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I first heard about Derek Thompson’s
Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age
of Distraction while watching an episode of Vice News when the book was released.
The quick news piece concentrated on movies and the elements that created
success versus that which resulted in failure. Intrigued by the information and
teaching a Film Theory class myself, I decided to dig deeper. The book itself
offers so much more than a guide to making a successful horror flick. Starting
with the spread of a simple lullaby, Thompson details the stories behind the
rise and fall of fads within society. While some of these circumstances are
pure luck, the story of Carly Rae Jepsen and her breakout hit
Call Me Maybe through an Instagram post by Justin Bieber springs to mind, many hits
are in fact crafted. What may scare the reader more is how such crafting has
become easier, a fact that the 2016 US Presidential Elections put to show.
Ranging from the idea of Most Acceptable but Advanced to
modern polling on new music in order to determine whether the song warrants
radio play, Thompson tells the stories of pop culture, and doing so captivates
at the combination of detail, planning, and luck comes into creating a breakout
hit. He details the exhaustive work that went into George Lucas’ writing
process, how the man tried to buy both
Flash
Gordon and
The Hidden Fortress (which I teach in my
film class) only to be denied and then create
Star Wars in their image. To think what movies he would have made
and what would have come out of it. Thompson explores ascetics, the music
industry, publishing, and even social media. While some of his insights only
needed aggregation, they still stand out, inspire, and push the reader on. If
you’re interested in any of these areas, give the text a read.
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