is a
cinematic lark with serious pretensions and moments. It is both a
morality tale about the disastrous effects of gossip as well as a crime
mystery with a twist. For the more analytically inclined, the sometimes
painfully obvious logic holes and red herrings may be too irritating.
The director, writers, and much of the talent are just emerging on the
big screen though many have a solid place on the tube. Gossip is
a tale decidedly aimed at the teen/young adult college set, and as one
might expect the cast are largely pleasant to look at and somewhat
quirky in a "cool" way.
With those reservations noted (or
positives depending on one’s age and tastes), we left the theater
discussing the mysteries, the red herrings, but most importantly the
place of gossip and gullibility in our lives. Craig has been involved in
a lot of issues from different political and social positions where the
press has never gotten a story right, even when its members tried.
Reporting in our current milieu has become more akin to entertainment
seeking the latest dish on the illuminati or the goriest event "de
jour" than a reasoned attempt to report events of import. The
events in Gossip go way beyond just getting the story wrong. The
movie shows the awesomely destructive power of rumor, especially when
used as a consciously malicious tool.
We switch from gossip to reporting
because the film is based on the idea that reporting and what we pass on
as information in the guise of news or even facts used for criminal
charges is really a form of gossip, stories about people embellished for
emotional impact.
This complex seeming premise of Gossip
is simple and clever in its presentation and development. Two guys and a
gal, roommates in college, propose an experiment as the thesis for an
assignment for their journalism/communications class. They spread a
rumor that a young woman, notorious for her public protestations of
chastity, had sex with her boyfriend while nearly passed out drunk at a
party. Things quickly turn serious when the rumor of sex turns into a
rumor of date rape.
The rumor spreads like wildfire and the
plot twists into tragedy as perceptions and memory of those involved
become more shaped by juicy fiction rather than by the truth. What
begins as an exploration of the nature of gossip, turns into an exposé
of the character flaws of one of the roommates who originated the rumor
and the nature of rape and denial. In this plot turn, the movie becomes
unbelievable and moves from a clever, comic development of a vice to a
darker ground it can’t confidently tread. However, the story cashes in
on the current trend of showing the handsome, rich, and sexually
powerful young man as a snake. Anyone who has spent much time around a
high school realizes that young women need to have their illusions about
the dreamy hunks as ideal boyfriends tempered. Any attempt to burst the
"Oh, but he is so cute" bubble is a worthy one.
If Gossip leads to any instances
of people saying, "well ya, but remember Gossip, where
things go so out of hand" the movie will have served a purpose far
greater than the few moments of thrill.
