speaking out for Paxil might get Scientologists tapping your phone

After her turn in Pretty Baby -- a movie that could never be made today -- who would've thought Brooke Shields would become a minor feminist heroine? From Salon:

Brooke Shields has decided that the time has come to speak out about the series of disses Cruise has shot her way about her decision to deal with her debilitating post-partum depression with a combination of drugs and psychiatric therapy. " I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but after Tom Cruise's interview with Matt Lauer on the NBC show "Today" last week, I feel compelled to speak not just for myself but also for the hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered from postpartum depression," Shields writes in a New York Times op-ed piece published today. "While Mr. Cruise says that Mr. Lauer and I do not 'understand the history of psychiatry,' I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression." Adds Shields, "If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease."

Actually, after appearing naked in "Pretty Baby", maybe Shields couldn't help but end up a mascara-toting feminist warrior. I'm reminded of a classic story about twin brothers who grew up with a boozing father who beat them and their mother. One brother grows up to be an alcoholic, and the other grows up to never touch a drop of alcohol in his life. When asked why they turned out the way they did, each brother says "With a father like mine, how could I have been any different?"