Flickering Myth

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Writing the Wrongs of Rhys Ifans

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Commenting on the Critics with Simon Columb…

Peter Preston writes for The Guardian about the “train-wreck” of an interview Janice Turner conducted for The Times with Rhys Ifans:

“News is a train wreck rather than the 3.35 from Bournemouth arriving on time; so Janice Turner’s train wreck of a Times interview with antibiotically challenged actor Rhys Ifans (which he ended by announcing “I’m bored with you” and walking out – before allowing his distraught publicist to send Turner a bunch of flowers) created a ripple of stories. Were interviews with bored and boring actors interesting any longer? Had the “genre” finally collapsed in its own vapidity?“

Roy Greenslade, blogging for The Guardian, additionally made a crucial point – at one point in the interview:

“Turner soon detected that Ifans was being condescending because he ‘is one of those actors who believes that he’s an ‘artist’.’”

At what point did we lose our way? Indeed, the relentless pressure for publicity seems to only increase as sources for “news” expands further. Maybe print-press is losing dominance, but more and more sources are appearing as news sites online.
When hundreds of websites and publications all claim that they’re ‘relevant’ and ‘important’, the PR companies themselves have no choice but to say ‘yes’ to as many sources as possible – only to give each interviewer a meaningless 15 minutes with the talent. Janice Turner confidently exposes the contradictions in this entire circus: “you feel as if you’re engaged in an odd form of prostitution, one where it remains unclear who is the hooker and who the john.”

Rather than blame an era of downloadable content and dwindling sales figures – or even blaming the increasing pressure put on the celebrities and talent involved in the “publicity”, maybe we should take a look at the PR companies themselves. Both Greenslade and Preston highlight the false and parasitic nature of PR companies. The gateways to the production, PR companies are the middle-men for both sides of the publicity divide. They choose who is privileged enough to view, interview and gain exclusive content for a publication or site – and they plan, prepare and execute a full plan-of-action to promote a film.
But it’s the personal touch that’s missing. Reading Barry Norman’s memoirs And Why Not?: Memoirs of a Film Lover, one has to consider a world whereby a mutual appreciation of publicity and art becomes a celebration unto itself. Barry Norman conducted interviews with the very best filmmakers and actors – from Lawrence Olivier to David Lean; from Peter Sellers to Sylvester Stallone. In his memoirs, he charted the change in interviewing and “junkets” – and what a sad state of affairs it currently is in. But I have a feeling that certain PR companies and forward-thinking actors and filmmakers have begun to change their approach.
Rian Johnson, Edgar Wright and Bryan Singer all use social networking to their advantage – giving a personal touch at the touch of a button. Rian Johnson is a filmmaker who seems happy, relaxed and “himself” when appearing on Filmspotting, /Film and The Empire podcast. Edgar Wright seems all-too-happy to appear regularly at Q&A’s across the US and UK, while Bryan Singer on Twitter is the source for virtually every picture released from the set of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

It is clear that filmmakers and actors, in many cases, are happy to open up about their work. Not all of them hide away and insult an interviewer claiming they are “boring” – the junkets may be a little bit out-of-date and they are, by their nature, forced. So why not place Rhys Ifan’s at home – or in a comfy office – with a lap-top to Skype with a journalist who is working themselves at home? Considering many journalists are often freelance, that would be a fair compromise. Other interviewees may prefer face-to-face conversation.
The bottom-line is that the journalist is turning a potentially bland, auto-informing interview into an engaging article – and only completed post-interview. The talent should be discussing the film and, hopefully, opening up a little bit about the art form they represent. As a reader the vast majority is down to good journalism and interesting personalities. Let’s face it, it is quite possible that Rhys Ifan’s is boring and doesn’t have much to say – and it doesn’t matter what PR companies want – as this is the artist he may be.

Simon Columb

Originally published June 9, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.

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