self-respecting writers would petition to take their names off (yes, this happens), so that doesn't make sense either.

Perhaps it has something to do with ego? Perhaps Clooney wants to be known throughout the land as a fearsome quadruple-threat? Writer-Director-Star-Executive Producer?

I bet when some 'asshole' interviewer asks him why he was so adamant about receiving credit for his writing on this stinker, Clooney will no doubt smile bashfully, look away, look back, and invoke maritime lore by making some witty, rehearsed remark about how 'a captain must go down with his ship.'

The most revolting sentence in this Reuters release is this:

"Despite mixed reviews, it is expected to be the top draw at the weekend box office."

I don't recall seeing any good reviews of this movie...so...where does the 'mixed' come into play? Is it a mixture of really bad and kind-of bad? Are we splitting hairs here?

"Clooney, who received an Oscar nomination two years ago for co-writing Good Night, and Good Luck, told Daily Variety that he felt he had written all but two of the scenes for Leatherheads. His request for credit was voted down 2-1 at an arbitration hearing.

'When your own union doesn't back what you've done, the only honorable thing to do is not participate,' the paper quoted Clooney as saying."

Hmmm...I would counter that 'the only honorable thing to do' would be to humbly accept the informed decision of your union, after it examined the evidence you presented, despite any blow to your ego that might result. That would be the mature, responsible thing to do, anyway; only a child would see his sole option as 'to stop being friends with you then, if you don't agree with me. Nah-nah!'

I mean, why does he need to have it officially listed on imdb to be happy, considering he could simply tell everybody he wrote the whole movie and they'd believe him just as much?

I guess there's no fun in actually being honorable; it's the pose that's most important, and Clooney does it the best.