I watched Howl tonight, the movie about said poem and its author Allen Ginsberg. There were a lot of things about the movie that spoke to me, but none so much as when Ginsberg was talking about the difference between contriving writing and truely writing.
He spoke of the trap of literature. So many people, when they try to write "literature," will merely copy something, crafting to form and style, taking ideas that aren't all that original and submitting them as something of merit. The thing is, we don't speak that way. We don't talk about things that way. How we have our conversations with each other, how we talk to ourselves in our heads, that is our truth. That is our real language and our real words. Perhaps it isn't elevated or stylistic, but it IS ours.
The problem is, I'm not even sure if he's right about that. I love culture, but sometimes I worry about the addiction of it, the addiction of society and media. How much of ourselves do we sacrifice just by partaking in the culture around us?
I think an example of this was on this week's episode of America's Next Top Model. As I've mentioned before, I love this show, because there is a strange sort of philosophy about it. I could actually write a whole damned book about the lessons of ANTM.
Anyway, last night Tyra had a man come to talk to the models about branding. He didn't mean like with hot irons! He means in terms of labeling and selling your image in a certain way. He said something a long the lines of "people want to be able to pin you down to just one word. You need to project that word and stay consistent about it. Audiences don't like to be confused."
So all the girls are given their one word. Most of the time, it's something abstract like "free" or "unexpected." Then they are told to sell their image to that word, keep the word in mind when they do their photos. You're not just the model selling the shoes, you're the "candid" model selling the shoes. Because not only are you now selling the shoes, you're selling yourself as well. You. As the brand.
I had a lot of reactions to this and a lot of these reactions were "but that shouldn't BE" ones. Let's face it; there is a lot of squick to the idea of girls branding themselves to be better sold. It even really sounds bad.
However, and this is where ANTM always kind of gets to me, the reality is, this shit works. Every day you see people coming up with inorganic labels for themselves (or by some company) and becoming marginally successful because of it. This shit works. You can become famous with a catchy label in the same way that a catchy ad can make or break a product.
Which means, honestly, people aren't interested in complexity or depth from others . . . . no, not even if your brand is "complex" or "deep." They want people to fit into nice little boxes with one word flashing above them, so that everything is easy and shallow and simple. If you give them more than that, people get confused and upset.
The lesson from this? Two things.
The first is that as individuals, we should strive to not fall into this trap with others. Don't take the easy route and just accept people with one word labels. Give them some depth. Allow them some balance and texture. And not just because their words are "balanced" and "textured."
The second, and I know this is my Capricorn talking, if we can't always rage against the machine, find ways to make this work for you. If most people truly are this lazy and simplex, this can be a great tool to helping you succeed. When you go into job interviews, project a "brand." Hi, I'm Blackhaired Barbie, and I am practical."
As you answer the questions, find ways to relate them back to the image you're selling. Prepare in advance. We all know the kind of questions you get asked in these things. Work your answers to your common theme. That way, when you're being considered, there is something that stands out about you that you helped to create. Hopefully.
Does this kinda suck? Yes. Because it truly is contrived. It isn't genuine at all, or at least, not very much. It should go without saying that you should pick a word that you can actually pull off. Practical may not have been the best in my case.
Now, is this the way I want the world to be? Hell no! I want Ginsberg's world where people spend time to truly work out the images of their conversation. Where they say the true things and pour their truth into the sea of human awareness and experience. However, we do not always get what we want.
This may change one day. I truly hope it does. In fact, I feel bad about even trying to find ways to make the system work for me, because the system truly is Moloch whose eyes are a thousand blind windows and that sucks.
Now in my head, I see some literary agent sitting in front of a confused Ginsberg and saying, "You need a brand, hon. I think your word will be . . . "controversial!"
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