Wedge issues divide Baldwins too

Last night I caught a few minute of the film The Marrying Man on cable. While the 1991 comedy was a legendary flop, it did introduce Alec Baldwin to Kim Basinger, and thus launched an eight year real life marriage in which many loud opinions were expressed and many little people treated cruelly.

But what really grabbed me about the film was how much the Alec Baldwin of 17-years and many cheeseburgers ago resembles the present day Billy Baldwin, Alec's sleeker faced younger brother.

And that's the thing about the four acting Baldwin boys: They may come in differing sizes of frame and fame, but they are each at their core so . . . so unmistakably Baldwin.

Which is why it saddened me to learn that Billy and Stephen (the puckish youngest brother Bart Simpson-archetype) are involved in a bitter feud over gay marriage.

To continue with the political phraseology and themes of the day, it is no surprise Billy, with his regular network TV work, favors gay marriage, while Stephen, who was headed towards the career abyss of soft-core porn before clinging to Jesus as a born-again Christian, is firmly against any official unions involving same-sex partners.

What is surprising is the nastiness of their disagreement. Billy even publicly evoked the shame their dead father would have felt if he had been alive to witness the intolerance of his youngest son.

Alright, that's it, I'm hereby pledging not to get married until somebody heals this rift in the house of Baldwin.