Try to Remember

Posted on by Christina Hamlett

According to the calendar, it will be Autumn in just a few weeks. The view of blue skies and palm trees outside my office window, however, is evidence that Summer clearly has no intention of leaving gracefully. Still, my longstanding fondness for September goes back to the early 1970’s. I had just started out in theater and was hopelessly crushing on J.H., one of my fellow actors (“hopelessly,” I should point out, having much to do with his own crush on a dancer named Charles).

Of all the productions he directed, the one I most poignantly recall – The Fantasticks – embodies themes that I realized only recently have a correlation to modern media practices.

Specifically:

  •  “Try to Remember,” the show’s most popular melody, speaks to the nostalgia of what our memories often label as a blissfully uncluttered past. Yes, we’ve adopted all manner of complicated technology to make our lives – and our communications – spin at the speed of light but when did you last write an old-fashioned letter or make time for a face-to-face conversation?
  • “Never Say No” is a whimsical truism that it’s not just children who are drawn like moths to whatever flame they’ve been warned is bad for them. In order to create a call to action, an effective sales pitch often translates to the customer thinking it was actually his or her own idea.
  • Lastly, take away the golden moonbeam and the tinsel sky – the glitzy trappings of a campaign that promises more than it can deliver – and “This Plum Is Too Ripe” becomes the signature song of buyer’s remorse. Anything can look enticing when it’s masked in shadow but can it stand up to the scrutiny of bright lights?

If you want to attract a following as enviable as what currently reigns as the world’s longest-running musical, you don’t need a lot of song and dance, just a message that is simple…and unapologetically authentic.

*****

Here’s the lineup of this month’s blogs by my guest contributors:

How to Tweet With a Purpose – by Jeremiah Sullivan

The New KISS is Keeping It Real, Pure – by John and Katie Stellar

Twenty-Four Things To Do in the Dark – by Shannon Mouton

Being an Author Goes Far Beyond Just Selling Books – by Anthony Kirlew

I’ve also added a new page this month called “Meet the Experts” in which you can acquaint yourself with the men and women who contributed such fabulous chapter content to the book.

As always, we look forward to your comments, questions, and suggestions on media topics you’d like to know more about.