A Stream-of-Conciousness Solsburian Rant
Okay, we heard about this interview over at Under the Rainbow. We knew it was filmed in
Rosanna's kitchen. We also knew that we couldn't seem to watch
the damn thing on our computer. So we made a plea to the Gabefans
to report what this interview was all about. We got this e-mail
back from our good friend Jeff Linakis:
We knew that in order to call ourselves Solsburians, we had
to watch this interview. Fortunately, we knew someone who just
got a shiny new computer and has a super fast internet connection.
We broke into his house and spent a few hours watching this interview.
Now that we've watched it, here's some additional random thoughts:
On the Virtue.tv webcast, the audio was really
messed up, and halfway through the interview Gabriel reaches into
his shirt to retrieve the mic which supposedly had been down there
the entire first half of the interview. We could barely hear Gabriel
talk, but hey, we were getting great audio of PG's chest
hair.
Rosanna must've took cues from this interview* as there is no audio at all for the first three minutes. Silence whilst setting up the mics is fine, but why wasn't the first three minutes edited out and just have the interview start when the audio started? We don't mean to criticize, but we just hope that RA doesn't get bored with her interviewing gig and decide to take a job as Gabriel's audio technician on the Up tour.
Admit it...we tend to think of celebrities
as being "with it" most of the time. Which is why it
was satisfying to see both Rosanna and Peter having the same technical
proficiency to webcasting as, let's say, your parents programming
a VCR. "The red light is blinking. Is that okay?" "I
guess as long as the red light is blinking, it's okay." "Is
it running?"...
Rosanna must've really wanted to have
her interview be much like the Virtue.tv interview*,
because like that interview, the host was ten times louder than
Gabriel. Fortunately, Rosanna was much more interesting and much
less annoying than the nameless host of the Virtue.tv gig.
It's somehow comforting to know that Rosanna
has a perfectly normal, unglamorous kitchen. We were afraid it
was going to be one of those huge-and-immaculate Martha Stewart
deals.
At one point Gabriel says,"If you enjoy
being a voyeur, that's what you are," refering to the home
viewers. We here at the Hill are tired of people misusing the
word the voyeur in releation to candid interviews, 24 hr
webcams, and "real tv" as in shows like Big Brother
and Survivor. A viewer can't be a voyeur when the subject invites
people to watch them and is fully aware of being watched. Otherwise,
it's like a stripper refering to nudie bar patrons as peeping
toms.
Near the end of the interview, you get the
feeling that they've forgotten that the cameras are on so that
you do start to feel like a peeping tom.
Rosanna frequently forgets that she's supposed
to be interviewing Gabriel. It's safe to say we learn a lot more
about RA here than we do about PG.
A thought: how many people out there would
conduct an interview with a former girlfriend/boyfriend and talk
about their past relationship on camera? (That is, besides those
who have no problems with the idea of being on The Jerry Springer
Show.)
This is definitely one of Gabriel's more candid
interviews. He's usually kinda reserved in interviews, but get
a glass of wine and a former girlfriend in front of him and he's
spouting jazz that his therapist doesn't know about.
...And speaking of therapy...Arquette asks
about Meabh, Gabriel's current girlfriend. Then she immediately
asks if they go to therapy together, as if that's standard proceedure
for a relationship. "Darling, we've been seeing each other
for a few weeks, and now that it's starting to get serious, I
want to take this to the next step. Will you...go to my therapist
with me?"
Does Rosanna have enough candles on the table?
Wicks N' Things must adore her. We kept waiting for something
or somebody to catch fire.
We here have always been of the view that
Gabriel gives way too much credit to therapy and psychology. However,
we were pleased when Gabriel acknowledged a study where some people
who suffered a truamatic event did better without therapy than
those who did.
Gabriel tells RA that he prefers underexposure,
while she likes overexposure. Rosanna takes issue with the "overexposure"
remark. It's fun to watch Gabriel attempt to backpedal at the
speed of light...
As noted in Jeff's report, they talk a bit
about sex. No problem...we're not prudes and it's rather interesting...although
at one point, it starts to get kinda creepy and crosses the line
into ick territory. We're not going to say exactly what
was said, but if you watch the interview, you'll know what we're
talking about.
Gabriel states that he's hungry, and while
he doesn't eat the banana that was offered to him, he does start
munching on something. We don't know what it is, but we can hear
him munching quite audibly into the mic.
As in Jeff's letter, Rosanna does in fact
sing happy birthday to him. It was an "awwwwww..."moment,
and what really made the scene was that before she started singing,
she plunked a candle in front of him to blow out. She might have
wanted him to blow out all the candles on the table, except
she didn't want him to hyperventillate.
At the very, very end, as Rosanna gets up
to unplug the camera, Gabriel rubs his hand across his face and
stetches, knowing full well that he's just been put through the
ringer.
Perhaps he's thinking, Thank goodness that's over with. It'll probably never make it online anyway, so I shouldn't have to worry about anything that was said...
*Yes, we know this was filmed several months before the Virtue.tv interview.
You still here? Get your voyeuristic ass back to the Miscellany