Fair's fair, Kim, so you're off my list

Now, I am a kindly man. Some might even be driven to say generous, and indeed always tolerant and forgiving.

But, with the foregoing positive attributes understood by my readers, I am driven to say that Kim Cattrall is now ‘off’ my Christmas card list.

My pique stems from a rather fawning article in a daily newspaper in which it is noted “Cattrall … left Courtenay at age 16 to attend New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts.” That much is utterly true, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

What was not mentioned, however, was the role of her English teacher in her actually getting to the AADA in the first place. I mean, she had the talent, and she had been awarded a bursary to attend, and deservedly so; no doubt , the kid was good.

However, she wanted to bunk off school a couple of months early without having completed her English requirements to graduate. Consequently, I received no small number of plaintive and cajoling telephone calls from Miss Kimberly and her father, pleading with me to give her some crash studies and to spring her for her forthcoming brilliant career.

I acceded, mainly because I genuinely liked Kim, and I also thought she deserved the shot. What would it really hurt? I didn't want it to be said I had stood in the way of her career. So, Kim, how come no mention of that? Hmm? How come no mention of your first film, either, the execrable Rosebud, which I believe was seen by at least 17 people. I’m sorry. That’s mean. We all have to start somewhere.

I have another quibble with the article and that is that the writer makes regular reference to Kim’s hometown of Courtenay. In fact, her hometown is Comox, which is another community in the general collective conurbation of the Comox Valley. Hey, Comox people got feelings too, Kim. And, if somebody wants proof she was from Comox I could – for a small fee, of course – take you right to her family home and even park in the driveway. A family home that is in rural Comox, not Courtenay. Hey, I even drove her to that family home when she was back for a visit in the early 1990s after she was a big star.

Oh, and something else. A statement made by Miss Cattrall, or at least attributed to her was not, I hope, as hubristic and patronizing as it reads,

She states, in reference to her hometown fan folk: “People, especially in my hometown and surrounding areas, feel they have a personal stake in what I do. It’s lovely.”

Shucks, Kim, you noticed. Yep, none of us have anything much else to do, so we avidly follow the career of Kim and just darn well feel we’re a part of the dazzle and glitz, since our lives are so hollow and shallow. She adds that she was home over Christmas. “We went to the Best Western for New Year’s.” Dagnabit, girl. Just like regular folks do in this jerkwater burg.

Don’t get me wrong in this. I genuinely like Kim. I liked her when she was a weedy, cheerful kid, and I’ve liked her the few times I’ve met her again in her adult career.

I must confess I was never a fan of Sex and the City. I thought it was boring and slutty and vaguely offensive. More important, it was rarely funny. But, I never understood why Will and Grace existed either, so that’s just me. I do believe, however, that talented Chris Noth has always been much better served by the L&O franchise.

Anyway, I wish my old student lots of continuing success, but don’t necessarily be expecting that card from me come next Yuletide, Kim. I have feelings too, you know. And, I bet not many people know, as I do, that your dog when you were first in LA was named Rupert, after Rupert Bear.