By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth -
George Carlin
And, boy oh boy do the various teams who have represented Jake Gyllenhaal over the years, still love to "clean" house periodically. Cloaking their handiwork behind "updated" stories, misleading chronologies and outright omissions of basic facts that bear little to no resemblance to what actually happened.
Certainly, we at Narnia are more than a little familiar with Management's standard slippery techniques of intentional deception. From scrubbing the Internet of content to dispose of evidence, to using colleagues as accomplices to corroborate untruths, or creatively applying photoshopped images to promote a certain narrative. But, this time around, the central collaborator is a curious one. Someone not only well-respected in the industry, but a person not known for being the counterfactual type. Yet, the sensational, misleading headline, appearing a little over a week ago is undeniable:
The Independent
David Fincher struggled with ‘scattered’ and ‘slacking’ Jake Gyllenhaal on Zodiac set
Actor and filmmaker famously clashed on set of 2007 film
Adam White@__adamwhite
Given that the original article from the prestigious New York Times Magazine (published on 11/19/20) was actually a sober and thoughtful analysis spanning David Fincher's immersive style and cinematic career, the Independent's tabloid-ish title suggests something wholly disingenuous. Moreover, the micro-targeting of Jake's name in the title, [literally the subject of maybe only 7% (429 words) of the NY Times article], distorts not only the importance of Fincher's comments, but their impact as well.
First of all, the story that Fincher criticized Jake's lack of focus, preparedness and overall discipline while working on Zodiac back in 2005 was well known at the time. In fact, the much more tactful Ang Lee had also indicated something very similar by making the point that whereas Heath Ledger came to the set every day thoroughly prepared and knowing exactly what he wanted to do with his portrayal of Ennis del Mar, Jake would experiment in a free form manner, as though on a playground. From take to take, from scene to scene, he seemingly was trying to discover Jack Twist while on location (filming for Brokeback Mountain began in March 2004).
Gyllenhaal and Ledger were friends before the movie, but very different actors. Gyllenhaal was improvisational; Ledger methodical and meticulous.
“[Gyllenhaal’s
improvisation] bothered Ledger sometimes because he was well-prepared, so
sometimes that could mess him up a little bit,” Lee admitted. - Huffington Post, 'Brokeback Mountain, 10 Years On, Dec 09, 2015
Anyone paying attention at the time would also recall Jake notoriously oversharing in a 2007 NY Times article about his emotional scars from working with Fincher. At the time, the demanding director contemporaneously responded to Jake's "feelings" with the unsentimental retort, "I hate earnestness in performance. Usually, by Take 17 the earnestness is gone." Adding, "Collaboration has to come from a place of deep knowledge. When you go to your job, is it supposed to be fun, or are you supposed to get stuff done?" Ouch!
Jake Gyllenhaal on set with David Fincher, Zodiac (2007)
In other words, Fincher had long ago expressed his thoughts regarding Jake's high profile grievance so why, some 13 years later, is the topic back in the headlines again?
In addition to the Jake content being old news, another oddity in all this viral publicity is that the usually meticulous and exacting Fincher suddenly plays loose with the facts when discussing his stroll down memory lane about the speculated reasons for Jake's "distraction" during the filming of Zodiac. His supposition is based on one error after another. When considering that a quick glance of social media and a simple Google search indicates that the brief section on Jake was meant to go viral, the practical result is that the public record is instantly infused with falsehoods while simultaneously updating and setting the record "straight". Literally.
Sites covering the "story":
- Showbiz Cheatsheet
- ew.com
- IndieWire
- toofab
- People.com
- Insider.com
- ScreenRant
- MovieWeb
- JustJared
- ThePlaylist
- NZNews - Yahoo
- Several Twitter threads
One would think that Fincher, who hasn't released a new movie since 2014's Gone Girl, and hasn't been associated with Jake since Zodiac, would not want the topic of Internet conversation to be about Jake Gyllenhaal. This means the purpose of all those other articles was to reinforce certain narratives as well as provide vehicles for WME's interpretation of that NY Times article. After much head scratching about how this may be Jake's Management team trying to keep him relevant since he has pretty much been incognito for months throughout this pandemic, the real reason becomes clearer due to the nature of the false impression left.
Answer: Brokeback Mountain, gay rumors, and Austin Nichols.
Let's dissect the content of the Jake references from the original NY Times Magazine piece to illustrate our point.
NYT Magazine.
When I asked Fincher what happened with Gyllenhaal on that film [Zodiac], he
described an “extremely simple” situation: “Jake was in the unenviable
position of being very young and having a lot of people vie for his
attention, while working for someone who does not allow you to take a
day off.
True. Jake was incredibly busy professionally during Fall 2005 (September - December) while he filmed Zodiac. He had three films being promoted at the time (Proof - released 9/16; Jarhead - released 11/4; and Brokeback Mountain - released 12/9). Make sure to remember Brokeback Mountain, in particular, because that is the film conspicuously ignored in all those articles sited above.
The [Zodiac] crew spent about 20 days filming in the Bay
Area [meaning September], wrapping
this week (October 1, 2005) before the move to Los Angeles for the final 85 or so days of the
shoot. [Sometime around Christmas]
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/CHASING-ZODIAC-Film-crew-has-San-Francisco-2603686.php
David Fincher.
“I think Jake’s philosophy was informed by — look, he’d made a bunch of movies, even as a child, but I don’t think he’d ever been asked to concentrate on minutiae, and I think he was very distracted."
True. Yes, Jake was well-known to be undisciplined when it came to his approach to acting, and he was distracted professionally and, conspicuously, not addressed in any of these articles, personally.
David Fincher.
He had a lot of people whispering that ‘Jarhead’” — a 2005 war movie
starring Gyllenhaal — “was going to be this massive movie and put him in
this other league....
True and False. There indeed had been buzz around Jarhead initially, no doubt a war movie Jake's CAA team encouraged him to do in contrast to the other high profile movie they knew (feared?) was coming up that Fall - the heartbreaking, romantic love story between two young men (a ranch hand and an aspiring rodeo bull rider) in 1963 Wyoming. And like an earthquake, by September 2005, the cinema world had been shaken to the core by that little film with a budget of only $14 million, called Brokeback Mountain. Once the film had been selected as the Winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival on September 10, 2005, there was no turning back. That same day, Brokeback premiered in North America at the Toronto Film Festival and was selected as a runner-up for the coveted People's Choice Award; two accolades that foreshadowed the beginning of the cultural phenomenon and whirlwind media tour that dominated the American scene over the next seven months.
For those not around at the time, it's hard to communicate just how BIG Brokeback Mountain became across North America and the world. And it was irrefutably clear that Brokeback was going to be not only the movie of the year (not Jarhead, which was left in the dust) but the film that was going to catapult Jake Gyllenhaal into A-List status. This was apparent, as early as September 2005. Yet in all those offshoot articles reacting to the David Fincher interview listed above, the unequivocal explanation for Jake's scattered and distracted performance in Zodiac was because of Jarhead?
Excuse me, but no one would have forgotten the whirlwind 'Force of Nature', known as Brokeback Mountain.
Brokeback Mountain Accolades 2005-06
Jarhead Accolades, by comparison
David Fincher.
...every weekend he was being pulled to go to the Santa Barbara film
festival and the Palm Springs film festival and the [expletive] Catalina
film festival. And when he’d show up for work, he was very scattered.
False. Jake did attend the Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 7, 2006, but Zodiac filming had ended. He was there to receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award for, that's right - Brokeback Mountain.
And Jake did not attend the Santa Barbara Film Festival, which was on February 12, 2006. The Catalina Film Festival did not even take place that year.
So what is going on here?
Well, it's pretty obvious that Jake's team wants to rewrite history and make people think that Jarhead was the reason for his beguilement and preoccupation during his filming of Zodiac. Oh, and yes, Narnia does agree Jake was distracted, but it wasn't because of a film that hardly made a blip in the film world. Rather it seems like Jake being a leading man in an iconic movie about closeting and loving another man is something from which WME wants to distance their client. The important question is, "Why?" Imagine being so desperate (ashamed?) that your own media team tries to bury a landmark film that was honored in 2018 by being inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry as a genuine national treasure.
“I didn’t intend to make a statement with Brokeback Mountain,” Lee said. “I simply wanted to tell a purely Western love story between two cowboys. To my great surprise, the film ended up striking a deep chord with audiences; the movie became a part of the culture, a reflection of the darkness and light — of violent prejudice and enduring love — in the rocky landscape of the American heart.
“More than a decade has passed since Brokeback Mountain was released, but I hope that this film, a small movie with wide open spaces, continues to express something both fresh and fundamental about my adopted country.” Ang Lee
Hmm. Let's see. Given this context, Narnia can't help but wonder if there could be something else happening during this time that might provide further illumination?
Well, in March 2005, Gossip Columnist, Ted Casablanca, created the Blind Item closeted persona of Toothy Tile who many thought at the time was Jake Gyllenhaal.
What a coinkydink that the first time Jake went out in public with Austin Nichols (the man Mr. Casablanca named Grey Goose, aka Toothy's main distraction) their appearance together just happened to occur right in the middle of Jake filming Zodiac.
November 13, 2005. Date night at the Casanova premiere
Now there's the puzzle piece that has been missing up until now.
And these two even got together during Brokeback awards season,
February 11, 2006 Los Angeles Lakers Game
What do you think about that, Harry?
Closeting is a strange business, one that could not continue without the cooperation of powerful media forces who are willing to lie, distort and literally rewrite history while aggressively gaslighting anyone who dare to challenge them. Imagine being so desperate as to try to erase an iconic film like Brokeback Mountain when writing about anything associated with Jake Gyllenhaal in the fall of 2005 and into the winter of 2006. No way was this an innocent oversight. Most certainly it was intentional, while being so very obvious.
Moreover, if Jake were no longer with Austin Nichols, such a strategic effort across multiple media outlets would not be necessary in 2020. One can only hope that sooner rather than later, such vast resources can be better spent on more inclusive endeavors so that performers can have more of a choice in how they want to live their lives and be perceived by the public. Stop with the smoke and mirrors. Stop with the repackaging and the content seeding. Try the truth once in awhile. Or, at the very least stop the mendacity, disguised as mainstream journalism. Probably too much to ask for, but audiences will never get what they want unless they push back.
pic sources: IHJ, NY Times Magazine, Zodiac clip, Tumblr, OMG, Wikipedia, Jimmy Fallon, giphy
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