Plenty of struggling actors have a good work ethic but don’t have powerful/successful mommies and daddies giving them a foot in the door, Meg.
It’s not dismissive to call him a nepo baby. It’s just a reflection of reality. It doesn’t make him a bad actor, it’s just acknowledging he was privileged by being the son of two very famous actors. Besides, [puts on Jeff Foxworthy mustache] If the biggest hardship you face in your life is being called a “nepo baby” then you just might be a nepo baby
Exactly. If he was a bad actor it would be totally different. But he’s fine. And his parents are two of the top actors of their generation… He’s simply a nepo baby. It is what it is.
This whole thing is fucking dumb on both sides. I’m not sure why she is defending so much. I’ve heard Jack on a few podcasts taking jokes/comments about it in stride, so clearly he’s not offended despite your weak attempt at a derisive Jeff Foxworthy reference.
On the other side, why does it matter now. The leg has been upped for these kids, that’s already done. It’s done in every industry the world over (born into a family farm? You’re a nepo baby). Nothing to do now but judge their actual work product to see if the success is somewhat warranted. Jack has a pretty good track record of his own and he is humble about it. That’s good enough for me compared to many other nepo babies.
despite your weak attempt at a derisive Jeff Foxworthy reference.
Oh no some rando didn’t like my Jeff Foxworthy joke!
It is true that he likely received special treatment because of his parents, and it is just as true that it is dismissive to call him a nepo baby.
That’s a specifically derogatory infantilizing name that dismisses the entirety of an actor’s own work and attributes it solely and dismissively to their genetic legacy.
Successful movie stars, especially those with successful parents, do need to be coddled, but infantilizing someone and misattributing all of their success and their very personhood is dismissive and insulting.
Successful movie stars, especially those with successful parents, do need to be coddled…
They don’t need to be coddled, but it happens. And it’s absolutely tone deaf for people who benefit from their parents fame to deny said fame had anything to do with it.
“it’s absolutely tone deaf for people who benefit from their parents fame to deny said fame had anything to do with it.”
That’s a very specific condition that most of these actors have not fulfilled, at least that I’ve come across in these articles.
It seems, by and large, these actors say something along the lines of “of course having ______ as my parent benefits me, but that doesn’t invalidate all of my own work.”
Then there’s more bullshit, narrow-minded bullying.
It’s popular to bash actors right now and safe to do so, so all the bullies are pitching in.
Nobody is calling out Picasso’s father or ernst Klimt for profiting off their famous relatives, it’s cool to bash jack quaid or Angelina Jolie, so those are the latest targets of largely unsubstantiated, whiny bullying.
They’re people, and it’s shameful and hypocritical to bully them, especially without evidence of the very measure of ingratitude or narcissism you and your ilk are accusing them of.
Doesn’t “nepobaby” imply that he didn’t earn it since nepotism is literally defined as “without merit”? If there’s another word to better describe his successes while also acknowledging his worth ethic, it is a bit unfair to call him a “nepobaby”.
Edit: Why is this getting downvoted when that’s the premise of the word? Nepotism means getting favorable treatment due to relation rather ability.
I mean nepotism happens everywhere and it happens in a varying amount of ways. The fact you know the right someone is typically called “networking” but its nepotism with a fancy coat of paint on it. Sure people who get hired to due to nepotism probably do a ton of work but its clear the nepotism got their foot in the door to be where you are. Having 2 famous actors as parents probably helped move his career far more than most since yeah most people who work from the ground up with no reference probably work as hard as him (likely even more than him) but he had the luck of having the right parents.
I’m not denying that. But that’s not nepotism. Nepotism is getting being shown favoritism because of your relation to someone rather than your abilities. That doesn’t seem to be the case here.
I don’t see “without merit” in the definitions of nepotism I looked up. Calling someone a “nepobaby” is forcing them to confront their privilege, but also calling out a system that gives advantage to the children of privileged people.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/nepotism
The whole point of “nepotism” as a term is that someone is getting favoritism based on their relation rather than their actual merits. Look up the etymology and history of the word. It comes from the same root as “nephew”.
Nepotism, the unfair practice of granting jobs and other favours to relatives, whether by blood or marriage. Nepotism occurs in all kinds of workplaces and fields, but it is often associated with favouritism in business and politics.
- Britannica.
Where have you found a definition that has “without merit” ?
Read the full page that you pulled that definition from.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/nepotism
“The opposite of nepotism, and of favouritism in general, is meritocracy, in which positions and rewards are granted to people based on their abilities.”
The entire point of nepotism is not that the relation “helped” but that it is the reason given without merit or without regard to the person’s abilities.
I like Jack, he’s a good actor. But he, most likely, would not be acting today if it wasn’t for his parents
Nobody would be doing anything without parents. It’s kind of the nature of genealogy.
I like what I’ve seen of Jack Quaid’s work well enough and, no matter my opinion of his parents’ output, they certainly made a life for themselves.
What gets me is that people conflate work ethics, opportunity, and talent as merit for success. Loads of actors with equal “work ethic” to the ones we see on screens are unable to find full time work as actors. Same in other sectors where opportunities are outnumbered by candidates.
In no way can I accept that the son of two film stars “deserve” his opportunities more than anybody who has trained as hard, has the same amount of talent (however you measure that), and who probably only has a menial job to fall back on if they don’t get the part. That is not Jack Quaid’s fault, though, nor do I think his parents at any point stopped to think “Y’know, imma pull a nepo for Jack”.
I do think Meg Ryan turns a blind eye on the structural advantages that her son has had growing up as he has. It will never hurt an upcoming actor to share a last name and possible likeness with established stars but, more importantly, actors’ kids grow up knowing what agents are, where to get headshots, how much time goes into auditioning and networking — and through their parents’ friends and colleagues they have ample opportunity to climb the ladder faster than others who have to elbow themselves into acting circles from the outside.
So on the one hand children of actors know the ropes from square one, or have seasoned professionals who will mentor them. At the same time, they will probably have opportunities offered to them from producers, directors or casting agents who want to curry favour with their more famous parents. Dismissing those obvious advantages is so tone deaf and privileged that Ryan really undermines her own argument.
It reminds me of a headline I saw yesterday about Tiger Wood’s son winning a high school national championship golf tournament. It made me wonder how many other kids have a similar base talent, and how would they fare if, from the day they were born, they had his access to the absolute best training technology and instructors on the planet, including his father’s unmatched experience in the non-technical aspects of winning tournaments guiding him.
Mooooom people are bein’ mean about those jobs u got me!
I’ll still look forward to watching The Boys, Star Trek, and Superman, though.