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Gossip, Women, Film,
and Chick Flicks
 Sarah-Mai Dang

Gossip, Women,
Film, and Chick
Flicks
Sarah-Mai Dang
Berlin, Germany

ISBN 978-1-137-56017-9 ISBN 978-1-137-56018-6 (eBook)

DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56018-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956872

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

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accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
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translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
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The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW,
United Kingdom
To Caroline Wunderlich
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It all began in 2009 with my friend Caroline Wunderlich persuading me to

watch so-called chick flicks. This “women’s genre” had become the research
object of my dissertation on film, feminism, and experience, which I com-
pleted at the Department of Films Studies at Freie Universität Berlin in
2014. This book is based on a translation of chapter 3.
First and foremost, my sincere thanks go to my supervisors, who sup-
ported me throughout my years as doctoral candidate and research assis-
tant at Freie Universität Berlin. Hermann Kappelhoff believed in the
happy ending of the dissertation no matter what detour the project
took. I am highly grateful for his generous help, advice, and patience.
My discussions with Sabine Nessel, my second supervisor, and her persis-
tent inquiries have strengthened my line of argument and made the thesis
more precise. This book was also shaped by the many discussions in the
film studies colloquium facilitated by Hermann Kappelhoff. I particularly
would like to thank my colleagues Sarah Greifenstein, Hauke Lehmann,
Michael Lück, and Jan Bakels for their critical feedback on earlier drafts of
the German version. I also wish to thank Marc Siegel for generously
allowing me to read his doctoral dissertation A Gossip of Images:
Hollywood Star Images and Queer Counterpublics before publication. His
pioneering work on gossip and film proved to offer a productive perspec-
tive for my study of chick flicks.
This research was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
funding the Collaborative Research Center “Aesthetic Experience and the
Dissolution of Artistic Limits” (SFB 626) at Freie Universität Berlin, where
I finished the dissertation. I am particularly grateful to the Managing

vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Director of the SFB, Georgios Binos, who helped handling the successful
application for the translation grant of the DFG.
Beyond the Freie Universität Berlin, I am indebted to Johannes von
Moltke from the University of Michigan for his extraordinary support
during my academic year as doctoral exchange student in the US.
Working with him at both the Department of Germanic Languages and
Literatures as well as Screen Arts and Culture has had a significant impact
on my understanding of film experience.
In addition, my dear friends Sylvia Müller, Sarah Schaschek, Kerstin
Beyerlein, and Lukas Engelmann have sharpened this book’s arguments
by reading and responding to various drafts of the dissertation. So did
Landon Little who helped me translating the German manuscript into
English. Thanks to Mercury Meulman for editing, proof reading, and
formatting the text at the very end.
At Palgrave Macmillan, I would like to thank my Commissioning Editor
Chris Penfold who believed in this project from the beginning and sup-
ported me in attaining funds for the translation of this study. I would also
like to acknowledge the help of Lina Aboujieb and Karina Jakupsdottir
with regard to the production process of this book. Thanks to the anon-
ymous reviewer for her generous time and insightful comments on the
manuscript.
I was able to endure this “intellectual marathon” due to the friendship
of the “Stabi Gang” and Ion Kozuch who always encouraged me to keep
going. I am also indebted to Caroline Wunderlich for her astute questions
and comments as well as her continuous support in all kind of matters. In
addition to introducing me to chick flicks, I have benefited tremendously
from her feminist points of view, which have not only influenced this study
but have also been an inspiration throughout our friendship. This book is
dedicated to her. And last but not least, I cannot possibly express enough
gratitude to my parents, Lydia Dang and Hieu De Dang, for their love and
support throughout my life.
 CONTENTS

1 Introduction 1

2 Gossip as an Organizing Principle of Social

Order and Perception 9

3 Easy A—“A is for Awesome” 15

4 Emma—“A Match Well Made, a Job Well Done” 45

5 A Matter of Perspective 67

Index 73

ix
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 3.1 Screenshot from Easy A showing how the camera meanders
across a schoolyard 18
Fig. 3.2 Screenshot from Easy A presenting a teenage girl
accompanied by a group of loyal followers 20
Fig. 3.3 Screenshot from Easy A demonstrating how the protago-
nist’s books fall to the floor 20
Fig. 3.4 Screenshot from Easy A showing the protagonist appearing
in front of a webcam 21
Fig. 3.5 Screenshot from Easy A showing Olive and Rhiannon
in the girls’ bathroom 23
Fig. 3.6 Screenshot from Easy A demonstrating how Mary Ann
disrupts Olive’s and Rhi’s conversation 24
Fig. 3.7 Screenshot from Easy A showing Olive turning her head 25
Fig. 3.8 Screenshot from Easy A highlighting that rumors spread
incredibly fast 25
Fig. 3.9 Screenshot from Easy A showing how Olive becomes
the high school’s subject 26
Fig. 3.10 Screenshot from Easy A presenting Olive in black lingerie
that she has sewed into an only semi-appropriate outfit
with a red, hand-stitched “A” 34
Fig. 3.11 Screenshot from Easy A showing Olive’s friend Todd
asking Olive out 38
Fig. 4.1 Screenshot from Emma demonstrating how the fast
spinning globe marks the relativity of perspective 47
Fig. 4.2 Screenshot from Emma presenting Emma handing
over a handcrafted globe to the newly wedded Westons 47

xi
xii LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 4.3 Screenshot from Emma highlighting Emma as the center

of the film 49
Fig. 4.4 Screenshot from Emma showing Emma’s face
in a close up, mourning the “loss” of the beloved
Miss Taylor 50
Fig. 4.5 Screenshot from Emma presenting Frank Churchill
performing a duet with Jane Fairfax 54
Fig. 4.6 Screenshot from Emma presenting Frank Churchill
performing a duet with Emma 54
Fig. 4.7 Screenshot from Emma pointing out Ms. Bates senselessly
babbling at the ball standing among Emma, Mrs. Weston,
Mr. Churchill, and Jane Fairfax 56
Fig. 4.8 Screenshot from Emma presenting Emma and Mr. Knightley
as both observers and participants of the events 57
Fig. 4.9 Screenshot from Emma showing how Emma thinks
to realize her love for Frank Churchill 60
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Abstract In the introduction, Dang outlines the premise of the book,

which is to think about the relationship between gossip, women, and film
in regard to the genre of chick flicks. While the lack of women’s voices in
the general public sphere remains an issue, she argues, in regard to film the
female voice is very present in contemporary media such as in the genre of
chick flicks. Voice and verbality are of great importance in films such as
Emma (GB/USA 1996) or Easy A (USA 2010, Will Gluck) and thus for
the (female) spectator. In this study, Dang does not only look at how
gossip is staged in these films, but incorporates gossip as well as a theore-
tical model to analyze chick flicks.

Keywords Chick flicks
Gossip
Classic woman’s film
Genre
Film

experience
Feminism
Female voice

This book addresses the relationship between gossip, women, and film in
regard to the genre of chick flicks. Traditionally, gossip is a form of
communication that has been assigned to women and is consequently
disregarded. Gossip is mostly waved aside as nonsense, in contrast to
(male) speech or the written word (Spacks 1985: 16–18). “When people
talk about the details of daily lives, it is gossip; when they write about it, it
is literature,” says Esther Deborah Tannen (cited by Fritsch 2004: 9).
Particularly, feminist theory of the 1980s saw women silenced by men and

© The Author(s) 2017 1

S.-M. Dang, Gossip, Women, Film, and Chick Flicks,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56018-6_1
2 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

theory and thus language. I agree with this argument and consider this still
to be a very important issue. Women’s experiences and perspectives need
to continue to be heard and acknowledged. While the lack of women’s
voices in the general public sphere remains an issue, I argue, in regard to
film the female voice is very present in contemporary media such as in the
genre of chick flicks.
Specific chick flicks like Clueless (USA 1995, Amy Heckerling), Emma
(GB/USA 1996, Douglas McGrath), Legally Blonde (USA 2001, Robert
Luketic), Easy A (USA 2010, Will Gluck), and Sex and the City (USA
2008, 2010, Michael Patrick King) are dominated by voices: by ceaseless
talk about appropriate or inappropriate relationships, chitchat about
friends being absent, and whisper about people being present. The
characters—in particular female—are mainly acting on the sound level.
Voice and verbality are of great importance in these films and thus for the
spectator. But how exactly do voice and verbality shape the film experi-
ence? And how does the category of woman relate to this form of
communication? With this study, I seek to explore what role gossip
plays in the staging of chick flicks.
The definition of what makes a film a chick flick, however, varies widely
(Ferris and Young 2008: 1–25). The term itself emerged during the mid-
1990s, used to describe—more often than not in the pejorative sense—
American films with strong-willed, successful, and independent feminine
women in leading roles. Chick flicks are media productions of wide
commercial success largely associated with female audiences. Based on
the apparent emancipated protagonists, these films seem to speak particu-
larly to women growing up in the period of so-called postfeminism, a
period marking the emergence of new ways of thinking about women and
gender.1 Much like chick lit (chick literature, for example Helen Fielding’s
Bridget Jones’s Diary or Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City), chick flicks
are ascribed to contemporary women’s culture, and appear simultaneously
with the rise of postfeminism, also known as third-wave feminism, follow-
ing the second wave of the 1970s and 1980s (Genz and Brabon 2009;
Gillis et al. 2004).2
Remarkably, besides the classic woman’s film of the 1930s and 1940s—
films like Stella Dallas (USA 1937, King Vidor) or Mildred Pierce (USA
1945, Michael Curtiz)— the chick flick is the only film genre that has been
defined by its audience (with the exception of teen films, which are often
discussed in relation to chick flicks, Brecht 2004; Maxfield 2002). While
other genres are defined based on iconographic motifs, such as the open
 1 INTRODUCTION 3

plains of the western film, or by their narrative structures, such as the

search for the murderer in the detective film, chick flicks are largely defined
by their audience—namely an audience that is assumed to be primarily
female. Like the classic woman’s film, the chick flick (or the contemporary
woman’s film) is constituted based on the debates on the female spectator
and her experience as a moviegoer (Dang 2014: 28–30; see also; Altman
1998, 2012 [1999]: 73).
As is the case with romantic comedies, chick flicks as a “woman’s
genre” are often marginalized and treated with suspicion as a phenom-
enon of mass media.3 When chick flicks have been interpreted as subjects
of analysis, media and cultural studies scholars have mostly used them to
reinforce their own political positions, especially as easy targets to under-
score the manipulative force of the culture industry.4 Since these films
present—though ambivalently—rather stereotypical portrayals of women
and mostly extremely feminine protagonists, they are viewed overwhel-
mingly as a point of political contention among scholars. Due to the
depiction of the kind of femininity feminist theory of the 1970s and
1980s sharply criticized (including the conventionally feminine blonde
as the quintessential object of the male gaze), scholars of media and
cultural studies identify this genre as post—or neofeminist cinema dis-
cussing whether or not these films are antifeminist or feminist (Radner
2010; Tasker and Negra 2007; McRobbie 2004). On the one hand chick
flicks are celebrated in their depiction of emancipation (Smith 2008;
Lenzhofer 2006), while on the other hand they are criticized as a
threatening backlash to the achievements to feminism (McRobbie
2009, 2010).
I find these different reactions to chick flicks worth considering, as well as
the unconventional, though seemingly traditional depiction of the female
protagonists (as shown in my dissertation, Dang 2014). This study, how-
ever, approaches chick flicks from a different perspective. Seeking to shed
light on an issue beyond the question whether chick flicks are good or bad
films, this book aims to demonstrate that much more is at stake in this
genre. It addresses this genre not as cheap entertainment or an object of
poor taste. Instead, it takes chick flicks as a mass media form as well as the
spectators of these films seriously and looks at what else is at stake when
staging women in leading roles. Besides the popularization of feminist
theory, I argue that these films deal with another important social and
political phenomenon, which has been rarely addressed: the meaning and
function of gossip.
4 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

In order to reflect on the relationship between gossip, women, and film in

regard to the genre of chick flicks, I consider two films in this book, Easy A and
Emma. Both films lend themselves particularly well to the analysis of gossip.
They both deal with female characters and processes of categorization, speci-
fically prejudices and gender stereotypes, and were very successful at the box
office. In Easy A and Emma, judgments are constantly being drawn about
who fits together (who is a match) and who is not, whispers are constantly
exchanged behind the backs of those who are present, while jokes are una-
bashedly made about those who are absent. Wagers, speculation, comments
made in passing, and observations are driving forces in Easy A and Emma as
films. With this study, I seek to demonstrate that hearsay plays a defining role
in the staging of these films and speech acts play a critical role in the film
experience. Processes of categorization in Easy A and Emma are tied to a
specific mode of perception of space and time. Moreover, during the course of
the viewing process, these films actively engage and influence the film specta-
tors and ultimately transform their attitudes toward the protagonists.
I argue that films—as audiovisual forms of media—have their own unique
way of making sense. While there are many different ways of defining what
film is, my approach to film in this book focuses on the specific temporality of
film as a media form consisting of moving images. As moving images, films
are produced during the duration of the spectator’s reception of them. Since
chick flicks are largely defined by their spectators, in this study, I seek to
account for the film experience that is realized while watching these films.
Thus, my analyses are based on the media-specific temporality of film.
Since Easy A and Emma are defined by processes of categorization,
speech acts, and a particular relationship between space and time, in this
book, I do not only look at how gossip is staged in chick flicks but
incorporate gossip as well as a theoretical model to analyze these films.
As a mechanism of social order and basic principle of perception, gossip
serves as a useful model to scrutinize how individuals are presented in
relation to a group and how communities are produced as spatiotemporal
constellations. Gossip, viewed as a performative speech act, defines power
relations, and determines inclusion and exclusion, but it also determines
how subjects are constituted. Gossip structures sociality through categor-
ization processes. When someone says something about someone, they
determine, consciously or not, who is included in the circle of participants
and who is excluded from the group. Gossip is a collective form of
communication that I explore in my analysis of Easy A and Emma as a
social phenomenon as well as an aesthetic form of expression.
 1 INTRODUCTION 5

While gossip defines an act of communication, rumors represent the

content of what is communicated. Both gossip and rumors are deeply
intertwined with one another and are often difficult to differentiate, as are
the processes, the objects, and subjects of judgments. On the one hand,
rumors are spread through gossip, while on the other hand, rumors
become part of gossip since the participant becomes an object commu-
nicated through the act of hearsay (“I heard from so and so that. . . . ”).
Here the act, the participant, and the message—to communicate, the
communicator, and the disclosure of information—coincide (see also
Engell 2008: 327–328). In this study, I explore the social phenomenon
of gossip as an act of communication and as a process of categorization.
Based on this organizing principle of social order, my case studies on
gossip in Easy A and Emma look at how to grasp the relationship between
identity, subjectivity, and collectivity. However, in my analysis, I do not refer
to gossip as a form of collectivity that creates a “we” of the oppressed. This
study is not about advocating more participation for women, even though it
is important to consider gossip as a female mode of communication. In Easy
A and Emma, I analyze how gossip determines power structures more
generally. Thus, the question of how subjects and subjects’ identities are
constituted through gossip and how gossip works as a form of collectivity is
addressed without only considering gender. In this study, I analyze specifi-
cally how gossip is staged in film and how the film spectator experiences it.

NOTES
1. Postfeminism is a heterogeneous category being used for a number of
reasons in a number of various contexts (Gill 2007). One significant repre-
sentative of the so-called postfeminism is Judith Butler. Butler questions the
term ‘woman’ as a biological category by asking whether it serves as a useful
category for feminist critique (Butler 1999 [1990]). Butler’s work has led to
a divide between second-wave feminists and third-wave feminists.
2. Based on whether theorists interpret the history of feminism as ruptures
between different generations of women or as an enduring legacy of feminist
traditions, they refer to the term postfeminism or neofeminism or feminist
waves (the first wave, represented by women’s suffrage of the nineteenth
century; the second wave, championed by the women’s movement from the
1960s to the 1980s; and the third wave, the new generation of feminists,
prominently represented by Judith Butler). The positions each wave of
feminism has taken up are largely determined by specific historical circum-
stances and conditions.
6 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

3. Looking at the female figure in literature of the nineteenth century, Andreas

Huyssen has illustrated the extent to which mass culture in contrast to the
‘real and authentic’ masculine culture is traditionally associated with femi-
ninity and consequently disparaged (Huyssen 1986: 44–62). See also
Altman 2012 [1999]: 72.
4. One of the genre’s sharpest critics is Angela McRobbie (see McRobbie
2009).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Altman Rick. 2012 [1999]. Film/Genre. London: BFI.
Brecht, Christoph. 2004. Teenage Negotiations: Gender als Erzähltechnik in Amy
Heckerlings Teen Movie Clueless. In Hollywood Hybrid. Genre und Gender im
zeitgenössischen Mainstream-Film, eds. Claudia Liebrand and Ines Steiner,
67–90. Marburg, Germany: Schüren.
Brokoff, Jürgen, Jürgen Fohrmann, Hedwig Pompe, and Brigitte Weingart, eds.
2008. Die Kommunikation der Gerüchte. Göttingen, Germany: Wallstein
Butler, Judith. 1999 [1990]. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge.
Dang, Sarah-Mai. 2014. Chick Flicks. Film, Feminismus und Erfahrung. Berlin/
Hamburg: oa books/tredition.
Engell, Lorenz. 2008. Film und Fama—Citizen Kane.In Die Kommunikation der
Gerüchte, eds. Jürgen Brokoff, Jürgen Fohrmann, Hedwig Pompe, and Brigitte
Weingart, 322–337. Göttingen: Wallstein.
Ferriss, Suzanne, and Young. Mallory, eds. 2008. Chick Flick: Contemporary
Women at the Movies. New York: Routledge.
Fritsch, Esther. 2004. Reading gossip. Funktionen von Klatsch in Romanen
Ethnischer Amerikanischer Autorinnen. Trier: WVT.
Genz, Stéphanie, and Benjamin A. Brabon. 2009. Postfeminism: Cultural Texts
and Theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Gill, Rosalind. 2007. Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility.
European Journal of Cultural Studies 10(2): 147–166.
Gillis, Stacy, Gillian Howie, and Munford. Rebecca, eds. 2004. Third Wave
Feminism: A Critical Exploration. Basingstoke, Hampshire, England/New
York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Huyssen, Andreas. 1986. After the Great Divide: Modernism, Mass Culture,
Postmodernism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Lenzhofer, Karin. 2006. Chicks Rule! Die schönen neuen Heldinnen in
US-amerikanischen Fernsehserien. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript.
Maxfield, Amanda L. 2002. The Quest for External Validation in Female Coming-
of-Age Films. In Film studies, ed. Alexandra Heidi Karriker, 141–178. Lang:
New York.
 1 INTRODUCTION 7

McRobbie, Angela. 2004. Postfeminism and Popular Culture. Feminist Media

Studies 4(3): 255–264.
McRobbie, Angela. 2009. The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social
Change. Los Angeles: Sage.
McRobbie, Angela. 2010. Top girls. Feminismus und der Aufstieg des neoliberalen
Geschlechterregimes. Wiesbaden, Germany: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Radner, Hilary. 2010. Neo-Feminist Cinema: Girly Films, Chick Flicks, and
Consumer Culture. New York: Routledge.
Smith, Caroline J. 2008. Cosmopolitan Culture and Consumerism in Chick Lit.
New York: Routledge.
Spacks, Patricia Meyer. 1985. Gossip. New York: Knopf.
Tasker, Yvonne, and Negra. Diane, eds. 2007. Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender
and the Politics of Popular Culture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

FILMS
Clueless (USA 1995; directed/written by Amy Heckerling; actress: Alicia
Silverstone).
Easy A (USA 2010; directed by Will Gluck; script: Bert V. Royal; actress: Emma
Stone)
Emma (UK/USA 1996; directed by Douglas McGrath; script: Jane Austen/
Douglas McGrath; actress: Gwyneth Paltrow).
Sex and the City (USA 2008; directed by Michael Patrick King; script: Candace
Bushell et al.; actresses: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis,
Cynthia Nixon)
Sex and the City (USA 2010; directed by Michael Patrick King; script: Candace
Bushell et al.; actresses: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis,
Cynthia Nixon)
Legally Blonde (USA 2001; directed by Robert Luketic; script: Amanda Brown
et al.; actress: Reese Witherspoon)
Mildred Pierce (USA 1945; directed by Michael Curtiz; script: Ranald
MacDougall et al.; actress: Joan Crawford)
Stella Dallas (USA 1937; directed by King Vidor; script: Sarah Y. Mason; actress:
Barbara Stanwyck)
 CHAPTER 2

Gossip as an Organizing Principle of Social

Order and Perception

Abstract In Chapter 2, Dang gives an overview on how gossip has been

examined in academic discourse based on both its negative and positive
effects. She thereby elaborates on the distinction between the spread of
rumors and gossip as a mode of communication. Referring to Marc
Siegel’s aesthetic-political approach to gossip and film, Dang proposes
gossip as a productive perspective for analyzing chick flicks which empha-
size verbal expression, such as Easy A and Emma. In addition, she explains
why these films are also well suited for understanding gossip as a theore-
tical film category and more generally for reflecting on gossip as a social
practice.

Keywords Gossip
Rumor
Communication
Community
Collectivity

Speech act

Esther Fritsch (2004: 9, my translation1) defines gossip as “a process

wherein the formation and preservation of identities and social structures
can play a significant role and serves as a type of social regulation.”
Viewed in this sense, gossip can be just as affirming as it can be subversive.
In gossip, norms can be confirmed just as easily as they can be suspended.
In the spread of rumors, Hans-Joachim Neubauer (1998: 187) argues,
basic social norms are created and controlled and the propagation of
hearsay serves the constant assurance of these norms. Gossip qualifies as

© The Author(s) 2017 9

S.-M. Dang, Gossip, Women, Film, and Chick Flicks,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56018-6_2
10 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

a speech act that in many ways serves as “an intermediary between norms
and deviation, between power and marginality” (Neubauer 1998: 161,
my translation2). The reference source of “they say” supports this func-
tion since it always already postulates a collective, which is constituted
through hearsay. What was previously just an anonymous group of insi-
ders (if the message was already known or not does not matter) is
transformed through the act of communication into an intimate constel-
lation of confidants. (see Siegel 2006: 74; Spacks 1982: 29–30). This
study highlights how gossip as an object of analysis can offer profound
insight on social and political structures in society.
Whether or not gossip advances or undermines power structures, or
whether rumors have a positive or negative consequence, is evaluated
differently depending on the given context. As fama, the Roman goddess
of fame and rumor, usually presented with wings and trumpets, and
respectively pheme in Greek mythology, a rumor is ambivalent. It can
evoke a person’s fame as well as a person’s ruin, and thus can have both
positive and negative effects.
In academic discourse, gossip has been mainly examined based on its
negative effects, particularly as a form of character assassination or lie.
Only a few studies have looked at gossip’s positive sides, such as its
liberating potential as a subversive form, for example, how gossip can
felicitate self-expression. Furthermore, there are only a few approaches
that have analyzed gossip on an aesthetic level (Siegel 2013; Brokoff et al.
2008; Engell 2008; Weingart 2006; Kirchmann 2004). Fritsch (2004)
examines gossip as form of postcolonial feminine writing, and Marc Siegel
sees gossip as a form of inventing stories in order to situate one’s self both
performatively and autonomously in the world (Siegel 2006) as well as to
establish an aesthetic-political practice with film images (Siegel 2010).
Other scholars rejected the subversive potential of gossip outright, high-
lighting the normative dimension of gossip:

We remain unconvinced, however, that gossip has any such subversive or

deconstructive effect. For gossip, so far from pitting itself against author-
itative norms, always operates to reinforce them. (Finch and Bowen
1990: 16)

On the other hand, Patricia Meyer Spacks has identified gossip’s subver-
sive potential that can promote solidarity among women. Siegel (2006)
points out in regard to Spacks’ highly regarded work on gossip that
 2 GOSSIP AS AN ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL ORDER AND PERCEPTION 11

according to Spacks, gossip was particularly important for those of histori-

cally limited sources to communicate their wishes, hopes, and interests or to
produce and promote knowledge about their own stories. For this reason
Spacks describes gossip as “a resource for the oppressed [ . . . ], a central form
of self-expression, a central form of solidarity.”

Spacks distinguishes between “good” and “bad” forms of gossip, differ-

entiating the (female) desire to gossip (see Spacks 1985: 4–5, 1982:
26–27) from the “idle talk” and “serious gossip” through which an
intimacy develops. While Spacks’ explanation helps in clarifying the inher-
ently ambiguous dimensions of gossip, she ultimately fails to provide a
clear-cut definition of what idle talk and serious gossip actually are.
Whether gossip is defined as idle talk or as serious gossip depends of
course on one’s perspective. To grasp gossip’s positive or negative effects
it is important to distinguish between the spread of a rumor, which can
cause a scandal, and a mode of communication between a group of people
through which a social bond is created and structured.
Marc Siegel’s dissertation A Gossip of Images: Hollywood Star Images
and Queer Counterpublics (2013) explores the role and function of gossip
in queer film culture. Siegel’s study looks primarily at gossip as a specific
way in which film is used. He therefore conceptualizes a gossip of images as
a mode of reflection (see Siegel 2010: 30–37). Siegel (2010: 9) defines
gossip of images as a “mode of image circulation” through which new
images and new forms of thinking develop. Addressing queer film culture,
Siegel (2010: 8) clarifies how

gossip functions as a structure—or logic—of thought that informs much of

queer film culture, from film—and videomaking, to film viewing, film-informed
performance, club culture, and everyday conversation.

My interest in gossip, in contrast, looks at how gossip serves as a way to

make the experience of film graspable. Thus, in this study, cinema as a
social practice is secondary. Drawing from Siegel’s work, I underscore that
the outcome of gossip can be just as positive as it can be negative. Gossip is
significant since it represents a very fine line between reception/produc-
tion, public/private, and affirmation/subversion. Thus, gossip as a social
phenomenon and political practice can be productively employed in social
and genre theory and aesthetic analysis (see Siegel 2010: 32).
12 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

Thinking about gossip as a performative speech act in film, I am

interested in the implications of hearsay not as something that is heard
but something that is seen. I am curious how the aesthetic realm of film
presents spectators with a type of hearsay, a visual type of “hearsee” (Siegel
2010: 55). What happens when the film spectator sees those who are
speaking? What meaning do messages have when they are inaudible or
remain unheard? What is the relationship between the omnipresence of
gossip and the invisibility of rumor? To what extent do film images
constitute a message? Can film itself be described as gossip? What film
experience arises out of cinematographic gossip?
Gilles Deleuze, as Siegel points out, sees a close affinity between film
and gossip (Siegel 2010: 50). Based on the linguistic and spatiotemporal
nature of rumor, specifically its socially based ordering qualities and ability
to spread quickly, Deleuze sees rumor as privileged to appear in an audio-
visual form. As gossip, the film’s montage organizes spatial and temporal
relations, in which a speech develops among people. Thus, film can be
defined as a typical speech act of gossip, which makes social interactions
and hierarchies visible (see Deleuze 1989 [1985]: 227–234).
Deleuze’s analysis of gossip seeks to explore the fundamental nature of
the film image. Deleuze (1989 [1985]: 227–230) proposes that through
the relationship of sound and image rumor itself emerges as a cinemato-
graphic object (see Siegel 2010: 93–94). He argues that the cinemato-
graphic speech act makes something in the image visible. In Cinema 2: The
Time-Image, Deleuze (1989 [1985]) argues that the defining point in the
transition from silent film to the talkie was that the speech act was not just
finally heard for the first time, but also seen for the first time. Deleuze
(1989 [1985]: 226) writes:

The speech-act is no longer connected with the second function of the eye,
it is no longer read but heard. It becomes direct, and recovers the distinctive
features of “discourse” which were altered in the silent or written film (the
distinctive feature of discourse, according to Benveniste, is the I-You rela-
tion between persons). It will be noticed that cinema does not become
audio-visual as a result of this. In contrast to the intertitle, which was an
image other than the visual image, the talkie, the sound film are heard, but
as a new dimension of the visual image, a new component.

What is heard is at the same time seen. What is seen can also be heard. In
the talkie, there is no longer a separation between speech, which appeared
 2 GOSSIP AS AN ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL ORDER AND PERCEPTION 13

in the silent film as text in the intertitle, and the image of the speaker. In
the talkie, the audible speech act not only became visible, the visible
speech also became audible. Thus, in the talkie, hearsay and hearsee
come to be united in synchronicity (see Siegel 2010: 55).
The aesthetic, political, and social dimension of gossip delineated
above is applicable to Easy A and Emma. Due to the films’ subjects,
emphasis on verbal expression, and spatiotemporal nature, gossip serves
as a particularly helpful model to analyze these films. In addition, these
films are also well suited for understanding gossip as a theoretical film
category and more generally for reflecting on gossip as a social practice.
While Emma depicts a hermetically sealed world in which community is
constituted based on inclusion and exclusion, Easy A reflects a norma-
tive environment in which subjective perspectives are free to develop.
In Emma the controlling function of gossip is pushed into the fore-
front. In contrast, gossip in Easy A represents a form of emancipation
and serves as performative mode of self-expression. Particularly impor-
tant is how both films depict gossip as a genuinely female mode of
perception and creates an experience of subjective collectivity, as I will
demonstrate in the following analysis.

NOTES
1. Original quote: Gossip is “ein Prozeß, dem bei der Ausbildung und
Erhaltung von Identitäten und sozialen Strukturen eine Schlüsselrolle
zukommen kann und der als soziales Regulativ fungiert” (Fritsch 2004: 9).
2. Original quote: Gossip qualifies as a speech act that in many ways serves as
“die Schaltstelle von Norm und Abweichung, von Macht und Marginalität”
(Neubauer 1998: 161).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brokoff, Jürgen, Jürgen Fohrmann, Hedwig Pompe, and Brigitte Weingart, eds.
2008. Die Kommunikation der Gerüchte. Göttingen, Germany: Wallstein.
Deleuze, Gilles. 1989 [1985]. Cinema 2: The Time-Image. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Engell, Lorenz. 2008. Film und Fama—Citizen Kane. In Die Kommunikation der
Gerüchte, eds. Jürgen Brokoff, Jürgen Fohrmann, Hedwig Pompe, and Brigitte
Weingart, 322–337. Göttingen: Wallstein.
Finch, Casey, and Peter Bowen. 1990. “The Tittle-Tattle of Highbury.” Gossip
and the Free Indirect Style in Emma. Representations 31: 1–18.
14 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

Fritsch, Esther. 2004. Reading gossip. Funktionen von Klatsch in Romanen

Ethnischer Amerikanischer Autorinnen. Trier: WVT
Kirchmann, Kay. 2004. Das Gerücht und die Medien. Medientheoretische
Annäherungen an einen Sondertypus der informellen Kommunikation. In
Medium Gerücht. Studien zu Theorie und Praxis einer kollektiven
Kommunikationsform, eds. Manfred Bruhn and Werner Wunderlich, 67–83.
Bern/Stuttgart/Vienna: Haupt Verlag.
Neubauer, Hans-Joachim. 1998. Fama. Eine Geschichte des Gerüchts. Berlin: Berlin
Verlag.
Siegel, Marc. 2006. Gossip ist fabelhaft. Queere Gegenöffentlichkeiten und
“Fabulation.” Texte Zur Kunst 61: 68–79.
Siegel, Marc. 2008. Vaginal Davis’s Gospel Truth. Camera Obscura 23(1):
151–159.
Siegel, Marc. 2010. Die Leute Werden Reden. Joseph Mankiewicz’ filmischer
Klatsch. In Synchronisierung der Künste, eds. Robin Curtis, Gertrud Koch,
and Marc Sigel, 93–100. Munich: Fink.
Siegel, Marc. 2013. A Gossip of Images: Hollywood Star Images and Queer
Counterpublics. Doctoral Dissertation. Freie Universität Berlin.
Spacks, Patricia Meyer. 1982. In Praise of Gossip. The Hudson Review XXXV 1:
19–38.
Spacks, Patricia Meyer. 1985. Gossip. New York: Knopf.
Weingart, Brigitte. 2006. Wilde Übertragung. Texte Zur Kunst 61: 55–67.

FILMS
Easy A (USA 2010; directed by Will Gluck; script: Bert V. Royal; actress: Emma
Stone)
Emma (UK/USA 1996; directed by Douglas McGrath; script: Jane Austen/
Douglas McGrath; actress: Gwyneth Paltrow).
 CHAPTER 3

Easy A—“A is for Awesome”

Abstract In Chapter 3, Dang explores how Easy A (USA 2010) thema-

tizes the power and effect of language. She argues that the film can be read
as a genuinely insightful study of gossip, in particular its treatment of the
function and effects of gossip as a form of communication. The film itself
can be defined as an aesthetic expression of gossip. Viewed as a social
principal of order and perception, Dang shows how gossip functions as a
common way of organizing the relations between individuals and groups.
This chapter demonstrates how gossip as a collective and participatory
practice of subjective imagination produces strong bonds and a sense of
belonging based on gender categories.

Keywords Subjectivity
Collectivity
Objectivity
Sense of belonging

Speech act theory
Gender
Judith Butler

Gossip implies a collectivity, which is always constituted through subjec-

tive practices of communication. Since gossip plays such a significant and
integral role in chick flicks, it is worth considering how this genre creates a
film experience of subjective collectivity. The source of gossip “they say,”
which already presupposes a collective, permeates the diegesis and film
experience in Easy A and Emma.
In Easy A—and also in Emma—gossip functions as an object of my
analysis. Easy A can be read as a genuinely insightful study of gossip, in

© The Author(s) 2017 15

S.-M. Dang, Gossip, Women, Film, and Chick Flicks,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-56018-6_3
16 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

particular its treatment of the function and effects of gossip as a form of

communication. The film itself can be defined as an aesthetic expression of
gossip. In my view, Easy A depicts gossip also from a theoretical perspec-
tive. This analysis considers to what extent the film addresses the theore-
tical problem of how gossip relates an “I” to a “we.” Thus, in this study I
reflect on the relationships between theory and film as well as film specta-
tor and protagonist.
Easy A consists of five chapters. The development and spread of
gossip is depicted as a balancing act between extremes: between defa-
mation and emancipation as well as affirmation and subversion.
Through this dramaturgy, the film resembles a didactic study of gossip.
The film’s prologue (0:00:00–0:01:51) establishes a typical gossip per-
spective that enfolds between an objective and subjective narrative
position of the first-person narrator showing that despite the ubiquity
of gossip, the I, remains invisible. The film’s prologue is followed by
the first chapter (0:01:51–0:08:13), “The Shudder Inducing and
Clichéd, However Totally False Account of How I Lost My Virginity
to a Guy at a Community College,” dedicated to the origin, formation,
and uncontrollable spread of a rumor. Chapter 2 (0:08:13–0:24:15),
“The Accelerated Velocity of Terminological Inexactitude,” depicts the
omnipresence of rumors and how the spread of rumors creates a sense
of belonging for those who are involved. Chapter 3 (0:24:15–0:46:35),
“A Lady’s Choice and a Gentleman’s Agreement,” deals with the
transformation of a rumor and shows how the object becomes the
subject; gossip as a speech act is shown as a form of self-expression.
Chapter 4 (0:46:35–1:18:33), “How I, Olive Penderghast, Went from
Assumed Trollop to an Actual Home Wrecker,” demonstrates the
destructive side of gossip, and finally chapter 5 (1:18:33–1:28:22), “Not
With a Fizzle but With a Bang,” depicts the climatic resolution of the rumor.
The film experience in Easy A is generated through a series of questions
that address topics, such as point of view and interpretation, the role of
reality and fiction, the relationship between mass media and privacy, as
well as subjectivity and collectivity. Easy A thematizes the power and effect
of language. It demonstrates how gossip as a collective and participatory
practice of subjective imagination produces strong bonds and a sense of
belonging. In this regard, the film exposes the extent to which gossip as a
collective practice of communication requires a collectivity, which is simul-
taneously constituted in the act of sharing information with others. For a
rumor to spread it must be shared with others, through which a mode of
 3 EASY A—“A IS FOR AWESOME” 17

participation takes shape that is experienced as a form of belonging,

despite the fact that in this moment there is no real basis for this experi-
ence. Easy A shows that in order to experience a sense of belonging, there
is no need for a common identity or a shared experience as feminist
theories often claim in discussions on solidarity. The film shows how
gossip functions as a collective practice of imagination that structures
social space and allows alternative concepts of subjects. In this sense, I
argue, the film shows that gossip must not always be based on opposition
or resistance, as highlighted by Marc Siegel (2010: 36):

praising the imaginative work accomplished by the circulation of gossip does

not necessarily mean relegating minoritarian gossipers to purely imaginary
resistance against conventional or oppressive social structures. Rather, it can
allow us to see how a collective process of speculation and imagining could
be intricately bound up with the production of new and/or alternative social
contexts—however fleeting or provisional—within which new possibilities
for the self can be tested out in practice.

As Deleuze underscores in how talkies visualize the speech act, what is

productive about the aesthetic analysis of gossip is how gossip reflects on
sociality, regardless of how provisional or brief this sociality might be. By
analyzing Easy A in relation to the film experience, I consider how the film
stages belonging through the sharing and passing on of information.

3.1 THE INVISIBLE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOSSIP

Easy A is a about a teenager who consciously ruins her own reputation and
through the use of the internet manages to end the spread of rumors
through her own authorship (i.e., her own agency). The protagonist,
Olive Penderghast (played by Emma Stone), is a high school student at
Ojai North High School. Olive is also a virgin. However, Olive leads her
best friend Rhiannon to believe that she had sex for the first time, but
when unintentionally overheard, this lie immediately pushes Olive to the
center of attention at school. Before, Olive had been invisible and experi-
enced a virtually anonymous existence. Naturally, the spread of rumors
about Olive quickly spins out of control and threatens her social existence.
As a character, Olive walks a very thin line between fame and slander.
Olive’s change in reputation initiates a change in the film experience.
While the events stage a subjective perspective, over the course of the
18 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

film a more objective perspective gradually comes into being. Determining

whether or not the film tells a personal story or if it simply brings together
fictional “facts” becomes increasingly difficult for the spectator to deter-
mine. In the film, the spectator is confronted with subjective and objective
perspectives which collide and are difficult to distinguish from one
another.
Despite the change in perspective from a subjective point of view to an ever
more objective point of view, the relationship between the spectator and
protagonist does not change. The spectator sympathizes with Olive’s situation
from the beginning, as the spectator essentially shares Olive’s point of view
throughout the film. The spectator’s sympathy for the protagonist is high-
lighted by the spatiotemporal situations, which I define as “invisible omnipre-
sence,” “collective interaction,” and “fabulous subjectivity” as outlined above.
From the beginning of Easy A, a mode of gossip is established that
makes subjectivity and objectivity difficult to distinguish. The film’s pro-
logue shows images that make it difficult to recognize who is speaking and
through whose perspective the spectator is looking. This is followed by a
short montage sequence (a traffic intersection, the American flag, oranges,
orange groves, a town sign, a school bus), which establishes the setting as a
small town in California. The camera meanders across a schoolyard, pas-
sing students and trees (Fig. 3.1). The camera is then accompanied by a

Fig. 3.1 Screenshot from Easy A showing how the camera meanders across a
schoolyard
 3 EASY A—“A IS FOR AWESOME” 19

female voice-over who confesses, “I used to be anonymous. If Google Earth

was a guy, he couldn’t find me if I was dressed up as a 10-story building.”
Who exactly is speaking and who the protagonist is remains unclear
until the end of the sequence. In the prologue, due to the camera angle
and the encounter of various obstacles (the trees, the students, the stones)
the camera movement can neither be defined as point of view of a diegetic
character, as Edward Branigan (2007 [1984]) defines it, nor as an objec-
tive perspective because the camera movement in this sequence resembles
the angst of a fearful teenager.1
Even though the perspective in the prologue is not immediately con-
nected to a single character, a narrative subject is nonetheless created
through the voice and camera movement. As the spectator hears that I was
anonymous and that if Google Earth had been a guy he could not have
found me, even if I would have been a 10-story building, the spectator
accompanies the narrator across the schoolyard. Though the authorship of
the protagonist is ubiquitous, the I, as the disembodied voice-over high-
lights, remains invisible. The film underscores this by putting the spectator in
the position of the singular “I,” in which spectators cannot see themselves
(one cannot see one’s own body, and yet one has a body). The spectator
experiences what the voice-over introduces as the diegetic background of a
narrative character; the I is omnipresent, but invisible.
The invisible I, and thus the spectator, meanders through the groups of
students. The camera passes these groups and approaches a teenage girl
accompanied by a group of her loyal followers (Fig. 3.2). For a brief
moment, a point of view is established, wherein the meandering gaze is
brought together with the teenage girl as a viewing subject. However, this
link of images proves incorrect. This confident teenage girl does not claim
the leading role; instead, it is the student who is shoved by this girl causing
her books to fall to the floor (Fig. 3.3). In this moment, the voice-over
vows to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, “starting now.” In
the collision of these two girls, the spectator experiences the relationship
between omnipresence and simultaneous invisibility, which is typical for
gossip, through the diegetic character. Here two realities collide with one
another. The weightlessness of being invisible, as depicted in crossing the
schoolyard, is confronted with diegetic reality, the freedom of narrative
with the power of facts. The objective/subjective dimension of gossip
takes shape through the protagonist Olive Penderghast.
Shortly following this collision, which wakes the film’s protagonist as
well as the spectator, a change in perspective occurs for the film spectator.
20 GOSSIP, WOMEN, FILM, AND CHICK FLICKS

Fig. 3.2 Screenshot from Easy A presenting a teenage girl accompanied by a

group of loyal followers

Fig. 3.3 Screenshot from Easy A demonstrating how the protagonist’s books fall
to the floor
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Cercopithecidae

[Inhalt]

1. Macacus maurus F. Cuv.

Tafel I und II

mas a.sen., Balg mit Schädel, Loka, c 1300 m am Pik von

Bonthain, Süd Celébes, 21. X 95 (Tafel I und II).
mas b.juv., Balg mit Schädel, Barabatuwa bei Pankadjene,
Süd Celébes, 30. VI 95.
mas ad.,
c. Haut mit Schädel, in Spiritus, Süd Celébes.
mas d.ad., Skelet, Gowa bei Makassar, Süd Celébes.
juv., Skelet,
e. Makassar, Süd Celébes.

Exemplar a ist, der Grösse und Färbung (Tafel I c. ⅓ n. Gr.), sowie

dem Schädel (Tafel II ¾ n. Gr.) nach, ein Greis. Bräunlich, Kopf
heller, Rücken dunkler (R i d g w a y III 1, vorn mehr III 3; R a d d e
29b, am Rücken und an den Extremitäten dunkler 1. Haare des
Nackens und Oberrückens sehr lang, bis 10 cm und darüber, stark
mit Weiss gemischt, Unterrücken mit nur wenig weissen Haaren, am
Gesässe weisslich, viel heller als das von mir Abh. Ber. 1896/7 Nr. 6
Tafel I, 5 abgebildete Exemplar von Tonkean, Hinter- und Innenseite
der Oberschenkel grau, Vorderhals und Oberbrust hellgrau. Die
oberen Extremitäten aussen bräunlich, ebenfalls stark mit Grau
melirt, Hand grau und weiss, Vorderarm innen weiss; am
Unterschenkel wenig Weiss, Hinterhand stark grau und weiss
behaart, Augenbrauen mit viel Weiss, Wangen, Bart, Kinn, Kehle
stark melirt. Im Ganzen liegt ein bräunliches Exemplar mit weisser
und grauer Zeichnung vor gegenüber dem erwähnten schwarzen,
mit Grau gezeichneten von Tonkean. — Die M a a s s e sind am
Balge nicht mit Sicherheit zu nehmen, da das Skelet fehlt: Vom
Vertex zum Anus c 520 mm, von der Lippe zum Anus (alle
Krümmungen mitgemessen) 720, Hinterhand 165.
S c h ä d e l m a a s s e : Grösste Länge 143 mm, Jochbogenbreite 92,
Breite am proc. zygom. os. front. 71.5, geringste Breite zwischen
den Augenhöhlen 6.5, Breite an den Alveolen der Caninen 35.6,
geringste Breite am Pterion 44.4, grösste Breite am Pterion 55.

Exemplar b ist durchweg bräunlich, an den Extremitäten zum Theil

heller, am Gesäss, an der Innenseite des Oberschenkels und an der
Kehle graubräunlich. Maasse am Balge nicht gut zu nehmen.
Hinterhand c 150 mm.

Exemplar c. Färbung wie b.

Exemplar d. Maasse: Grösste Länge des Schädels 131 mm,

Jochbogenbreite 87, Femur 196, Tibia 171, Humerus 169, Radius
175. 12 Caudalwirbel (Abh. Ber. 1896/7 Nr. 6 p. 3 habe ich
irrthümlich 9 Caudalwirbel statt 12 für das Tonkean-Exemplar, 7 statt
10 für das Parepare-Exemplar angegeben). [3]

Es ist nicht ohne Interesse durch den genauen Fundort von a zu

erfahren, dass dieser Affe auch in einer Höhe von 1300 m lebt.
E v e r e t t beobachtete ihn, wenn ich ihn recht verstehe, ebenda
zwischen 6000 und 7000 Fuss (NZ. III, 150 1896), und die Herren
S a r a s i n bemerken, dass er bis auf die höchsten Grate des
Berges, c 9800 Fuss, gehe, wo es schon empfindlich kalt sein kann.
Die starke und dicke Behaarung mag ihn genügend schützen, und
es bleibt zu konstatiren, ob so alte Exemplare aus der Ebene, wo die
Art auch lebt — denn S a r a s i n s erhielten sie in Makassar recht
häufig aus dem Gowaschen — einen ebenso dicken Pelz haben. Bis
jetzt sind mir nur jüngere Individuen aus der Ebene untergekommen,
vielleicht dass Ex. g des Leidener Museums (Cat. MPB. VI, 118 1876
und XI, 32 1892) alt genug wäre, um den Vergleich zu gestatten,
allein es ist ohne Fundort.

Das grosse alte Männchen vom Pik von Bonthain, das die Herren
S a r a s i n als seltenes Jagdstück erbeuteten, erweitert unsere
Kenntniss dieser immer noch ungenügend bekannten Art von
Celébes in, wenigstens für mich, unerwarteter Weise. Ich hatte das
grosse adulte Männchen von Tonkean, Nordost Celébes, das ich
Abh. Ber. 1896/7 Nr. 6 p. 3 beschrieb und Tafel I 5, II 1–2, III 1–2
abbildete, trotz seiner schwarzen Extremitäten (die auch das junge
Weibchen von da — Tafel I 4 — aufwies) für einen alten M. maurus
angesehen, wenn ich auch (S. 4) hervorhob, dass weiteres Material
nöthig sei, um klar zu erkennen, ob die graue Phase an Unterarm
und Unterschenkel auch übersprungen werden könne, und wenn ich
auch ferner hervorhob, dass adulte schwarzgliedrige Exemplare bis
jetzt überhaupt noch nicht bekannt geworden seien (S. 3). Ich nahm
in Folge dessen an, dass M. maurus über ganz Celébes mit
Ausschluss der nördlichen Halbinsel, wo Cynopithecus niger
(Desm.) und nigrescens (Temm.) hausen, vorkomme. Das grosse
alte Exemplar vom Pik von Bonthain aber zeigt nun, dass das,
wenigstens bezüglich der nordöstlichen Halbinsel, nicht zutrifft. Hier
lebt eine andere Art. Sie ist schlank und schwarz, die vom Süden
dagegen gedrungen und bräunlich, mit Grau an den Extremitäten.
Selbst ein sehr altes Individuum von Nordost Celébes mit weissen
Altershaaren würde nie so braun sein können wie das Bonthain-
Exemplar, während die Differenz in der Farbe des Gesässes und der
Parthien darunter vielleicht als Altersdifferenz angesehen werden
kann. Ebenso differiren die Schädel und die Bezahnung. Bei fast
gleicher Schädellänge: 143 gegen 144 (Tonkean), sind alle Maasse
kleiner bei dem älteren Bonthain-Exemplare (vgl. obige Maasse
gegen die l. c. Seite 3 gegebenen), die knöcherne Nasenöffnung ist
breiter, die fossa canina viel flacher, das os zygomaticum lange nicht
so weit ausladend, der ganze Schädel graziler, was neben weiteren
anderen Differenzen auch aus der Abbildung erhellt. Dem hohen
Alter entsprechend sind alle Schädelnähte geschlossen, die crista
sagittalis und occipitalis sehr stark entwickelt, die Zähne hochgradig
abgenutzt, aber viel graziler, die Länge der Zahnreihen kürzer: p 2
bis m 3 sup. 2 33.4 mm gegen 37.2 bei dem Tonkean-Exemplar. In
der Abbildung erscheint die norma facialis (Tafel II Fig. 1) kürzer als
bei dem Tonkean-Exemplare (l. c. Tafel II Fig. 1), was aus der
überhaupt anderen Schädelconfiguration resultirt, besonders aber
steigt das Schädeldach weniger an (siehe norma lateralis, Fig. 2 in
beiden Fällen), wodurch sich die norma facialis verkürzt 3. Die
grössere Schlankheit des Tonkean-Affen kommt deutlich in den
Maassen der Extremitätenknochen zum Ausdrucke gegenüber den
Maassen des vielleicht älteren Exemplares von Parepare, die ich l. c.
Seite 3 gab, und gegenüber denen des ziemlich gleichaltrigen Ex. d
(s. oben). Von dem alten Bonthain-Männchen liegen die Knochen
nicht vor.

Nach alledem ist eine Identificirung beider Formen ausgeschlossen,

und ich trenne daher die von Tonkean in Nordost Celébes ab als

Macacus tonkeanus n. sp.

Früher hatte ich mich dazu nicht berechtigt gefühlt, da M. maurus

sich als sehr variabel in der Färbung erwies, und mir ein notorisch
altes Exemplar gegenüber dem von Tonkean nicht vorlag, überhaupt
wohl nicht bekannt war. Durch weitere Ausbeute wird sich erst
feststellen lassen, wo sich diese beiden Arten gegeneinander
abgrenzen, eventuell ob sie ineinander übergehen. Aus Central
Celébes kennt man, wie ich (l. c. p. 2) bereits hervorhob, bis jetzt nur
Affenfellstücke an Mützen der Eingebornen, die aber die
Extremitäten gerade dazu nicht verwenden; man kann daran nur
constatiren, dass es Macacus-, und [4]nicht Cynopithecus-Felle sind.
Es ist daher auch nicht richtig, wenn A d r i a n i (TTLV. XL, 343 1898)
den Affen von Central Celébes Papio niger nennt 4.

Gewiss wird es noch lange dauern bis eine erschöpfende Kenntniss

der Macacus-Formen von Celébes vorhanden ist, wenn auch seit
W e b e r s Untersuchungen (Zool. Erg. I, 103 1890) Licht auf die bis
dahin herrschende Dunkelheit fiel.

[Inhalt]

2. Cynopithecus niger (Desm.)

mas a.
ad., Balg und Schädel, Lilang bei Kema, Minahassa,
Nord Celébes, 8. II 96.
mas b.
juv., Skelet, Tomohon, Minahassa, Nord Celébes,
17. X 94.

In Bezug auf die Verbreitung von C. niger über Batjan (l. c. p. 7)

möchte ich noch bemerken, dass der Umstand seines
Nichtvorkommens auf dem g a n z n a h e n Halmahéra, ein
genügender Beweis dafür sein dürfte, dass er nach Batjan vom
Menschen gebracht worden ist. Wenn P. L. S c l a t e r (Geogr. Mam.
1899, 228) es noch ganz neuerdings für „möglich“ hält, dass die Art
ebenso nach den Philippinen gekommen sei, so kann ich dem
gegenüber nur wiederholt betonen (s. auch Abh. Ber. 1896/7 Nr. 6 p.
8), dass sie sicher dort nicht zu Hause ist.
[Inhalt]

3. Cynopithecus niger nigrescens (Temm.)

mas a.
ad., Balg mit Schädel, Buol, Nord Celébes, VIII 94.
mas b.
ad., Skelet, zwischen Malibagu und Duluduo, Nord
Celébes.
mas ad.,
c. Schädel, Negeri lama, östlich von Gorontalo,
Nord Celébes.
fem. d.
juv., Schädel, Bone Thal bei Gorontalo, Nord
Celébes, c 500 m.

Ex. a ist ausgesprochen nigrescens (im Gegensatze zu niger) durch

die braune Färbung, besonders an den hinteren Extremitäten, sowie
durch die ungetheilten Gesässchwielen.

Ex. b–d. Hier erschliesse ich die Bestimmung nigrescens nur aus
dem Fundorte. Te m m i n c k (Coup-d’oeil III, 111 1849, s. auch
S c h l e g e l Cat. MPB. VII, 121 1876) hatte nigrescens von
Gorontalo, Tulabello und Tomini von niger aus der Minahassa
abgetrennt; die Fundorte dieser 3 Exemplare sind alle westlich von
Bolang Mongondo. Als ich kürzlich glaubte (Abh. Ber. 1896/7 Nr. 6 p.
7) auf die braunschwarze Färbung (nach Te m m i n c k ) besonders
auf den Schultern und dem Rücken, kein Gewicht legen zu müssen,
weil Exemplare der Minahassa dies auch mehr oder weniger zeigen,
hatte ich noch kein Fell vor Augen; Ex. a aber überzeugt mich, dass
die braune Färbung, besonders an den hinteren Extremitäten, so
ausgesprochen ist, dass sie gar nicht übersehen werden kann, und
ich muss es ausschliessen, dass damit ein individueller Charakter
vorliegt, ebensowenig wie in den ungetheilten Gesässchwielen; hier
handelt es sich gewiss um Charaktere, die an die Localität gebunden
sind, was weitere Exemplare zu bestätigen hätten. Ob die anderen
von Te m m i n c k angegebenen Unterschiede von niger: „face plus
comprimée et queue fort peu apparente“ stichhalten, kann ich
vorläufig nicht entscheiden. Ich muss meine Beobachtung an
lebenden Boliohuto Exemplaren im Walde, dass sie von unten
gräulich waren (l. c. p. 6), nun auch so deuten, dass diese
Farbenwirkung von ihrem bräunlichen Fell herrührte, um so mehr als
gerade die Unterseite der hinteren Extremitäten von Exemplar a
heller braun ist.

Vom Gorontaloschen bis Tomini ist also nur niger nigrescens

bekannt, von der Minahassa niger. Welche Form in Bolang
Mongondo lebt, muss noch constatirt werden, ebenso ob C.
nigrescens oder Macacus, resp. welche Art Macacus, zwischen
Tomini und Parigi vorkommt (bezüglich der Localitäten verweise ich
auf Karte II der „Birds of Celebes“ 1898).

1 Die Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft empfahl (Verh. 1894, 103) zur

Farbenbestimmung S a c c a r d o s Chromotaxia, allein dessen 50 Töne
genügen zu einer auch nur etwas feineren Bestimmung nicht, während
R i d g w a y s (Nomenclature of colors 1886) 186 Töne viel weiter führen;
vollständig dienen kann jedoch nur R a d d e s Farbenscala mit ihren c. 900 Tönen,
die aber ihres Preises wegen (60 M) keine grössere Verbreitung gefunden hat,
während R i d g w a y in Vieler Hände ist, so dass es einen Nutzen haben kann, ihn
zu citiren. Es wäre wünschenswerth, dass man von den noch allgemein üblichen
vagen Farbenbezeichnungen, die eine Verständigung erschweren, abginge. ↑
2 H e n s e l sche Bezeichnung. ↑
3 Der Unterkiefer hat links einen überzähligen Backzahn, m 4, und von p 2 ist nur
noch ein kleiner Rest vorhanden, die Alveole zum grössten Theile
verwachsen. ↑
4 A d r i a n i erwähnt daselbst (p. 344) u. a., dass die To Radja fest glauben, die
Affen seien Menschen. ↑
[Inhalt]
 Tarsiidae

[Inhalt]

4. Tarsius fuscus Fisch.-Waldh.

Tafel III, Fig. 1–2

mares,
a, b. Bälge mit Schädel, Tomohon, Minahassa, Nord
Celébes, 26. V und 12. VI 94.
mas, c.
Skelet, Tomohon, V 94.
8 Exemplare
d–l. in Spiritus aus der Minahassa, IV 94, und
Tomohon, II und IV 94.

[5]

Je nach dem Alter verschieden gefärbt, jüngere gelber, ältere grauer.

Das kleine Exemplar oben links auf Tafel II Fig. 2 stellt das jüngere
Stadium in c ⅔ nat. Grösse dar. Das andere kleine, Fig. 3, ist T.
sangirensis von Siao in c ½ nat. Grösse. Ich erwähnte schon früher
(Abh. Ber. 1896/7 Nr. 6 p. 8), dass es keine genügende Abbildung
von T. fuscus gäbe, besonders da er früher meist mit T. spectrum
zusammengeworfen worden ist, welche letztere Art vielleicht in
mehrere Rassen zerfällt; dies zu beurtheilen genügt das vorhandene
Material von den verschiedenen Fundorten noch nicht.

O. T h o m a s (TZS. XIV, 381 1898) monirt, dass ich die genaueren

Unterschiede zwischen T. sangirensis und T. philippensis nicht
angegeben habe, während ich die zwischen fuscus und philippensis
wohl aufführe; allein da sangirensis sich fuscus, und nicht
philippensis anschliesst, so wäre es überflüssig gewesen, diese
Unterschiede nochmals ausführlich zu wiederholen. Auch meint er,
dass ich die Tarsen von philippensis als „vollkommen nackt“
bezeichne, übersieht aber, dass ich sie (Abh. Ber. 1896/7 Nr. 6 p. 9
Zeile 7) „so gut wie nackt“ und (Zeile 27) „fast nackt“ nenne, also
genau so wie er sie bezeichnet: „tarsis fere nudis“.

Das Thier spielt eine Hauptrolle in den Erzählungen der Eingebornen

von Central Celébes, die die Baree-Sprache reden (A d r i a n i :
Étude sur la litt. des To Radja, TTLV. XL, 342–53 1898). Es heisst da
nggasi oder tangkasi (Minahassa: tangkasi, Sangi: tenggahĕ, Dajak
ngadju, Bórneo: ingkir).
[Inhalt]
Chiroptera
Megachiroptera
 Pteropidae

[Inhalt]

5. Pteropus wallacei Gr.

Tafel IV, Fig. 1

Bälge,
a–c. 2 mares, 1 fem., Tomohon, Minahassa, Nord
Celébes, XI 94 (94, 89, 89 mm) 1.
mas,d.
in Spiritus, Tomohon, 6. IV 94 (87 mm).

Nord und Süd Celébes: Amurang (Mus. Leid.), Lotta, Masarang 3500
Fuss hoch (Mus. Dresd.), Tomohon (Sarasins), Makassar (Brit. Mus.).

H i c k s o n (Nat. N. Cel. 1889, 85) glaubt die Art auch auf der kleinen
Insel Talisse im Norden von Celébes gesehen zu haben.

[Inhalt]

6. Pteropus alecto Temm.

mas,a. Balg, Buol, Nord Celébes, VIII 94 (155 mm).

mas,b. Balg, Bonthain, Süd Celébes, 4. X 95 (160 mm).
fem.,c.Balg, Sokoija, Matanna See, Südost Central Celébes,
6. III 96 (115 mm).
fem.,d.in Spiritus, Tomohon, Minahassa, Nord Celébes, IV 94
(143 mm).
mas,e. in Spiritus, Umgegend von Makassar, Süd Celébes
(170 mm).
[6]

Diese Art, die die Herren S a r a s i n von Nord, Central und Süd
Celébes mitbrachten, soll von Celébes nach Osten bis Neu Guinea
vorkommen. Wie weit sie nach Westen geht, ist noch unsicher; bis jetzt
ist sie westlich von Celébes nur von Bawean, zwischen Java und
Bórneo, genannt. Te m m i n c k beschrieb sie nach einem Exemplar
aus der Minahassa (Mon. Mam. II, 76 1835–41), dieses Exemplar fehlt
aber in J e n t i n k s Catalog des Leidner Museums (XII, 147–8 1888);
es war, der Beschreibung nach, sehr dunkel gefärbt und ebenso sind
die 5 Exemplare der Herren S a r a s i n und die 3 von Celébes im
Dresdner Museum, die aus der Minahassa, Gorontalo und Makassar
stammen. Es fragt sich, ob, bei genügend grossem Materiale von allen
Fundorten, nicht Localrassen zu unterscheiden sein werden. Keinenfalls
genügt D o b s o n s Diagnose von alecto (Cat. Chir. Brit. Mus. 1878,
56).

[Inhalt]

7. Pteropus hypomelanus Temm.

Bälge,
a, b. mas, fem., Makassar, Süd Celébes, IX 95 (123, 124
mm).
4 c–e
fem.,
1. in Spiritus, Makassar, VIII, IX 95 (120, 128, 125, 100

mm).
mares,
f–h. in Spiritus, Insel Bonerate, im Süden von Celébes,
30. XII 94 (115, 118, 113 mm).

Eine über den ganzen Ostindischen Archipel verbreitete Art. Im

Dresdner Museum ist sie auch von Sulu und Talaut vertreten. Ob nicht
Localrassen zu unterscheiden sein werden innerhalb des grossen
Verbreitungsbezirkes der Art, kann nur an der Hand eines grossen
Materiales von überall her beurtheilt werden.

[Inhalt]

8. Pteropus mackloti Temm.

(Pteropus celebensis Schl.)

Balg,a.Tomohon, Minahassa, Nord Celébes, III 94 (127 mm).

fem.,b.in Spiritus, Tomohon (133 mm).

Ich folge J e n t i n k (Webers Zool. Erg. I, 126 1891), der die

Berechtigung von Pt. celebensis Schl. von Celébes als Art oder
Unterart, auf Grund des ihm vorliegenden Materiales von Nord, Central
und Süd Celébes, sowie von Sula, Flores und Timor, nicht anerkannte,
ohne aber dass ich ein gegründetes eigenes Urtheil darüber hätte. Die
Art ist auch von Batjan registrirt und dürfte sich wohl noch anderswo
finden. Das Dresdner Museum besitzt sie ausserdem von der Insel
Saleyer im Süden von Celébes.

[Inhalt]

9. Xantharpyia 2 minor (Dobs.)

D 1873
o b s o n J. As. Soc. Beng. XLII pt. II 203 pl. XIV, 9 (Ohr),
Java, Cynonycteris minor
id.1876
Mon. As. Chir. 32 (Ohr abgeb.), Java, Cynonycteris minor
 id.1878
Cat. Chir. Br. M. 73, Java, Cynonycteris minor
Hickson
1889 Nat. N. Cel. 84, Talisse, Cynonycteris minor.
fem.,a.in Spiritus, Tomohon, Minahassa, Nord Celébes III 94
(74 mm).
fem.,
b–d.in Spiritus, Minahassa (72, 67, 67 mm).

Während sonst Xantharpyia amplexicaudata (Geoffr.) mit weiter

Verbreitung über Südasien bis zu den Philippinen und Aru auch von
Celébes registrirt ist (z. B. D o b s o n Cat. Chir. Br. M. 1878, 73,
J e n t i n k Cat. MPB. 1887 IX, 263 und 1888 XII, 151) — das
Originalexemplar kam nach G e o f f r o y aus Timor —, war H i c k s o n
der erste und einzige, der X. minor von der kleinen Insel Talisse im
Norden von Celébes aufführte, und zwar als „very common“. Die von
den Herren S a r a s i n in Nord Celébes gesammelten vier Exemplare
können ihrer geringen Grösse wegen nicht zu amplexicaudata gestellt
werden, und auch desshalb nicht, weil der kleine pm 1 sup. zwischen c
und pm 2 eng eingekeilt ist, statt durch Zwischenräume getrennt
(D o b s o n l. c.). Eine Revision der in Sammlungen vorhandenen
Exemplare von amplexicaudata ist daher angezeigt, zumal alle, die das
Dresdner Museum von Nord Celébes und den Sangi Inseln besitzt, im
Ganzen 35, zu minor gehören, welche Art D o b s o n nach e i n e m
Weibchen von Java beschrieb, von wo sie aber sonst nicht wieder
registrirt worden zu sein scheint. Hingegen hat J e n t i n k (NLM. V, 173
1883) Xantharpyia brachyotis (Dobs.) von Amurang, Minahassa, Nord
Celébes, aufgeführt. [7]Diese Art wurde von D o b s o n von Neu Irland
beschrieben (PZS. 1877, 116 und Cat. 1878, 74) und ist später von
Shortland und Fauro (Salomo Inseln) und von Duke of York
nachgewiesen worden (PZS. 1887, 323 und 1888, 483 und Cat. MPB.
XII, 151 1888). J e n t i n k sagt, dass die zwei Exemplare von Celébes
„in allen Punkten“ mit D o b s o n s Beschreibung übereinstimmen. Die
Unterschiede zwischen X. minor und brachyotis bestehen nach
D o b s o n bei letzterer in viel kürzeren Ohren, längerer Schnauze und
darin, dass pm 1 sup. nur bei jungen Exemplaren vorhanden ist;
D o b s o n erwähnt noch, dass die Schulterdrüse der Männchen durch
dicke gelbe Haarbüschel, wie bei Pteropus, verdeckt seien. Letzteres
zeigen auch die Exemplare von minor von Nord Celébes und den Sangi
Inseln, und zwar nicht nur die alten Männchen, sondern auch die alten
Weibchen; die Haare sind zum Theile lebhaft rostroth.

Aus alle dem dürfte hervorgehen, dass unsere Kenntniss dieser Formen
noch sehr ungenügend ist. Einerseits wäre zu untersuchen, ob X. minor
(von Java und Celébes) nicht identisch ist mit X. brachyotis (vom
Bismarck Archipel und Celébes), oder ob und eventuell wie sich beide
Formen subspecifisch von einander abgrenzen, und andrerseits, wie
sich diese beiden zu X. amplexicaudata verhalten, sowohl artlich, als
auch geographisch. Dazu aber ist ein weit umfangreicheres Material
von den verschiedensten Fundorten nöthig als bis jetzt die besten
Museen enthalten.

[Inhalt]

10. Cynopterus latidens Dobs.

fem.,a.in Spiritus, Tomohon, Minahassa, Nord Celébes, 11. IV

94 (70 mm).
fem.,
b–d.in Spiritus, Minahassa (76, 71, 72 mm).

Diese Art wurde von D o b s o n nach einem Weibchen von der Insel
Morotai bei Halmahéra beschrieben (Cat. Chir. 1878, 86 pl. V, 3,
Zähne), allein schon J e n t i n k (Cat. MPB. XII, 155 1888) führte ein
Männchen von „Menado“ (Celébes) auf, von v. F a b e r gesammelt, das
allerdings in dem Verzeichnisse der F a b e r schen Sammlung (NLM. V,
173 1883) nicht vorkommt (diese Sammlung stammte von Amurang,
siehe p. 170, nicht von Manado). Die 4 von den Herren S a r a s i n aus
Nord Celébes gebrachten Exemplare stimmen nur in sofern nicht mit
D o b s o n s Beschreibung überein, als der Kopf vor und über den
Augen nicht fast schwarz, sondern mit dem Hinterkopfe gleich gefärbt
ist; da alle 4 aber in der Kopffarbe überhaupt etwas untereinander
differiren, indem einige heller sind als andere, und D o b s o n nur e i n
Exemplar von Morotai vorlag, so lässt sich nicht beurtheilen, ob der
hellere Vorderkopf der Celébes-Exemplare ein constanter Charakter ist;
die Kopffarbe mancher Flederhunde variirt bedeutend, und das könnte
daher bei Cynopterus auch statthaben. Keinenfalls fühle ich mich
vorläufig berechtigt, die Celébesform desshalb subspecifisch
abzutrennen; erst weiteres Material wird darüber entscheiden können.

Es ist das Material fast aller Flederhunde in den Museen noch viel zu
unzulänglich, um bei weiter verbreiteten Arten Localrassen mit
Sicherheit unterscheiden zu können; diese Erkenntniss ist der Zukunft
vorbehalten. Wenn wir bei Arten mit grösserem Verbreitungsbezirk oft
stillschweigend annehmen, dass sie fortdauernd von Insel zu Insel
fliegen, so ist dies doch keineswegs bewiesen. Bei der Nähe von Nord-
Celébes und Morotai könnte man a priori ja vielleicht geneigt sein, ein
Überfliegen des Meeres für möglich zu halten; sieht man doch von der
Höhe des Klabat unter Umständen den Vulkan Ternate (M e y e r &
W i g l e s w o r t h : Birds of Celebes I Intr. 52 1898). So kommt z. B.
Pteropus mackloti in Nord Celébes und Batjan vor. Allein nicht jede Art
muss infolge von Isolirung abändern. Auf der anderen Seite sind
Pteropus personatus von Ternate und Pt. wallacei von Nord Celébes
zwar nahe verwandt, aber verschieden, ein Beweis, dass der
Meeresarm sehr wohl auch Fledermäuse trennen kann, so gut wie
Vögel ein selbst viel schmälerer (l. c. 125). Ausnahmsweise wird die
See überflogen, nach der Isolirung aber ist die Abänderung vor sich
gegangen, und die jetzige Constanz der Formen beweist eben, dass ein
weiteres regelmässiges Überfliegen nicht statt findet.

[Inhalt]
Anmerkung

Cynopterus brachyotis (S. Müll.)

ist noch nicht von Celébes registrirt, und wenn auch in Sammlungen
wohl vorhanden, doch mit C. marginatus (Geoffr.) verwechselt worden.
Das Dresdner Museum erhielt sie in den J. 1877 und 1894 aus der
Minahassa, [8]sowie 1893 von Sangi und 1897 von Talaut, im Ganzen
13 Exemplare. J e n t i n k wies in einem lehrreichen Artikel (NLM. XIII,
201 1891) diese von Bórneo, den Andamanen und Nepal bekannte,
aber von D o b s o n in seinem Catalog (1878) vergessene Art von Java
und Sumátra nach; von Sumátra und „Indien“ ist sie auch im Dresdner
Museum. Die folgende Synonymie giebt in Kürze ihre Geschichte:

S 1839
a l . M ü l l e r Tijdschr. Natuur. Gesch. en Phys. V, 146
Pachysoma brachyotis (Bórneo)
1835–1841
Te m m i n c k Mon. Mam. II, 362 Pachysoma brachyotum
(Bórneo)
J .1870
E . G r a y Cat. Monkeys etc. 123 Cynopterus
marginatus var. brachyotis (Bórneo)
D 1873
o b s o n J . As. Soc. Beng. XLI pt. II, 201 pl. XIV, 5 (Ohr)
C. m. var. andamanensis (Andamanen)
id.1876
Mon. As. Chir. 26 Cynopterus brachyotus subsp., Ohr
abgeb. („Andaman Island“, Bórneo)
id.1878
Cat. Chir. Br. Mus. vacat!
S 1887
c u l l y J . As. Soc. Beng. LVI pt. II, 239 Cynopterus
brachyotus (Nepal)
B 1888
l a n f o r d Fauna Br. Ind. Mam. 264 Cynopterus
brachyotus (Andamanen, Bórneo, Nepal)
J e1888
n t i n k Cat. MPB. XII, 154 Cynopterus brachyotis
(Bórneo)
id.1891
NLM. XIII, 202 Cynopterus brachyotis (Bórneo, Java,
Sumátra).