The Power of Stories

We all have our favourite books, our favourite movies, and of course our favourite memories that we recall to friends and strangers. We exchange stories as a type of currency. Call it was you will: stories have characters, they have plots, beginnings, middles and sometimes an end. This is 'meaning' (though they can vary from person to person). A few things got me thinking lately. I work in the media business (television). And when I get through the day to day things of making television I am always beholden to my audience, to the people watching. And what they care about most (whether they know about it or not) is the story. Story telling. Story shaping. It can be the plot, the episode, the dialoge that delights them. Or, even if someone HATES the show or the story, they will go on to tell someone HOW MUCH they hated the show or the book -- and THAT, in essence, is a story in itself: the story about the story.

The better the story, the more effective you are in reaching others.

I have been following the US primaries lately. I can't get enough of it. I read 4 or five US papers every day that details and analysis the daily tribulations and minutiae of a political process in which I have no say. And I have always been like that.

As a Canadian, I find myself so immersed in US political life that it overshadows those of my own country. I hate to admit this, but I find Canadian politics a little boring. The reason, I think, is that Canadians are not into telling stories about our nation. It's pragmatic. Whereas the US is like a giant novel that is constantly unfolding, being written. How glorious their founding fathers were! How noble to constitution! Paul Revere. The Civil War. The West. The Gold Rush. Pearl Harbour. JFK. Civil Rights Movement. Wal-Mart. 9/11. The Moon Landing. Geroge W. Bush winning the 2000 election. All of these are incredible, epic tremendous stories. Even if these stories are embellished, untrue, or pure Hollywood hyperbole -- they are impossible to put down. Forget the great American Deam. It's the Great American Novel that people believe in. And if you buy the novel, you too think you are part of that great adventure.

Here in Canada, we have a fine democracy. Health care. Civil society, clean water, multiculturalism, equal marriage, a national railway, hockey dominance (usually), oil sands, mountains, confederation, mounties. Fabulous, enviable tremendous things that even the US does not have. I am proud, as most people are, of these things. But they aren't stories. Sure, they are all products of great human endeavor. But kind of a yawn when compared to the great American Novel. Our national figures do things. They are characters, there is a plot, there is a beginning. But there is no story. And, as I mentioned earlier, the story is the most powerful force in human society. That is why, I believe, America is still a major force on earth. It's built on stories - not just ideas, brave acts, or pragmatic thinking. STORIES. No wonder their movies, books and music have as much influence as their military.

This was made ever more clear by a recent New York Times editorial written hours after Obama's victory in Iowa:

"Whatever their political affiliations, Americans are going to feel good about the Obama victory, which is a story of youth, possibility and unity through diversity — the primordial themes of the American experience.

And Americans are not going to want to see this stopped. When an African-American man is leading a juggernaut to the White House, do you want to be the one to stand up and say No?"

What they mean, of course, is that no one wants to shut the book on a great epic story that is in the middle of being written. Obama: A half Kenyan, half Kansas man leading the charge against tyranny (Bush/Cheney). Much like stopping Paul Revere in the middle of his ride as he shouted "The British are Coming the.... Oh sorry am I making too much noise??"

This is, of course, not an insult to Canada or other middle powers (Norway). We don't have the size or the massive media gaze to make these stories glimmer and retold. But it shows to anyone that if you wish to have power, be effective in what you are selling or doing whether it is in advertising, politics, car sales, trials. You need to think about the story. Then you have everyone watching. Even crying.