TABLOID
US, 2010, 87 minutes. Colour.
Kent Gavin, Joyce Mc Kinney, Jackson Shaw, Peter Tory, Troy Williams, Doctor Hong.
Directed by Errol Morris.
Another documentary from Errol Morris who explored police issues in The Thin Blue Line, Robert Mc Namara’s political advice in The Fog of War and torture in Abu Greb in S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure). This time his touch is light. He is exploring a tabloid story which reminds us that truth can be stranger than fiction. He has his tongue in his cheek with interviews and employs tabloid and pop TV visuals to illustrate his cheerfully preposterous story of former Miss Wyoming, Joyce Mc Kinney.
In the 1970s, Joyce Mc Kinney was obsessed with, says she was in love with, Mormon Kirk Anderson. He claimed he went to England to escape her. She rounded up a strong man, KJ, and hires a pilot, Jackson Shaw, to take her to London where she virtually abducts Kirk and is alleged to have used him as a sex slave. The London tabloids, principally the Daily Express, got hold of the story and had no qualms in exploiting it, with the Daily Mirror sending a photographer to the US to track down Joyce’s friends and associates and discovering a cache of sex photos (which Joyce claimed were doctored). However, the evidence seems to show that she was available and advertised for sex. There is some footage from Joyce when young, telling a fairy story and hoping it has a happy ending.
But, what makes the film so engrossing (and funny) is that it is principally an interview with Joyce thrirty years later, a buxom middle-aged woman, ebullient and not hesitating in being forthcoming about herself, explaining and justifying herself. But, can we believe her? She obviously believes herself but may have become so involved with the fictional side of what she did and what happened to her that much of her interview could be taken with a grain of salt.
Morris has some other interviews which contradict Joyce’s story at times. KJ died in 2004, so is not in the film. Kirk Anderson (who is seen in home movies and photos) refused to participate in the film. But, the pilot is there. The Daily Mirror photographer is there – probably giving a lot of the truth but showing himself as a real tabloid personality . A Mormon DJ is also interviewed offering info about Mormon customs which may surprise some viewers (especially about the Mormon undergarments). Finally, a British Daily Express journalist is interviewed who brings some ironic objectivity to the whole story.
Since all these interviews are intercut throughout the whole film, it makes for continually interesting shifts of points of view.
In recent years, Joyce contacted a cloning scientist in Korea (he is interviewed too) about her dying dog – with the result that she now has five cloned puppies!
A tabloid life!
1. The work of Errol Morris? Documentary film-maker? Long career? Serious films? Comic films?
2. Audience knowledge of Joyce Mc Kinney? Important or not? The impact she makes on-screen?
3. The title, a tabloid story, a tabloid treatment? Insight into tabloid stories, media exploitation of the stories, the photographers, editors?
4. The tabloid visuals? Editing and pace? The interviews and their being intercut? The focus on highlighting words, numbers? The clips from old films like Caged? Eleanor Parker? The jokes? Errol Morris’s questions from off-screen?
5. The structure: Joyce in her recent life, Joyce in the past, the home movies? Her telling the story, her IQ? The story being illustrated? Her quest? Her infatuation with Kirk Anderson? Getting the help of K.J,. the pilot, the facts, Kirk and the flight to England and his reasons? The allegations against Joyce? The tabloid exposure? Her reaction? The visuals of the newspapers, their headlines and articles, photos?
6. The testimony of the pilot, as a personality, his story, the facts, his behaviour, his credibility?
7. K.J. as a friend, in love with Joyce, being around her and helping? His death and his not being available for interview?
8. The testimony of the Mormon deejay, the information about Mormon life, customs? His intense personality?
9. The testimony of the photographer, British background, working for the Daily Mirror, the discussions with the editor, going to the United States, seeking out Joyce’s former lover? Using people, interviews, deals, payments?
10. The absence of Kirk Anderson’s testimony? His appearance in footage and photos?
11. Joyce, later in life, her reputation, her attitude towards the truth, exaggeration, lies – and believing her own stories? Her ebullient personality? Entertaining if not credible?
12. The episode with the dogs, Korea, Doctor Hong, the cloned dogs? The visuals?
13. Joyce in the present, her personality, reflecting on her life? Her sordid background, the photos and her denials, the advertisements in the paper? Miss Wyoming, her moving to Utah, the infatuation with Kirk? England, the abduction, her plans and friends? The sex slave reputation? Not being charged?
14. The purpose of the film, the final impression for the audience? Tabloids and an expose – but curiously entertaining?
