writing

Review: ‘Arrow’

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I HATE the CW. It doesn’t even try to make shows for my demographic, and hey that is alright. But with Arrow, the superhero biopic based on the quasi-well-known D.C. superhero Green Arrow, could just might show a more balanced network on channel 5.

Having premiered back in September, I’ve given the show 6 episodes to prove itself, so this review is based on my impression of those 6 episodes alone.

The first thing you need to know about this new show is that it has absolutely no connection with the Green Arrow of Smallville fame, which is great news for probably most people. That version of Green Arrow differs tremendously from this new envisioned hero. It’s like comparing pop music to rock n roll, or at least that’s how I make sense of it.

Arrow relies on the kind of gritty storytelling that borrows somewhat from Chris Nolan’s Batman and, surprisingly, Lost. I never really got into Lost having only watched 10 or so episodes, but if there’s one thing I took away from their storytelling, it’s the use of ongoing flashbacks to bolster the story. So, imagine a superhero television show that paces itself like Lost.

In a nutshell, Arrow is about a 20 something billionaire named Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) who was shipwrecked at sea for 5 years. He returns from his isolation with an agenda: to use his superhuman  skills acquired mysteriously from his time on the island to the right the wrongs of his father, who acquired his wealth by taking advantage of the poor.

Yes it’s Robin Hood mixed with Batman with the show Revenge for good measure. One of the show’s strong points is that we are introduced slowly to the character of Oliver Queen. We begin with his return to his home of Starling City, as he juggles reconnecting with his estranged family/friends and taking down the crony capitalists that are choking the city to death. arrow-stephen-amell-cw

That’s Arrow’s biggest strength: character development. Oliver is interesting and constantly changing. One minute he is a brooding anti-hero unafraid to kill someone who stands in his way. The next minute he is a detective, figuring out the best way to subdue his well-protected enemies. Then we have the minutes where Oliver is an actual person, struggling to fit back into the lives of his beloved family who thought he was dead for years. Oh, and let’s not forget that we are treated to excellent flashbacks to his 5 years of desperate survival that turned him into the character we already know. The show goes out of its way to make Oliver Queen a great character.

I wish I could say the same for some of the other characters. With the exception of Oliver’s mother Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Oliver’s bodyguard Dig (David Ramsey), the rest of Arrow’s cast are either one-note or should be one-note. This is more apparent early-on with Laurel (Katie Cassidy), Oliver’s girlfriend before the shipwreck, of which he cheated on her with her sister, who did not survive the shipwreck. Yikes. Although this character is ripe with great plot opportunities for drama, I did not find Cassidy’s portrayal of the character very compelling or fun to watch. Watching her be a lawyer is especially frustrating and full of one-liners like, “I’m the only one who cares about this city!” and “I will always fight for the little guy!” Sorry Laurel, Rachel Dawes did it better.

I could go on and on about the lackluster characters, but instead I’ll focus on how the show ultimately redeems itself via the excellent pacing, memorable villains, above-average action scenes, and the show’s fantastic commitment to comic-book tie-ins. Even the people who don’t recognize the nuance references to the D.C. comic universe benefit from the rich universe this show borrows from. It works.

The show is on a good path, and it’s only main flaw (again the characters) is improving weekly. If there is one thing that can really make this show a must-watch, it would be the implementation of more moral “real world” dilemmas that we all know and love from D.C. stories such as Batman (at what point do you become the villain you’re fighting against?) and Superman (security versus freedom). Arrow has teased us with these deep questions, such as how Oliver Queen has readily murdered dozens of bodyguards and security personnel to accomplish his missions. At first we rolled our eyes at the inconsistency of this, but then a major villain early on actually points this out to Green Arrow and it sunk in. Oliver then begins to show how his torture on the island made him callous and depraved. These are great themes more than suitable for a D.C. character.

So yes, Arrow is definitely worth watching for most people. It has the beautiful actors and supernatural-ish world and characters CW watchers crave and it has the fantastic storytelling and action that is usually witnessed on ABC and Fox. It’s a fun show that can sometimes throw drama-infused curveballs, and I can’t wait to see how the first season turns out.

-On a side note, I am very much against D.C. copying Marvel for a superhero team up movie in the form of The Justice League to rival The Avengers. Shows like this prove that D.C. belongs on the small screen, and a team up using this version of Green Arrow would be 10 times better than using, say Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern. We’ll see if I eat my words once Man of Steel comes out.

 

Persuasion is Overrated

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The other day I was hit with a nonsensical stereotype. “You’re in public relations right? That means you can talk your way out of anything.”

As I put down the barbed-wire fence we were crossing over during an attempt at high-risk mischief, I was instantly offended. Why do I have to be some kind of master of manipulation in order to be considered public relations-bred?

I got into the field of public relations because I love writing, the media, and real-time problem solving. The idea that having supernatural persuasion powers being key to my profession just doesn’t relate to me. Yes, many people in my field happen to be very persuasive, enigmatic people, and their skills definitely come in handy. I, on the other hand, am extremely hesitant to use mind games in my work.

A little context: in public relations, you are essentially the aggregator of an organization in some cases. It’s on you to persuade others (like your organizations customers, a government’s constituency, an employer’s employees, you get it) into accepting an image, concept, what have you.

What I contend is persuasion as a tool of deception. Trying to convince someone that something is good, when it isn’t, is exactly what people in our profession have got to stay away from. I know plenty of people who are great at getting other people to do what they want them to do for no good, real reason. That’s what’s overrated.

Instead, treat other people with decency. Give them a set of option and provide a logical reason why they should love something as much as you do. Proving is the best type of persuasion, hands-down.

Like what you read? Connect with me further via twitter @JonNegroni. I’ll follow back if you seem like a real person.

Don’t forget to check out THE JON REPORT every day, updated at 8am for a list of today’s main headlines as selected by my editorial team (me) 

10 Tips to Becoming a Better Liberal or Conservative

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Want to be politically relevant without alienating your friends and colleagues? Hey, most of us do.

Here are 10 tips to helping you become better at taking an ideological stance:

1. If a liberal/conservative doesn’t take you seriously, don’t take that seriously.

2. If a liberal/conservative points out something about your base that is negative, but true, address it and move on. Don’t act like you’re line of thinking is full of perfect people.

3. You don’t have to agree with everything your “party” agrees with. That justt means that you actually think for yourself and are still willing to make a stance.

4. If someone asks you a question that you don’t know, say, “I don’t know.”

5. Research when someone asks you a question that you don’t know the answer to.

6. Digest news that is skewed towards the other perspective.

7. If you read something that affirms your viewpoint very strongly, get the other side of the story before sharing it.

8. If you feel very strongly about something politically, do something about it instead of arguing with people online.

9. If someone is a liberal, don’t automatically assume they want socialism and class warfare. If someone is a conservative, don’t automatically assume they hate poor people and women.

10. Ask more questions than you answer.

JN

Oh and one more. Don’t refer to a political enemy with a name that makes fun of them, such as “Obummer”, or “Mittens.” It kind of makes you seem extremely unpleasant.

Be Pickier About What You Write

This isn’t a commandment, since you can obviously do whatever you want. Still, I can’t help but advocate for more selective writing among my likeminded peers.

No one is great at every type of writing. They may at least be decent at every type of writing, but no one absolutely excels at every single type of outlet there is for the written word, and if I’m wrong about that, please guide me to that person so that I can be their lifelong disciple.

My example is that I hate writing novels or even short stories. It’s odd because I love coming up with ideas, settings, and fleshing out characters. I love coming up with unique plot devices that bring a story together and present something completely new and exciting to the reader. When it comes to actually writing out the story, however, I can’t do it. I can’t find the filler details and craft a rich, cohesive story. I’m just too impatient.

I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to ignore this flaw by believing that if I just put more effort into it, I’ll eventually just teach myself to like writing novels. That’s almost as absurd as how that sentence sounded in my head.

A problem we run into as writers is that  we can’t help but get excited by our own work. We take pride in our accomplishments because for us, the epitome of who we are is translated best by how we can translate that for other people. When we’re successful, we don’t want to just share it with the world. What makes us different is that we constantly want to get better.

We push ourselves. We experiment. We do whatever it takes to not just master what we’re already good at, but excel at types of writing that don’t come as easy. There is nothing wrong with this at first, but here’s the problem:

when we focus too much on evolving, we stagnate.

It’s counterintuitive, but our pride easily becomes arrogance when we decide that since we are good at one type of writing, we must be “God’s gift to writing,” when really, we’ve just gotten lucky and haven’t really reached the threshold of clarity we believe we’ve reached.

In my case, I can’t write novels because I’m too impatient and I can’t write for the media because I am too biased. This is the reason I chose Public Relations as a career, since I can be as biased as I want with a press release, and writing advertising copy is a challenge I welcome every day.

So, be pickier about what you write. Before you decide to delve into the harrows of a new medium such as journalism, advocate communications, or even a screenplay, figure out what you need to do to hone the craft you already own. A master of everything is a master of nothing and all that.

Like what you read? Connect with me further via twitter @JonNegroni. I’ll follow back if you seem like a real person. 

Don’t forget to check out THE JON REPORT every day, updated at 8am for a list of today’s main headlines as selected by my editorial team (me) 

-JN

What is the Point of Diversity?

As a hispanic originally from Puerto Rico, I am constantly amazed at how desperate we are for diversity. Don’t get me wrong, I think diversity is an important thing, but probably not for the same reasons that others do.

A little background is in order. Both of my parents were born and raised in Puerto Rico and had two of my siblings there. My sister and I weren’t born until shortly after they moved to Massachusetts in order for my father to pursue his career. We went from Massachusetts to New York and then eventually Virginia. Something interesting about me is that I am a hispanic born in the north but mostly raised in the south. It’s for that reason that I’m about as diverse as you can get.

Yet, I still wonder why we place so much emphasis on diversity in the workplace. Affirmative action honestly bothers me. When I think that the only reason I’ve been hired is because they want to fill some kind of latino quota, that honestly offends me 100 times more than if I lose out to someone because they were better qualified.

I get why diversity is important to a point. A workplace should be composed of people with different backgrounds and experiences. Women inherently have a different perspective on problem-solving on men because women experience the world differently. Not having a workplace full of women deprives your groupthink of a perspective half of the world is more exposed to.

When it comes to people of different racial backgrounds (though I hate using the word race to describe a different culture since humans are composed of only one “race”), I am a little more confused by why so many people are concerned to the point where they feel businesses need to be penalized for not having enough (insert culture group here). Yes, it is important to have employees that speak spanish and can communicate effectively with the large hispanic community, but that’s not always relevant for every business.

When it comes down to it, I suppose my only real concern is that deep down, people only crave diversity for the wrong reasons. Maybe I’m reaching, but sometimes I truly believe that the hardest advocates for diversity want it only because they feel like demographics like me are entitled to a certain job position, and that is offensive. We earn our lot in life, and the beauty is that many people of different cultural backgrounds earn that right. They are just being shut out by affirmative action, at least in what I’ve experienced.

So, my real question is this: what is it about diversity that makes it such a significant issue for businesses? I’ll happily consider any posited answer to that question.

JN

Why I Eat Breakfast Every Single Day

I don’t usually preach on this subject, but I read an article this morning that really made me reflect on breakfast and being healthy.

Disclaimer: ever since I was 17, I’ve had the same breakfast every morning:

Special K cereal and orange juice.

Sure, I mix it up with yogurt or string cheese on the side now and again, but that is pretty much what I eat every morning. Why do I do this? To be honest, I just love cereal, and if I miss breakfast, I panic.

That said, I was relieved to find out this morning that whole-grain cereal and fresh fruit is the healthiest breakfast you can have, so success. The article, which I strongly suggest you read for yourself by clicking here here here, points out that the most unhealthy breakfast is a fast-food breakfast sandwich, like an egg-cheese biscuit at insert your fast-food chain here. Not surprising, but the article does elaborate on how these greasy breakfasts make your arteries deteriorate (in disgusting detail.)

But wait! They then point out that the most unhealthy breakfast is actually going without breakfast! Ok, we’ve heard this millions of times, but who really cares right? Just how important is breakfast?

Unbelievably, hence I had to share this uncontrollably cliche topic. As I tweeted earlier, this article concludes that you are 450% more likely to become obese if you skip breakfast regularly. That’s a lot of percent. Not to mention you also run the risk of cancer and diabetes, as well as just being unpleasant every day as a result of not having energy or a properly running metabolism.

Not often do I get to reflect on my own lifestyle and say, “Whew. I was already doing something correctly!” I’ll go back to being painfully wrong about my lifestyle choices now.

JN

Why I Love Commercials

And it’s not because other people hate commercials. I’m not a contrarian (or at least, I try not to be). Also, It’s really a coincidence that I am writing this after one of those politically advertised elections of all time–I actually just wanted to talk about this today.

Anyways, I love commercials. I haven’t always loved them, but over the past year I have noticed something very interesting about the trajectory this form of traditional advertising is on.

Think about it. The advent of on-demand television and Netflix has made commercial advertising trickier than ever. I don’t think I need to really emphasize just how easy it is for us to bypass commercials altogether. The unintended consequence of this new reality is that advertising quality and creativity have only made commercials better.

Gone are the days when commercials could just blanket every market because executives were confident their message would be seen no matter what. Here are the days when more money than ever before is being spent on market research, target demographics, and well, production.

Even over the past 4 years, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in commercial quality across the board on the same channels, especially cable networks such as FX, TBS, and Comedy Central. Compared to just a few years ago, I find myself more engaged and more likely to respond to television advertising, which let’s face it, is necessary during these changing times.

Commercials are now more interactive. They share ideas with social media. I saw a commercial the other day that made me laugh out loud, and that never happens. It may not even be that the content is that much better than it was a decade ago or the products are better. It’s really just that advertisers are doing a better job of capturing our attention.

Just look at the commercial I used as this post’s featured image (clicking on it will take you to the youtube video for the commercial). Amazing right?

How am I so sure that this is a result of more challenging advertising hurdles? Well, I’m not. Correlation is not akin to causation and all that. Still, I can’t help but believe this is a case, due to the fact that I find myself actually enjoying commercial advertising for the first time, even on Hulu.

Whatever the reason for this perceived increase in commercial quality, I find myself being a person that enjoys people trying to sell me things in-between my favorite shows. Let’s just hope this won’t have an adverse effect on my wallet.

JN