Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religious Music & Entertainment
‘Feud: Bette and Joan’ vs. the NFL Combine: Rage Against the Dying of the Light

‘Feud: Bette and Joan’ vs. the NFL Combine: Rage Against the Dying of the Light

Last updated on: March 6, 2017 at 3:21 pm by Kate O'Hare

‘Feud: Bette and Joan’ vs. the NFL Combine: Rage Against the Dying of the Light 2017-03-06T15:21:40-08:00 Kate O'Hare

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

After watching five episodes of FX’s “Feud: Bette and Joan,” and two days of the NFL Combine, I’ve come to a conclusion: nothing in a career is guaranteed, not at the beginning nor at the end.

The inaugural season of the anthology series “Feud,” which premiered on Sunday, March 6, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, focuses on the long-running dispute between Hollywood megastars Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon), who came together at a low point in their respective careers to shoot the hit horror movie “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”

Apparently Crawford and Davis hated each other, for a variety of personal and professional reasons. But, as both hit their 50s in the early ’60s, work began to dry up. So Crawford set out to find herself a project and came across the 1960 novel “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,” by Henry Farrell, about unbalanced former vaudeville child star “Baby” Jane, and her paraplegic sister, Blanche.

Crawford took the book to director Robert Aldritch (Alfred Molina) and lobbied to have Davis in the lead role. But the squabbling and rivalry continued throughout production and promotion of the movie — all chronicled in “Feud” by gossip maven Hedda Hopper (Judy Davis).

As a framing device, the series uses the shooting of an interview documentary, with fellow actresses Olivia de Havilland (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Joan Blondell (Kathy Bates) commenting on the duo and the general treatment of women in Hollywood.

Much is made throughout the five episodes about the drying up of work for older actresses — which continues today, with a few notable exceptions (Meryl Streep, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren) — and how hard it is for a woman to work in a man’s world (which it can be — not that it’s all that much easier for men in a man’s world; it’s just harder in different ways).

But at the same time, both Crawford and Davis had periods in their careers when they were on top of the game, making good money and becoming very famous. How they chose to spend or save that money, deal with the fame, and so on, was up to them. Frankly, both of them made some very poor personal choices.

Most actors, male or female, never become as successful as these two, and they certainly aren’t as fondly remembered. Most actors don’t work at all, or at least not very much.

Some have success early, and it evaporates. Others have success later. A good number never become big stars, but they work steadily, live within their means, don’t get into drugs or alcohol, and enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Others hit big, flame out and go broke — both male and female.

Does a focus on looks make maintaining a career harder for actresses? Yeah, no doubt. But, you know what, it’s not the only profession where your body determines your success.

Every year, the NFL Combine — held this year in Indianapolis — brings together top college football players and puts them through their paces for the benefit of NFL scouts. These are the cream of the college crop, and don’t even include the scores of players who don’t get invited to the Combine. Behind each of the young men straining their bodies to show off for future possible teams are many disappointments and dashed hopes.

There’s no guarantee that those in the Combine will get drafted, or, if they get drafted, that they’ll make it through training camp. And if they get that far, they may get cut in a month or a year or two years …

The average NFL career is 3.3 years, according to the NFL Players Association — meaning half the careers are shorter even than that. Unless you have a skill to fall back on, or managed to actually get a good education along the way, this may be the entire window of time a player has to make enough money to last him for decades.

The Combine is a brutal process, in which an inch of length, a second of speed, or a foot of distance can make all the difference. But, some undrafted players persevere and manage to get themselves on a team, a gamble that doesn’t always pay off.

Like actors, the careers of football players depend on innate ability, preparation, performance and a lot of luck. And it all can come to a crashing halt, with no warning and no recompense. One moment you’re a demigod, the next, a has-been.

Truthfully, any job that depends on your physical skills — from construction to lumbering to fishing to trucking, you name it — can end at any time, if your body gives out. And most of these jobs never have the high-end earning potential of movie stars or NFL players.

Nobody likes it when a career fizzles out. But, Crawford did do one thing that’s always available — when nobody would give her work, she sought it out and fought to get a production off the ground.

And each of those young men at the Combine, if their NFL dreams don’t play out — or even if they do — will face a similar moment of reinvention, and hopefully, resurgence.

To me, that’s the lesson of “Feud.” You’re gonna fall, but you don’t necessarily have to stay down.

WARNING: There’s some very rough language in “Feud,” including a word in the premiere not usually heard on ad-supported cable, but, at least in what I saw, no violence or explicit sexual content. Plenty of smoking and drinking, though.

Image: Courtesy FX/Warner Bros.

Don’t miss a thing: head over to my other home, as Social Media Manager at Family Theater Productions; and check out FTP’s Faith & Family Media Blog.

Previous Post

March 4, 2017

'Finding Jesus': CNN Series Doesn't Trade in Fake News, But 'Believer' ...

Next Post

March 10, 2017 'Our Lady of Guadalupe': Joe Eszterhas Takes Virgin Mary Movie to Roma Downey and Mark Burnett

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books breaking news digital media Faith practice food interview jane the virgin media movies music NFL Pope Francis Showbiz 101 social media sports technology television Uncategorized video

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz