That's Classic!

Have you seen Turner Classic Movie network’s recent print ads? I love them! The first one I came across, I immediately tore out of the magazine that I was reading. I was drawn to the look and I thought the copy was great. I thought Randy would appreciate it as well and I could tell from what I saw there would probably be a series of ads so I decided to start collecting them. For what, I don’t know but nonetheless I give this campaign an A+!



"When you get attacked by an angry giant gorilla that's deadly.
When you get attacked by a horny giant gorilla, that's classic."


"When a grown man lives with his mother, that's pathetic.
When a grown man lives with his dead mother, that's classic."

I haven’t been able to get these ads out of my head and I’ve only seen two. (If you catch any that I haven’t mentioned here, tear them out and save them for me, please.) It grips me that there is a truth in these ads that I can’t escape. Just a bit of drama, horror, and conflict turns a few details into a story worth telling.

Over the last few years, I have found myself grappling with “why” more times than I have been comfortable with. I teetered on the edge of cliffs that overlooked a faithless abyss simultaneously white-knuckling my faith. Having been somewhat of a drama queen from early childhood, I had spent many years trying to learn to love a life that could sometimes be boring but would “prove” I was living right since it was blessed with peace and perfectness. I suppose I expected that perfect life to be my reward. My world was rocked when my expectations weren’t met and again when I couldn’t figure out why. Lately, I have found myself more enamored with the story than whether it makes sense or not.

A few days after seeing the TCM ads… (not to be confused with TMC; an embarrassing error I made while DVR-ing a couple of independent movies to enjoy which turned out to be more trashy than classy) …it occurred to me, not for the first time, that these rough spots of conflict were openings for the Divine to force its nature into the storyline. Something that helped me connect these dots was a comment made by a guest on a recent Oprah show. The woman was talking about perspective but she explained it by stating that we all act or react out of our stories. She was referring to racism and suggesting that instead of story reacting to story, hopefully we could become people responding to people. Of course, I understood and concede to her point. But in light of this connect-the-dot picture that was being drawn out before me, I became aware that people cannot be separated from story because we are all a part of a greater plot. The author uses and sometimes creates conflict to enhance the quality of our tales. Sometimes the editor needs to tweak the pages to help characters connect, often collide. It became clear that our stories shouldn’t be abandoned but embraced. As I write I realize that we aren’t helpless characters confined to ink but players in a great drama and I laugh at how totally corny and applicable it is to reference Shakespeare’s unforgettable line that all the world is a stage and we are merely players. But what a part – a leading role in something that’s divinely classic!

Where have you felt the red ink of the editor and how did you respond? Maybe you sense that dramatic opening to the Divine; how will you embrace your story? I welcome your thoughts.