Thursday, July 15, 2010

In Search of...a good recording

When I started recording my songs, we did so on large reels of tape. Singers had to sing, players had to play, and edits were not made with the click of a button, but rather the painstaking accuracy of a razor blade and talented engineer. A wrong guess would leave an obvious gap, or worse, necessitate recording the whole thing over again. But these are different times we live in, where singers indeed do not need to be able to sing, and players, well, when they are actually present, they can be helped along to a degree as well. Today, with the correct clicks of some buttons, one can seamlessly tune, cut, and paste almost anything.

That brings me to Mel Gibson. Yes, Mel has gotten himself int0 a pickle again. This time there are recordings.

Today's segment of the soap opera that is our incessant need to gossip about and dwell on the misery of the rich and famous is about the manipulation or tampering with of the tapes. Were they sliced and diced? They were definitely professionally recorded and mixed. To my ears, Oksana's part sounds staged, like she's a bad actress standing in front of a microphone reciting her lines. But that doesn't really bother me, because that's not the point. The riveting part is Mel Gibson. And that's who we were meant to hear.

Sticklers for, well, truth, have been arguing that no one has authenticated that it's actually Mel speaking. I myself am a stickler for common sense. And I say, "Come on. Who are you kidding?!" We've been watching Mel in movies and listening to his voice for at least twenty-five years. Unless his evil twin is playing a prank, it's him.


And I'll grant you that there might have been some cutting and pasting involved, some pieces of conversations that took place on more than one occasion, but his tirades are vocally consistent. The energy and quality of his voice are consistent in them. The crescendo to the irate fevered pitch is consistent. Even his staggered breathing is staggered consistently.

While every "news" show has been speculating, and frankly, I've been speculating as to why this is on a news show, I started thinking about consistency in Mel's life. So I decided to see if wife #1 had anything to say about it. Turns out she did. Robyn, Mel's ex, issued a statement in support of Mel. Now I'm not a believer in new behavior from an old dog, so to speak. I think if Mel is abusive now, he's been abusive. I find it hard to believe that he'd knock out one woman's teeth while never laying a hand on the other woman he'd been with a lot longer. Call me crazy, but I'm not buying it.

Interestingly enough, Robyn Gibson said that Mel never engaged in any physical abuse of any kind before, during, or after their marriage. What she didn't say was that he never engaged in any mental, verbal, or emotional abuse. So maybe Mel's abuse escalated. Or maybe Robyn would like to keep getting her checks in the mail, which she'd have a hard time doing if his funds are depleted or if he goes to jail. (Yes, I've become just a tad cynical.)

So what's the takeaway from all this? Personally, my hat's off to Oksana for getting him on tape. It was the only recourse she had in her position. If she had just gone to the police with tales of him threatening her, they would have said, "Where's the proof?" So instead, she started by getting the proof and putting it out there for the world to hear. Not to mention that he threatened to kill her. That would make me just a wee bit terrified. I kind of look at this whole thing as her way of saying, "Should anything happen to me, I want you to know who did it." If only Nicole Simpson could have done that, O.J. wouldn't be walking around...oh wait, he's in jail, isn't he. Karma can be such a bitch.

Whatever happens with Mr. Gibson, I hope his ex-wife and former girlfriend get the help they need and can raise his children in peace. I also hope Mr. Gibson gets some help. He's a sick, sick man.

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