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REPORTAGE
(2003) |
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Gossip |
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As the world’s axis tilts towards war, and as the spectre of terror looms most everywhere, some of Hollywood’s biggest names have reassuringly banded together to fight … gossip.
Never to be accused of self-absorption, the likes of Tom Cruise, Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, Rene Russo and even Florence Henderson (Carol from The Brady Bunch) are the flag-bearers for a new group called Words Can Heal, founded and headed by a New York rabbi, Irwin Katsof, in a blend of American patriotism, evangelicalism and Hollywood worship.
Cruise, the man whose lawyer a year ago trumpeted a defamation judge’s ruling that the actor was not gay, and whose earlier split with Nicole Kidman also set tongues wagging, has become the poster child of the group, which invites people to “take the pledge” on their website and leave gossip behind forever.
In New York’s swish St Regis Hotel in late 2002, Rabbi Katsof gathered the faithful for a $1000-a-plate fundraising dinner, amid an American flag and banners declaring “no gossip” and “gossip-free zone”.
“The first step is for people to acknowledge that gossip and verbal abuse cause real pain,” says Katsof. “Once people admit they have a problem with gossip, they can take steps to improve their lives and the lives of the people they love.” (Katsof says pretty much all he wants to say online. He generally doesn’t give interviews.)
Words Can Heal has been likened to a Hollywood-influenced Army of God, erecting billboards, encouraging people to spread “nice” news (banners on its website show people whispering, “the new kid is nice, pass it on”), and distributing kits on how you and the whole family can change your gossiping habits.
This could all reassuringly be just an American phenomenon. While Cruise is prone to calling the lawyers, his Australian ex-wife is more circumspect in responding to rumours. “They’ve said I’m gay, they’ve said everyone’s gay,” Kidman philosophises in the December Vanity Fair. “I personally don’t believe in doing huge lawsuits about that stuff. Tom does. That’s what he wants to do, that’s what he’s going to do. You do not tell Tom what to do. That’s it. Simple.”
And if you’re still in doubt, you can join an online “gay celebrity gossip club” in Cruise’s name to discuss the matter, underscoring the good sense of Kidman’s personal view: in the world of the Internet, gossip is unstoppable. It’s a growth industry.
Do Katsof, Cruise et al stand a chance of consigning gossip to the last millennium? “No,” confirms psychology professor Frank McAndrew. “You might as well ask people to stop breathing.”
McAndrew and his team from Knox College, Illinois have studied the phenomenon of celebrity gossip. They gave more than 100 participants a series of articles about celebrities – ranging from Frank Sinatra (Mafia rumours), Robert Downey, Jr (drug busts, but hardly mere rumour), and Courtney Cox (the relatively untroubled Friends star). The participants were asked to nominate which articles most interested them. The conclusion? We’re most interested in gossip about stars we perceive to be similar to ourselves, says McAndrew.
The professor says gossip serves a useful social purpose: it functions “in the evolutionary interest of individuals, as a means of enhancing individual status”. He makes no distinction between gossip about people we know and people we watch on screen.
“The fact that we know so much about celebrities tricks us into being interested in them, because anyone we know so much about automatically qualifies as important people in our lives,” says McAndrew. “Remember that our predisposition to be interested in gossip evolved in a world in which there were no celebrities.
“When I speak about ‘enhancing individual status’, I am referring specifically to acquiring social information that might ultimately improve our chances for social success in our group.
“Even though we know that, at some level the celebrity is not part of our social circle, our drive to acquire information about them is irresistible. Access to information about them is irresistible. Access to social information about others equals access to social power.”
Our desire to know more about celebrities has led to the proliferation of untold numbers of fan websites that are breathlessly updated by the biggest followers of stars. B-list actors such as Florence Henderson, best known for a 60s family sitcom on an endless rerun wheel, even answers fans’ personal questions on her website flohome.com – but those who post questions are reminded that it is a “family site”, much like the buck-toothed Brady home. Censorship looms and Henderson wants to deal with the gossip her way, so, for instance, there is no mention on her website of her onscreen husband Robert Reed’s death from AIDS, or that he really was secretly gay.
Instead, Henderson tackles that 30-year rumour that she had a fling with her eldest onscreen son Greg with something of a throwaway cyber chuckle. “That whole thing with Barry (Williams) got blown way out of proportion,” she says. “I guess in a sense it was a date, because Barry thought it was. But of course, I had no idea that his intentions were to ‘date’ me. It has made for a good story though!”
Elsewhere on the net, Henderson can be found spruiking Words Can Heal’s latest tome: “Gossip -- we've all done it! Read this book and find out why it's so important not to. It will help you in all your relationships.”
Goldie Hawn – famously in an open relationship with fellow actor Kurt Russell – even took the Words Can Heal message to America’s National Press Club. “There's many ways to look at this,” said the star of The Banger Sisters. “One is that you're just a gerbil running in a cage with that little roundy roundy toy and going nowhere ... talking about people. Or you can have fun. You can actually talk about real stuff.”
Hawn’s Banger Sisters co-star, Susan Sarandon – not shy of putting her left-wing views forward with partner Tim Robbins, but self-described as “boring” in the personal gossip stakes – is also a patron. She told a US television audience: "Words Can Heal is a group that's trying to make people realise the power of words, both to heal and to hurt." Challenged by other actors to nominate what people should discuss apart from other people, Sarandon cited current events and humanitarian issues. She has even offered to help Russell Crowe deal with the demons of the gossip press.
McAndrew is more inclined to the view that celebrities are fair game. “Fair or not, celebrities need to understand that fame is a double-edged sword, and they cannot expect to reap all of the benefits without paying the costs,” he says.
And so far as talking about mere mortals who do not walk Oscar’s red carpet, is that good gossip, or bad? “Whether gossip is a healthy or destructive thing is in the eye of the beholder,” says McAndrew. “Gossip that serves the interests of the group by keeping people in line may be ‘good gossip’.
“But most people would think of gossip that serves the selfish interest of individuals as ‘bad gossip’. Of course, the person whose interests are being served may not share that perspective.”
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