The trailer for Words & Pictures, starring Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen, makes it look like a light romantic comedy.
Makes you wonder if the marketing folks even watched the film.
The promo oversimplifies the story to its most basic elements: two teachers at a private high school clash on the relative importance of art and literature while falling in love.
Tragic.
Not the movie; it was lovely. What is tragic is everything the trailer leaves out.
I don’t expect it to reveal every detail — I’d prefer it didn’t — but the love story in W&P is very specific to the two teachers’ ages, health issues, and work and family situations. It’s complicated because their lives are more complicated, which makes it a more interesting and multi-layered story.
And it deserves a trailer that reflects that.
Oh well, I’m a happy camper — I got way more movie than I expected!
The Sticky Egg 
And the meaning is…
I saw this ad for PayPal on the 1 train today:
“No one is special because everyone is.”
It certainly got me thinking…for six stops and beyond.
Obviously PayPal wants you to think they treat every member special. But does this saying go against everything our parents have told us… our teachers have pounded into our heads… our very country has sold us: you can achieve anything if you have the talent and the work ethic.
The truly special succeed.
Or maybe it’s a wake-up for all those helicopter parents who tell their children how special they are when they really aren’t. For children’s sports teams that give trophies to every child on every team, regardless of who won or lost the game (if they even keep score, that is).
Or maybe this ad campaign is merely a reflection of that very phenomena. We’ve raised a generation of children who all think they’re special…so PayPal is acknowledging it with this bizarre turn of phrase.
Or…maybe it’s a typo.
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Posted in Advertising, Business, Commentary, Humor, Life, transportation, Writing
Tagged ad campaign, advertising, Business, children's sports teams, commentary, helicopter parents, Humor, keeping score, life, meaning, No one is special because everyone is, parents, PayPal, quote, slogan, subway, success, talent, teachers, transportation, trophies, typo, USA, work ethic, writing