I recently watched Love Jones by Theodore Witcher. We often talk about how modern dating is broken, that something meaningful was lost in earlier eras. Love Jones suggests otherwise. Love Jones is governed by an unspoken relational power system. Vulnerability is liability. Pride is protection. And safety, of both feelings and image, can block the deepening of connection. It can feel self-centered or even malicious in the moment. But most of the time, it’s fear. Fear that prot

I recently watched In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-wai. We hear people talk about bringing back yearners and yearning in the nostalgic 80s and 90s R&B sense, but this movie embodies a yearning that I think people most often live with and feel, but rarely talk about.  This is yearning driven by restraint.  Restraint is such a powerful tool in storytelling and also one of the most uncomfortable for the audience. It can break fantasy or activate the imagination and deepen it. I

I recently watched Marty Supreme. Timothee Chalamet’s vocal desire for greatness matches that of the character Marty in a way that should feel unsettling. Where Timothee’s desire for greatness feels additive and human, Marty’s feels human and corrosive.  Marty lives in a world where ambition is the center of self, and everything else is erased. People stop being relationships and start being infrastructure. Because greatness, not connection, becomes proof of life. Proof of ex

This blog post was originally written for and posted on The Noise Complaints Group Blog Reading not your thing? Feel free to listen:...

My unholy trinity of Fear, Shame, and Guilt A shrine to self-doubt on the foundation they've built All three are pervasive in differing...

This post is a favorite from my previous blog Sensory appeal can be a key element in creating an influential brand and having an...