Sunday, July 04, 2010

Getting People Involved

I've been spending the weekend at CONvergence in the Twin Cities (which is why this Thursday blog post is taking place Sunday night) and geeking out about a variety of TV shows with a variety of people. And one of the things that occurred to me was the reason I don't seem to be interested in watching "Hustle".

Keep in mind, I'm a big "Leverage" fan. I have been told through multiple sources (technically as many as six) that "Hustle" is the perfect next step for "Leverage" fans, and that I totally need to watch it. And yet, somehow the effect seems to be just the opposite--the more I hear, "You HAVE to see 'Hustle'", the lower it gets on my list of priorities.

I think the reason for this is the words, "You have to see". Telling people about a great series/movie/book/whatever makes it into a chore, a task that they have to check off before they can get on to the other things they need to do. But sitting down and watching it with someone...that makes it into a shared experience. It's a lot better to share your passions than to inflict them on someone, and you know the old saying about catching more flies with honey...

So when it comes to getting people interested in your geek passion, presentation is everything. Do it with them if you can; if you can't, entice them with interesting descriptions instead of making demands. You'll find that you get a lot more new fans that way...assuming what you watch/hear/read is actually any good. "Twilight" fans might not have so much luck in that regard.

3 comments:

LurkerWithout said...

This is the Brit show "Hu$tle" right? Did that even last more than 1 season? I can't recall ever seeing BBCAmerica advertise it recently...

Unknown said...

You have to understand that most people lack the ability to properly describe just how fantastic Hustle is, because their minds are quite literally blown. They're probably not even sure what it was they just witnessed, except in the way that they're sure something awesome just happened and hoping that historical perspective will help them to properly interpret it in the future.

There are six seasons, each short with just six episodes because each one is masterfully hand-crafted. The dialog is snappy and clever, although that may have something to do with it being British, and the plot is woven in such a way that it whisks you inexorably through all the delightful twists to an always satisfying payoff, pun intended.

I strongly recommend it because it will be among the best 36 hours of television you are likely to watch.

Anonymous said...

I used to enjoy Hustle a lot, but in the last season or two I became aware of a meanspirited level to it.

One of the Hustlers big rules, which makes them sympathetic, is that they don't con anyone who doesn't deserve it.

Except that they con innocent people all the time when they are working up seed money for the big con of the episode, and it's even a running gag that they con the honest barman who often helps them out, and they do so with an utter smugness that suggests that their "Robin Hood' rationale is the biggest con of all.