"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known."
- Chuck Palanuick
I'm a fiercely loyal fan of the CBC show The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos.
And no, it's not just because he's hot. It's because he's smart and witty too. Just kidding. Sort of.
The show features diverse guests with real voices and opinions. And before each of these compelling personalities, the show runs their bio. These two minute-ish clips piece together snapshots of the important details, moments and facts about the person.
Watching these videos night after night, I got to thinking how on earth it was possible to sum someone up adequately, with all their layers, intricacies and quirks - in about two minutes.
Think about your life - birth right up to this very second. How would you do it? Which experiences, people and moments have not only stood out TO you but which have SHAPED your life story?
Were they even experiences, people or moments? Was it an educational endeavour that broadened your horizons or maybe a crushing defeat from which you rose stronger or smarter?
Did someone break your heart in a big, terrible way or did you subtlety, painfully inflict pain on someone else's?
Has an individual's death shaken you to your core while a baby's very presence brought you a smile and sense of peace?
I think that allowing the person themselves to pick and choose their own defining moments would tell an entirely different story than the ones an independent writer or producer would choose from the outside looking in. The better question is, how do you want the story to read?
I wonder how much of our true selves, the ones we would describe in our own defining moments, we reveal to the rest of the planet. Are we open and honest enough on a regular basis to let others see us how we see ourselves or is it not about that at all. Perhaps it's impossible to have someone else tell the same story we would about ourselves, because at the end of the day, it's all about perspective.
Everybody's got a story. Actually, everybody's got a few. It's all about perspective.
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If I were a guest on The Hour (sigh. maybe one day...) I would want my Bio to basically fast forward through my childhood and early 20s in about 30 seconds, as I didn't accomplish anything significant or have an extraordinary life at all during that time. Where I would get into more detail is about five years ago when I met my wife, three years ago when my son Jack was born and two years ago when I started Creative Communications and changed my life forever.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem being completely open and honest about my past, from my alcoholic father to my brief flirtation with being a pothead, it all adds up to my life experiences and it's all combined to create the person you see before you (in blog comment form, that is) so go ahead and include anything you think is important, Mr. Producer.
In a way, I think I would rather have a producer of The Hour put my Bio together than myself because I would want to include too much detail. You need someone with an unbiased eye to look at your life and cut, cut, cut until all that is left is two minutes of the absolute best.
P.S. Also love The Hour -MOST DEFINITELY NOT because George is hot, but because it is a legitimate late nite Canadian alternative to Leno or Letterman. I even copied George and used a Sloan song for the intro to my radio show.