Radar
Radar
MOVIE REVIEW: RIP
A new documentary that's as criminal as Girl Talk's music.
When Girl Talk first hit the scene, euphoria surrounded the mix-master’s shows and song postings. But as the release date for Feed The Animals, Girl Talk’s fourth and biggest album, crept up, people got nervous; how long would Gregg Gillis (the man behind the mash) last before the record industry sued him into oblivion?
The good news was that it hasn’t happened (at least, not yet), but filmmaker Brett Gaylor wasn’t content with just that. Instead, he launched into an investigation of just how copyright law came to be so that a mix master is considered a criminal, not an artist. His search—and findings—make up RiP, the new documentary film.
RiP uses Girl Talk as the jumping off point to sorting out what the law is, how it came to be, and what we can do to stop it. From sweaty Girl Talk gigs to Disney World rides to interviews in the US government’s copyright office, Gaylor takes an expansive view of the history of piracy. Although you can guess the film’s conclusion before you even start (hint: copyright law is messed up), it does offer up suggestions as to how we can protect artists and enrich our culture at the same time.
And that’s not all—RiP as available pay-as-you-wish for download (a la Radiohead), and viewers are urged to remix the documentary themselves. Which just might be the strongest piece of evidence in the film that the creative past and present are reliant on each other.
REBECCA WILLA DAVIS
Visit ripremix.com for more info.
The good news was that it hasn’t happened (at least, not yet), but filmmaker Brett Gaylor wasn’t content with just that. Instead, he launched into an investigation of just how copyright law came to be so that a mix master is considered a criminal, not an artist. His search—and findings—make up RiP, the new documentary film.
RiP uses Girl Talk as the jumping off point to sorting out what the law is, how it came to be, and what we can do to stop it. From sweaty Girl Talk gigs to Disney World rides to interviews in the US government’s copyright office, Gaylor takes an expansive view of the history of piracy. Although you can guess the film’s conclusion before you even start (hint: copyright law is messed up), it does offer up suggestions as to how we can protect artists and enrich our culture at the same time.
And that’s not all—RiP as available pay-as-you-wish for download (a la Radiohead), and viewers are urged to remix the documentary themselves. Which just might be the strongest piece of evidence in the film that the creative past and present are reliant on each other.
REBECCA WILLA DAVIS
Visit ripremix.com for more info.
This story was published on July 8, 2009.
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