The story told (or approached, or retold in varying ways) in "Tabloid" is an extraordinarily salacious one, and riveting on that level in the way that extraordinarily salacious stories are. We're watching because we want desperately to see what happens next, but as we do so we are acutely aware of the sensational nature of the events.
Which is why it is appropriate that "Tabloid" is as much about the tabloid exploitation and exaggeration of the Joyce McKinney story as it is about the story itself. After one-larger-than-life event, the press becomes as much as part of the story as what it is they are covering. And as the interview subjects tell the story, it becomes apparent that rarely has the inherent subjectivity of events been laid out with such wildly (in every sense) versions of events.
It's a credit to Morris that he draws from this story that is so outlandish as to be almost absurd a thoughtful commentary on truth, will, privacy, love vs obsession, and more. At the center of it is the extraordinary interview with McKinney herself, who comes across -- then and now -- as charismatic, funny, obsessed, and more than a little unhinged. Smiling ingratiatingly as she explains (or explains away) every step of her life from (allegedly) the woman who brought her dog to her every modeling shoot to the woman who flew to Korea to have another dog cloned (disguising herself as an Indian and a deaf-mute somewhere in between), she is compulsive viewing.
"Tabloid" pulls of the coup of being completely fascinating for the reasons that tabloids are and -- because it is completely self-aware in the regard -- being also a very thoughtful meditation on the issues raised by both press sensationalism and this story itself. Quite an accomplishment.
Which is why it is appropriate that "Tabloid" is as much about the tabloid exploitation and exaggeration of the Joyce McKinney story as it is about the story itself. After one-larger-than-life event, the press becomes as much as part of the story as what it is they are covering. And as the interview subjects tell the story, it becomes apparent that rarely has the inherent subjectivity of events been laid out with such wildly (in every sense) versions of events.
It's a credit to Morris that he draws from this story that is so outlandish as to be almost absurd a thoughtful commentary on truth, will, privacy, love vs obsession, and more. At the center of it is the extraordinary interview with McKinney herself, who comes across -- then and now -- as charismatic, funny, obsessed, and more than a little unhinged. Smiling ingratiatingly as she explains (or explains away) every step of her life from (allegedly) the woman who brought her dog to her every modeling shoot to the woman who flew to Korea to have another dog cloned (disguising herself as an Indian and a deaf-mute somewhere in between), she is compulsive viewing.
"Tabloid" pulls of the coup of being completely fascinating for the reasons that tabloids are and -- because it is completely self-aware in the regard -- being also a very thoughtful meditation on the issues raised by both press sensationalism and this story itself. Quite an accomplishment.