Tag Archives: Kurt Vonnegut

“Curiosity and empathy – the human edge behind business success” … article contributed by yours truly to PSMG’s Centrum

15 December 2025

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Roy Sexton says ultimately two traits predict whether a professional services marketing team will translate client intelligence and new technology into real growth: intellectual curiosity, and empathy. These are not soft skills; they’re growth skills.

Click here for original article on PSMG’s Centrum

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.”― Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Harrison Bergeron

Have you read this short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., an incisive satirist who – much like The Simpsons – accurately anticipated where our collective human foibles would take us as a global society?

The tale depicts a world where differentiation is a threat and authentic connection even more so, and in a byzantine mix of tech and legislation, people are saddled with physical governors (headphones blaring cacophonous noises for the musically gifted, leg weights for the agile, etc) to bring everyone to a non-threatening state of utter conformity.

Why am I sharing this? Because, sometimes, a given industry or profession while celebrating innovation in the abstract creates layers and layers of risk averse bureaucracy that derails these aspirations.

A company may hire experienced talent but won’t empower them to level up from their prior roles. Technology may even be introduced that, on the face of it, is intended to supercharge creativity and engagement but brings a sea of mediocrity. And when faced with true innovation – novel ideas from the human heart – leaders may recoil in fear, dismissively asking, “Is anyone else doing this?” Hence, truly great ideas then may share the dark fate that befalls Harrison in Vonnegut’s piece.

In a market where many firms now license the same research tools, CRMs and AI assistants, the differentiator isn’t the software. It’s the people running it. Two traits predict whether a professional services marketing team will translate client intelligence and new technology into real growth: intellectual curiosity (a hunger to ask better questions and test new approaches) and empathy (a disciplined ability to see matters through a client’s eyes).

These are not soft skills; they’re growth skills. When you design hiring, training and operating rhythms around them, data gets used, technology sticks, and clients feel understood. Intellectual curiosity and empathy are skills to be celebrated and encouraged, not constrained.

Curious teams use more (and better) data and adapt faster. Research summarised in Harvard Business Review shows curiosity improves problem solving, collaboration, and decision quality – especially when faced with uncertainty. A cross-industry study by SAS found “high-curiosity” employees use more data types in their work (customer, performance, and employee data) than their low-curiosity peers, which is exactly what modern client intelligence demands.

In other words, curiosity turns tools and dashboards into insights and experiments instead of shelfware [HBR, 2018; SAS, 2023].

Empathy is the growth engine that converts those insights into loyalty and referrals. Corporate counsel [GC] overwhelmingly recommends firms for one reason above all: superior client service. In BTI’s national study, 70 per-cent of unprompted recommendations cited client service – not price – as the driver; four in 10 GCs specifically included “understands my business” within that service definition [BTI Consulting, 2022].

For law firm marketers, empathy isn’t performative warmth. It’s operational: interviewing clients, translating their risk language into campaigns and pursuit strategies, and coaching lawyers to reflect that understanding in every touchpoint.

Client listening is the bridge between curiosity and empathy, and it measurably pays. Thomson Reuters’ Stellar Performance research found only about 27 per-cent of clients are asked for formal feedback by their firms, yet clients who participate give those firms a 34 per-cent share of their external legal spend versus a 14 per-cent baseline. They are also more likely to recommend the firm [Thomson Reuters, 2023]. If you want a single, evidence-backed action that grows wallet share and affinity, institutionalise and scale client feedback.

Collaboration multiplies the effect. When clients see a collaborative team – three or more lawyers with complementary strengths acting as one – the share of wallet can rise from 14 per-cent to 56 per-cent, according to Thomson Reuters’ Market Insights data.

Yet most firms underuse this lever. In a Thomson Reuters Institute survey, 71 per-cent of marketing and business development [MBD] leaders said collaboration across practices had not increased; among the minority who did see collaboration rise, 100 per-cent reported positive results [Thomson Reuters, 2024]. Curiosity assembles the right team; empathy keeps it coordinated around the client’s definition of value.

Technology adoption is finally catching up, but outcomes are uneven because the human layer is missing. The ABA’s 2024 Legal Technology Survey shows AI adoption nearly tripled year over year, from 11 per-cent (2023) to 30 per-cent (2024) overall, with 4 per-cent % of 100+-lawyer firms reporting AI use.

That’s encouraging but contrast it with CRM reality: LSSO reports 80 per-cent-plus of firms have a CRM yet only 20 per-cent rate it effective. Separate data show only 40 per-cent per-cent of lawyers use CRM at all and just 25 per-cent use it regularly [ABA, 2024; LSSO, 2022]. The lesson: tools don’t create growth; curious, empathetic operating habits do.

If you need one more reason to connect client intelligence with empathetic execution, consider the economics of retention and relevance. McKinsey finds effective personalisation – grounded in data and client understanding – lifts revenue five to 15 per-cent and improves marketing ROI 10 and 30 per-cent. Pair that with Bain’s long-standing finding that a five per-cent increase in customer retention can raise profits 25 to 95 per-cent [McKinsey, 2021; Bain & Company, 1990]. In legal, where switching costs and trust are high, the compounding effect of keeping and growing the right clients is profound.

 

“Growth comes when a curious team keeps digging for the real problem and an empathetic team keeps designing for the client’s reality.”

 

How to build a curious-and-empathetic marketing engine

At this moment you might be thinking to yourself, as a hard driving, get stuff done business leader, “All well and good, Roy. Thanks for existential musings and obscure literary references, peppered with some soul-crushing factoids. How do I operationalise any of this?” I’m glad you asked…

1. Hire for it (and audition it)

Add structured prompts to interviews: “Tell me about a time you changed your mind from a client/customer interview,” or “Walk me through a time a data point contradicted your intuition—what did you do?” Ask candidates to run a 20-minute mock client/customer discovery interview (with you role-playing as said client/customer) and to write a three-paragraph summary of business issues, not just legal needs. You’re testing listening, probing, and synthesis, not polish.

2. Make client listening a weekly ritual, not an annual event

Aim for a simple, tiered programme: quarterly deep-dive interviews for top accounts; semi-annual pulse surveys for the next tier, and lightweight win/loss calls within two weeks of every major pursuit. Track three fields in CRM for each contact: top business priority, top personal KPI, and last feedback date.

3. Pair “nerd brain” with “heartbrain” in account teams

Create micro-squads for priority clients: one data-first marketer (curiosity to mine matter history, industry signals, buying-center maps); one relationship designer (empathy to craft executive conversations). Publish a one-page “client understanding brief” before every pitch.

If you haven’t conducted a DISC assessment [dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness] among your teams, do it. I know it feels like a throwback to some, but DISC works because it WORKS. If you want to find out quickly the superpowers and collaborative strengths of your teams – and have some revelatory and fun team building in the process – take the time to do this. The results will be informative and will be instrumental for the success of this tactic.

4. Turn technology into habits

Make “Friday five” a standing rule (log five meaningful updates per lawyer), create auto-ingestion of contacts from email and events, and build a two-minute “after-meeting” form. Empower your MBD colleagues to remind, support, and cajole their lawyers. That interaction will surface new opportunities and create crucial connection points.

5. Personalise at scale but start narrow

Pick one vertical and two common business problems. Build a reusable insight spine: pain-point hypotheses, diagnostic slides, a “what we’re seeing” briefing, and case blurbs. Use client intelligence to sequence outreach. Again, engage your MBD teams here. The conversations must not be siloed. This information will be crucial to work smarter (not harder).

6. Measure what matters

Track: share of wallet; feedback coverage; cross-sell collaboration; cycle time to value; and adoption.

7. Coach lawyers the same way you coach marketers

Run short clinics on layered questioning, mirroring, summarising, and closing with next-step experiments. Pair rainmakers with marketers in client meetings.

Bottom line

Client intelligence and modern tools are necessary but insufficient. Growth comes when a curious team keeps digging for the real problem and an empathetic team keeps designing for the client’s reality. Do that consistently – through feedback, collaboration, and disciplined use of technology – and the well-documented economics of retention, personalisation, and share-of-wallet, start working for you.

 

About the author

Roy Sexton has more than 25 years’ experience in various industries with nearly 15 spent in the legal marketing field at prominent global firms. His career knowledge includes public relations and marketing planning, business development strategy, digital and social media outreach, attorney onboarding and practice development.

“Filling out questionnaires where I say something too revealing, stupid, or misspelled.” Society 54 features yours truly as one of their “Outlaws.”

27 July 2024

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Thank you, Society 54! Honored to be one of your Outlaws! This intro tho (blushing!) … wow!

“Discover the extraordinary leadership of Roy Sexton, the driving force behind Clark Hill Law’s marketing, branding, and communications triumphs. With over 25 years of rich experience in the fields of marketing, communications, business development, and strategic planning, he’s a true mastermind. His crowning achievement? Serving as the 2023 International President of the Legal Marketing Association – LMA International. Together with his exceptional team, Roy is forging a new path in professional services marketing. Meet the man steering the ship to success.”

Read my cheeky responses to their interview here.

Roy is a highly accomplished professional with a wealth of experience in marketing, branding, communications, and business development. He has spent more than 25 years in the industry, honing his skills and expertise to become one of the most sought-after experts in his field.

Throughout his career, Roy has worked with numerous organizations across different industries, helping them develop and implement effective marketing strategies that drive growth and success. He is known for his exceptional abilities in strategic planning, identifying new opportunities for businesses to expand their reach and improve their bottom line.

Enjoy getting to know the Outlaw, Roy Sexton!

Q: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
A: Being in a particularly boisterous crowd who won’t let me finish one story.

Q: Where would you like to live?
A: Narnia, Wonderland, or Oz … my hubby would like to move one day to Portland or Seattle (but we probably should visit there first!)

Q: What is your idea of happiness?
A: Having a quiet, slightly rainy day with zero requests from anyone, my husband on the couch napping with our dogs Henry J and Hudson, and me in my chair with a big pile of comic books.


Q: Who is your real-life hero?
A: My husband is one of the most generous, selfless people I know with a deep commitment to his friends. I aspire to be more like him as I fear I’m a mile wide and an inch deep where relationships are concerned.


Q: What is your motto?
A: “Tell people what they mean to you in the moment when it will mean something to them.” – Susie Sexton … also, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde


Q: What is your greatest fear?
A: Filling out questionnaires where I say something too revealing, stupid, or misspelled.


Q: To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
A: Is there a word count limit here? Talking too much, co-opting others’ stories with my own, overstaying my welcome, buying too many action figures, wearing costumes when other people simply wear clothing, eating too much fried food, wishing to rescue every homeless animal …


Q: Finish this sentence: “If I could have one super-power, it would be…”
A: To make sure people never act like smart alecks with each other, never tease each other, never act snide, and always simply support one another


Q: Who are your favorite authors or what are your favorite books?
A: Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Eugene O’Neill, Toni Morrison, Tennessee Williams, Alice Walker, Tony Kushner, Susie Duncan Sexton


Q: If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
A: Jennifer Garner. She just seems like a deeply decent human being who doesn’t take herself too seriously but would still have wicked stories to share.


Q: What got you into working in the legal industry?
A: Serendipity. I had been in health care strategic planning and marketing for over a decade. And I’d grown tired of that bureaucracy. I threw my resume out there in 2011 and was hired by my first firm. That said, I also joined the Legal Marketing Association then as well, and that’s when I knew I’d found my calling.


Q: Your favorite musician or band?
A: Madonna. Janet. Kylie. Britney. Beyonce. Gaga. Do you really need to ask?


Q: What is your current state of mind?
A: Loopy. I think I’m generally loopy. But when I embrace it, magic happens.


Q: Your favorite virtue?
A: Decency. It takes so little to simply be decent. It takes so much more energy to act like a jerk.


Q: What would you consider your greatest achievement?
A: My relationship – 25 years strong. My professional network – 32,000 and counting on LinkedIn. And serving as the 2023 International President of the Legal Marketing Association – including singing with a drag queen in Florida at the height of their governor’s homophobia.


Q: Finish this sentence: “If I won the lottery tomorrow I would…”
A: Build the biggest animal rescue the world had ever seen.


Q: Who would you have liked to be?
A: Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, or Hugh Jackman.

Glittering unicorns: Expert Webcast’s “CMO Toe-to-Toe” with host Joseph Panetta and guest yours truly #lma23 #lmamkt

22 August 2023

4 Comments

Thank you, Joseph Panetta and Anna Spektor at Expert Webcast for this opportunity to talk about authenticity, branding, marketing (legal or otherwise), and community. This conversation Friday afternoon sent me into the weekend on Cloud 9. Such a joy to be able to share stories with a friend I love and admire. Joseph, you are THE consummate host – prepared, warm, accessible, kind. Such a welcoming environment. Thank you.

VIEW HERE: https://expertwebcast.vhx.tv/videos/cmo-toe-to-toe-with-roy-sexton-clark-hill

“Roy Sexton, Legal Marketing Association President and Clark Hill Law Head of Marketing, gets up close and personal on our CMO Toe-to-Toe with Joseph Panetta, sharing his non-traditional start in legal marketing; his very personal approach and process for working with partners and teams; and the background on his epic LMA Annual keynote address.”

Shout outs during the show include: Alycia Sutor, Brenda Meller 🥧, Inforum, Alexandra France, Kate Harry Shipham, David Ackert, Athena Dion, Laura Gassner Otting, Rob Kates, Jennifer Weigand, Lisa M. Kamen, Danielle Gorash Holland, Megan McKeon, Susie Sexton, Don Sexton, Jonathan Fitzgarrald, Mary Ann Hastings, Holly Amatangelo, Jennifer Dezso, Lee Watts, Kaitlin Heininger, Edna Duncan, Clark Hill Law, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor, Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, Managing Partners’ Forum, Wabash College, The Ohio State University, Deloitte, University of Michigan-Flint, UM-Flint School of Management, glittering #unicorns, Lady Gaga, The Flash, the movie Michael, Oprah Winfrey, George Orwell, Andy Warhol, Kurt Vonnegut, Madonna, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Stephen Sondheim, Barbie, Florida, DEI, LGBTQIA, The Birdcage, Jack LaLane, BornThisWay, Hudson, dogs, branding, authenticity, marketing, legal marketing.

✨

“When I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I just lost interest anyway.” Barbie the Movie

6 August 2023

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Kudos to Barbie helmer and co-screenwriter Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women), Hollywood’s first solo woman director (and likely NOT the last) to earn $1 billion at the international box office for a film. In just over two weeks no less.

I was reflecting on that milestone on the way home from seeing the fab film this morning. Why? What is it about this movie that has captured the zeitgeist so? Admittedly, we are all a bit weary of superheroes. We all likely feel a bit lost in this topsy turvy world. Are we all looking for a new hero? Someone not in spandex and a cape, but still reminiscent of childhood’s limitless hopes?

On the surface, that might be the initial draw. Refreshingly, Barbie is something else altogether. It’s deeply weird. And wonderful. Its scenic design alone is immersive, glorious, impeccably off-putting. An uncanny valley, warped toyetic reflection of reality. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in garish bubblegum pink. An apt metaphor for what Barbieland’s free-thinking denizens intend to inspire, yet trapped in a magic shell of real life sexist consumerism run amuck.

The fact that the subversively progressive creatives (namely Gerwig, co-screenwriter and life partner Noah Baumbach and producer and star Margot Robbie) won the day over the corporate product placement overseers (Mattel, Warner Brothers?), even openly poking fun at the latter, is a miracle. This is no slick toy commercial disguised as a major motion picture (see: any/all Transformers flicks … save arguably the sweet, goofy Bumblebee). Ironically, that does more for our adoration of – and desire to purchase – associated merch as a result.

The film juggles a ton of big ideas, mostly successfully. It is proudly feminist. And also humanist. For a movie about dolls. Body types, skin colors, ages, genders, sexualities are all deftly represented and celebrated. And a key point at the end of the film is made that extremes, even in course correction to prior imbalance, perpetuate alienation. Two wrongs never make a right.

Barbie is more surreal than it is comic, though I belly-laughed plenty and cried often at unexpected moments. Its surreality is its superpower. And that quality gives you the movie you need, not necessarily wanted.

Enough ink has been spilled about the movie’s plot – and crackerjack dialogue – that I would be veering into the mansplaining zone (which this movie has wicked fun with by the way) if I recapped here. I might simply note that if Kurt Vonnegut led a writers’ circle chat with Betty Friedan, Franz Kafka, Stanley Kubrick, Tina Fey, Mel Brooks, Samuel Beckett, and Amy Heckerling, conceptualizing what an existential crisis might look like for a Barbie doll, it would likely not even touch the absurdist vistas in this film.

In essence, Barbie comes to realize a toybox utopia isn’t reflected in real life and, in fact, can be wildly misinterpreted by the now-grown children it was intended to benefit. Her awakening shares as much with Pinocchio as it does The Feminine Mystique. Refreshingly, this is not a film centered on romance, which it might have become if placed in lesser hands. Don’t get me wrong, Ken is so deeply infatuated with Barbie he ultimately launches a mutiny from unrequited frustration. Not that THAT unbridled male egotism ever happens in life. Wink. But Barbie’s journey in the film is one of self-discovery, mining fairly deep psychological territory, including identity politics, free agency, and self-determination.

When Ken’s plot to turn Barbieland phallocentric flops spectacularly, he sobs, “When I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I just lost interest anyway.” Didn’t we all, Ken. Didn’t we all.

Yes, this may be the first billion-dollar summer blockbuster to hinge its primary plot points on matriarchy vs. patriarchy. Woot!

As for our principal players: Robbie is haunting as Barbie, spinning the character’s superhumanity inward, never stooping to camp, but layering ferocity and heartache in a truly touching portrayal. Ryan Gosling as Ken is delightfully daffy and walks a quirky high wire between guileless, mercenary, and poignantly clueless. America Ferrera is our narrative anchor, still trying to keep her head above water with the disappointments and curdled hopes that daily living outside Barbieland brings. She takes all the weirdness in stride, avoiding any overreactive cliches of “real human in cartoon situations” films. And her speech about the trials and tensions and spectacularly unfair expectations women endure kicks off the film’s conclusion with just the right level of introspective pathos. Taken together, Robbie, Gosling, and Ferrera steer this glittering super ship beautifully.

They are aided and abetted by remarkable supporting players who can – and do – carry their own movies but here seem perfectly content to be stitched into a communal crazy quilt of inclusive sensibilities: Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, John Cena, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Rhea Perlman, and more.

Music is yet another character in the film (although my old ears wouldn’t mind if cinemas cranked DOWN the volume every once in a while). Music producer Mark Ronson and a host of pop superstars supply commentary both overt and subtle throughout the film. My hubby turned to me at one point and said, “I thought you said this wasn’t a musical.” Oops.

Yes, this film is in many ways a frolic. As expected. But it’s also something more. And surprisingly I suspect I will be thinking about Barbie for weeks to come. I also surmise this is a film that will benefit from repeated viewings, which may be the ulterior motive after all, knowing that most kids (and adults) will watch a beloved movie over and over and over. With the empowering messages woven together here, that’s a very good thing. In the end, there is no shame loving Barbie, toys, or yourself. At any age.

Yours truly as a TRULY creepy AI-generated “Ken.” You’re welcome.

“Smells like Marlboros and farts.” Planet Ant Theatre premieres Who Run the World

18 March 2018

4 Comments

Originally published by EncoreMichigan

We live in fraught, absurdist political times. Kurt Vonnegut couldn’t even have anticipated how off-the-charts bonkers our reality show polarization has become. So, there is a timely, refreshing, and essential concept at the heart of Planet Ant’s latest original work Who Run the World – taking its title from the pop-feminist anthem  “Run the World (Girls)” by that ubiquitous purveyor of hard lemonade Beyoncé.

The show – written from what appears to be a series of free-wheeling improv exercises by director Lauren Bickers and her unrestrained cast Dyan Bailey, Suzan Jacokes, Esther Nevarez, Scott Sanford, Caitlyn Shea, and Sarah Wilder – is an interesting conceit. What will be the logical (and comically tragic) progression of our society by 2040 if we continue down this Red State/Blue State, feminist/antifeminist, extreme left/alt-right striated path?

Cast of Who Run the World (Photo by Scott Myers)

In the evening’s most effective and crispest moments, a series of video montages (created by Bailey, who used a similar technique in The Ringwald’s concurrently running production Merrily We Roll Along) bring the audience up-to-speed on world events from 2018 to 2040. America is rocked by a series of increasingly extreme political swings – President Oprah Winfrey succeeds President Donald Trump; she is, in turn, defeated by President Donald Trump, Jr.; he is ousted by President Ellen DeGeneres who is overtaken by Prezident Kid Rock (who didn’t even know he was running). A full out gender war erupts, centered around a network of Target stores, and eventually the women prove victorious driving unenlightened men into a series of, yes, “man caves.”

The gynocentric society, on the surface, seems practically perfect in every way: work/life balance, a presidential cabinet made up of bureaucrats dedicated to peace and culture and comfort, and omnipresent “dance breaks” set to the strains of Black Box’s “Everybody, Everybody.”

I admit my other favorite aspect of the show was the pre-show music/scene interludes, which all seemed to be emanating from my own personal iTunes collection. Any time I hear Madonna’s “Human Nature” during a performance (which has been … never … up-until-now), I’m a happy boy. “I’m not your b*tch. Don’t hang your sh*t on me.”

It’s unfortunate, then, that the actual show doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its surreal high concept. The performers–playing both the aforementioned cabinet members as well as a series of mulleted, flannel-wearing male denizens of the underground–should be commended for the ferocity and BIG energy with which they attack the material, but many scenes seem unrehearsed, perhaps even improvised on the spot, which clashes with the slick and professional nature of the video narrative. Further, the production seems to exist at three decibel levels: loud, louder, and loudest. For such an intimate space, this flattens the proceedings, giving the show an extended “skit-like” quality. When the cast is all present onstage, there is such a cacophony of voices and movement, it is at times difficult to discern exactly what is transpiring.

Dyan Bailey, Scott Sanford (Photo by Scott Myers)

There are many funny lines but they are lost as the actors’ articulation isn’t always up to snuff. Or clever quips are delivered with the blunt force of an anvil striking the audience on its collective head, losing the wry, satirical touch that would make them really zing. For example, one particular “man cave” is described as smelling like “Marlboros and farts.” The line made me chuckle, not from its actual delivery, but from its potential.

That is not to say that everyone involved doesn’t have their moments. Dyan Bailey has great fun channeling Kathleen Turner- meets-Donald Trump-meets-Ernst-Blofeld as societal matriarch Kameela Toriana (Department of Appearance and Diplomacy). There isn’t a piece of Jennifer Maiseloff’s underdeveloped scenery she won’t chew (her use of an exercise ball as her throne was particularly effective and amusing), and Bailey’s sheer force-of-hurricane-gale-will keeps the show moving apace.

Caitlyn Shea offers the closest thing to character progression in her shrinking violet-turned-Norma Rae Tracee McAllister (Director of Unpacking), who brings some nuance to the cartoon-like proceedings and revels in her character’s whiplash-inducing turns of personality.

The remaining cast members have some zippy moments, particularly when each goes to the “man cave” of Scott Sanford’s Addison Houser to explore their respective vices. There is an interesting narrative sequence to explore in these scenes if Planet Ant continues to develop the piece. These “vice visits” form a kind of Faustian compact – not dissimilar to Jack Nicholson’s increasingly menacing trips to commiserate with the spectral barkeep in The Shining – wherein the characters discover their true selves and the balance they’ve lost amidst political extremes. If the Who Run the World team works on refining those scenes, that sequence could provide much-needed narrative spark and character development to the play.

I may not be the right audience for what Planet Ant does. The full-house on opening night roared with laughter and approval, particularly as the show escalated further into Saturday Night Live territory or when actors riffed off-script due to a missed light cue or misplaced prop.

As an aside, when I bring my friend Lauren to a show, there seems to be an ironic bit of foreshadowing in our pre-show dinner conversation. I held forth at Green Space Café about how I just didn’t get “improv” and often found the humor therein a bit of a “stretch” for my linear sensibilities. As we watched Who Run the World, which I hadn’t realized was improv-based until I read the program immediately prior (shame on me), it reminded me that, at least for this viewer, I prefer a tightly rehearsed show with clear and nuanced character delineation, levels, and timing. I offer this to say that if you are a fan of improv, you might really dig Who Run the World … and I’m just a crabby fuddy duddy.

That said, I suspect there is a really sharp 45-minute piece buried somewhere in Who Run the World’s two-hour run time. With some Draconian editing, the show could be just the tonic our troubled times need. I, for one, crave a new Crucible, Children’s Hour, or, hell, Book of Mormon for this MAGA vs. #MeToo cultural dumpster fire in which we are currently living. Who Run the World ain’t it yet … but with some work, it might be.

_______________________

Lauren Crocker, Roy Sexton – opening night of Who Run the World

Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital).

In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan.

My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.

“I guess there are no more rules about what a person can do to another person” – Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

22 November 2015

13 Comments

Mockingjay_Part_2_Poster

[Image Source: Wikipedia]

What passes for entertainment these days, it could be argued, shows a glib disregard for humanity, grace, and life itself. It’s a bit ironic, given that Hollywood tends to be first to get in line for humanitarian causes, yet the chief blockbuster product rolling from the City of Dreams on a quarterly basis is awash in cinematic bloodletting. I don’t know what to make of that.

I’ve long struggled with my distaste for The Hunger Games saga for this very reason. People tell me to lighten up, but often they are the same people who celebrate photos in their local paper of young girls and boys, bow in hand, grinning madly over their latest “trophy kill.” Violence begets violence, and when does it stop?

Surely, Hollywood doesn’t influence behavior – it’s just a movie, right? But, then, why did Chrysler partner with Lionsgate on this latest installment to cross-promote cars (which just seemed to be odd synergy, regardless)? Sorry, folks, you don’t get to pick and choose what people will emulate (rampant consumerism) or won’t (rampant disregard for life).

Not only did I already have this predisposition going into Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, but the world has spent the better part of a week trying to reconcile the senseless violence in Paris, France and wagging hundreds of politicized fingers at governments or refugees or religions in a misplaced, manic desire to place blame on anyone but the actual perpetrators … and, for that matter, to shift focus away from our own collective collusion in this endless stream of mind-numbing violence, real and fictional, that dances across myriad screens.

It’s funny, and a bit sad then, that this final Hunger Games installment actually clarifies what it’s all about, Alfie, and what it’s been about, all along: a cautionary tale (albeit a simplistic, pubescent soap opera one) about the very world we have become – a world where violence is used for theatrical purposes to divide and conquer, to prop up the 1% and their self-selected preening dictators, and to oppress any and all of those dumb enough to allow mindless fear to curdle into unbridled hate.

Perhaps, the fact that this fourth film has opened with the smallest box office total of any in the series (albeit still exceeding $100M) suggests that the world sees less entertainment in its own follies than it once did? This film is a tough pill to swallow right now in the midst of the real-life tragedies facing us all.

Mockingjay – Part 2 suffers from the excesses of its immediate predecessor – or said more plainly, the greed of Lionsgate to attenuate the final book’s narrative into two films. Part 2 is just much too long, mopey, and meandering, after a Part 1 that was all of those things and a bore.

That said, this movie finally delivers what stands as the series’ punchline and thesis: absolute power – in a media-saturated age – not only corrupts absolutely, but does so with a rationalizing, self-obsessed, materialistic, nihilistic glee. Like the ubiquitous reality shows that Suzanne Collins’ literary creation ostensibly lampoons, the prize – in this case control of all humanity – must be won at any cost, and, if one freely jettisons their own humanity along their path to the crown, well, so be it.

In a line that practically made me stand up and applaud, Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss hisses – as she begins to see the shameless willingness of “on/off again” boyfriend Gale (played with less and less gusto by otherwise charming Liam Hemsworth) to sacrifice morality for victory – “I guess there are no more rules about what a person can do to another person.” Darn tootin’.

This is not groundbreaking insight, of course. Shakespeare covered this idea in just about every play, comedy or tragedy … but it is potentially heady stuff for today’s masses if delivered in a smart, playful, and authentic way. Unfortunately, for me, this film series seemed perpetually torn between the Ray Bradbury/Kurt Vonnegut/Clockwork Orange-esque battery acid allegory it could have been (should have been) and the escapist PG-13 Subway-sandwich selling, middle America revenge fantasy it actually was.

For those following the films – and (gulp) loving them – Mockingjay Part 2 won’t disappoint. Jennifer Lawrence continues her emotionless, robotic hero quest as Katniss. This actor shows so much spark anywhere else that I’m just baffled by what a dud she is here. Regardless, Lawrence is still the glue holding this enterprise together. When she discovers the [spoiler alert] big reveal that the dictator she hopes to unseat (Donald Sutherland’s President Snow) will be replaced by one conceivably even more ruthlessly cavalier (Julianne Moore’s President Coin), Lawrence does yeoman’s work quietly selling the point to all of us in the cheap seats: “Look, bloodlust gets you nowhere. People are evil, duplictious sh*ts. They don’t care about each other, and those desperately seeking power are exactly the people who should. not. ever. get. it.” (Maybe Lawrence could moderate the next GOP presidential debate? Bow and arrow in hand?)

The film has an ample amount of political intrigue, some fun twists, a couple of seat-jumping scares, and a sparkling supporting cast (largely wasted). It’s a bit of a Hunger Games greatest hits: Stanley Tucci’s TV huckster Caesar Flickerman for a hot second spewing some Fox News-style bile; Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch Abernathy looking even more bedraggled and annoyed with all of it, but still saddled with life-coaching that makes Yoda look like a Quentin Tarantino character; Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket now completely de-fanged but again fabulously bewigged as her chief role seems to be serving as Katniss’ valet; Sam Claflin’s vainglorious Finnick Odair and Natalie Dormer’s caustically pragmatic Cressida now reduced to cannon fodder.

Jena Malone fares best as Katniss’ frenemy Johanna Mason, chewing the cardboard scenery and reaching through the screen and grabbing us by the collective lapels. She seems to say, “You know this is kinda nuts right? That this series made so much money? Now, stop whining and moping and pay attention to the nuggets buried way deep in this thing and start giving a crap about your own lives and about each other.” Or maybe I’m projecting a bit.

Best part of Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 2 – for me?  That it’s over.

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12208463_10206963059693889_4367987464574781874_nReel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital)In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.

 

Talk of the Town features Reel Roy Reviews, Vol. 2

5 February 2015

2 Comments

Reel Roy Reviews, Volume 2

Reel Roy Reviews, Volume 2

Thanks to Jennifer Romano and Talk of the Town! Read here. Quote from yours truly: “As my blog rolls into another year of entertainment, rife with comic book adaptations, sequels, Oscar bait, arena shows, and theatrical productions big and small, sometimes I wonder if I am choking the life right from this hobby of mine. Can you imagine if every time you saw a film that your OCD tendencies forced you to rush home, throw some quippy hoo-ha on the internet, and wait eagerly for 3.5 comments to appear? Ah, well, it’s still too much fun to stop now—anticipate Volume THREE Roy’s Movie Migraine shortly.”

Roy and Susie waiting for the big show

Roy and Susie waiting for the big show

BONUS: Enjoy this fabulous new blog entry from my mom Susie Duncan Sexton – provocative and fun! Read “Got (almond) milk? Books, movies, politics, culture, and AGRIganda” by clicking here.

Excerpt: “Regarding BUT HAVE YOU READ THE BOOK jazz, my mother ALWAYS asked that question. Guess what? She very seldom had actually read the books herself; I preferred to write my book reports based on the more enjoyable movie versions!”

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Reel Roy Reviews 2

Reel Roy Reviews 2

Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital)

In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan.

My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.

Day I read a book … The Freak Foundation Operative’s Report

2 February 2015

12 Comments

Freak Foundation Operatives ReportYou know what question I’m tired of hearing? “Did you read the book?”

I get asked this repeatedly when I see a movie based on a piece of literature (sometimes using that term very loosely), if I dare to have some issue with the film: its narrative structure, character choices, execution, blah, blah, blah. The questioner always seems to imply that my review is somehow thereby deficient, that I didn’t do my homework.

This scrutiny arose when I found the Twilight movies a tedious bore, when I thought Hunger Games was overrated nonsense, when I dubbed Mortal Instruments insipid idiocy, when I felt American Sniper was dangerous propaganda, and when I perceived Wild to be self-aggrandizing tell-all myth-making. I didn’t read any of these uber-popular tomes – I only saw the film treatments. And I’m not going to read the books. Stop asking me. Please.

(In my defense, I loved the films of Divergent and The Fault In Our Stars, without perusing the best-sellers on which they were based.)

Here’s the thing. I don’t want to have to read the book to understand and enjoy the movie. A good movie adaptation will anchor the narrative pulse points in a novel or biography and add visual flair to make the piece cinematic, comprehensible, and it’s own entity. Think Gone With the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Black Stallion, The Godfather, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Foxcatcher. Hell, think Gone Girl.

If it’s that imperative to read the book and see the movie to get the complete entertainment value, well, I just won’t. To me, that’s lazy film-making, and that’s coming from someone too lazy to read the books. So there.

“Day I Read a Book” – Jimmy Durante

 

But, guess what? I read a book – my pal Tom Joyce’s engaging The Freak Foundation Operative’s Report … and I liked it! To paraphrase Super Bowl halftime superstar Katy Perry: “I read a book … and I liked it!”

If Kurt Vonnegut and Janet Evanovich had a baby whose doting uncles were Raymond Carver, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Mickey Spillane, that baby very well might be Tom Joyce. The Freak Foundation Operative’s Report relates the sordid and satirical tale of Batley, a small post-industrial town in Central Pennsylvania, a burg terrorized by a nasty group of thugs (“The Slain”) and populated with a carnival tent full of freaks and weirdos (and that’s just the City Council). The central mystery (and it’s a compelling one) is why this town has been targeted, who’s pulling the strings, and why.

I won’t spoil any of the surprises, but the book is a zippy page-turner with just the right balance of mirth and mayhem to engage the most jaded of readers (me).

Joyce employs a rotating cast of narrators, including a hard-boiled and hard-drinking gumshoe; a universally reviled local journalist (named, oddly enough, “Tom”); and assorted colorful characters, including, among others, a foul-mouthed little person who runs a road-side freak show, a confidence man who grows increasingly less confident in his choice of allies, and a huckster demonologist/psychologist with a heart of gold.

Joyce has a great pulpy literary voice, informed with a cheeky sensibility, a knowing cynicism about the uniquely American ability to wave the flag while we stab each other in the back, and a genuine flair for marrying creeping crud, visceral thrills, and rich Mayberry-quirk  characterization. This book is naturally cinematic in its execution, cable-ready for HBO or AMC or (likely) FX to develop a raw, ribald anthology series from the frothy material.

The novel is composed of a series of journal entries, letters, documents, and reports (via the various narrators delineated above) offering the cumulative effect that we, as readers, are suddenly privy to a hotbed of small-town intrigue as the mystery unfolds through hearsay, redirects, and anecdotes (see Carrie, The Color Purple, or even The Sound and the Fury for other examples of this technique). This, coupled with Joyce’s pragmatic, glib, and witty writing style, makes for an adventurous reading experience – Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew for adults.

Here’s looking forward to big screen (or small screen) adaptation, wherein I can finally ask others, “Did you read the book?”

You can order at Tom Joyce’s The Freak Foundation Operative’s Report by visiting his free-wheeling blog here.

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Reel Roy Reviews 2

Reel Roy Reviews 2

Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital)

In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan.

My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.

“The future is for those who know where they belong” – Divergent

21 April 2014

11 Comments

Description: Film poster; Source: Wikipedia [linked]; Portion used: Film poster only; Low resolution? Sufficient resolution for illustration, but considerably lower resolution than original. Other information: Intellectual property by film studio. Non-free media use rationales: Non-free media use rationale - Article/review; Purpose of use: Used for purposes of critical commentary and illustration in an educational article about the film. The poster is used as the primary means of visual identification of this article topic. Replaceable? Protected by copyright, therefore a free use alternative won't exist.

[Image Source: Wikipedia]

Anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows that I am not exactly a fan of young adult fiction or the various movies it has spawned over the past 10 years. Twilight makes me snoozy; The Hunger Games leaves me peckish (and cranky), and gooey dreck like The Mortal Instruments just gives me a sugar headache.

Imagine my surprise, then, at how much I enjoyed Divergent. I’ve been dragging my heels to see it, waiting until the last possible moment, as it has been in theaters over a month. In fact, my showing tonight only had one person in it: me.

It is yet another dystopian fantasy in which society has (more or less) survived some unidentified cataclysm. A new order has been put in place to keep all of us well-behaved, monochromatic, and … a little dull. In Divergent‘s case, humanity has been organized into factions according to some key defining personality trait; for example the Dauntless are courageous or the Abnegation are selfless or the Erudite are, well, really smart.

Akin to Harry Potter’s famous sorting hat, teens in this society are forced to choose which faction will serve as their tribe/home for the rest of their days. Said coming-of-age ceremony seems to involve hallucinogenic drugs, plasma screen televisions, and some very unfortunate outfits that appear to have been designed by Eileen Fisher on a very bad day.

Shailene Woodley, portrays “Beatrice,” the heroine of our tale. She is a member of Abnegation, the selfless folks, and her parents are played by Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn (who are always so good at being stately and worried). Beatrice’s father serves some role in local government, though I wasn’t ever entirely clear what. All I could figure is that society is now led by a rather boring yet politely dysfunctional city council from hell.

Unsurprisingly, the parents in Divergent-world are hopeful that their children end up staying in the faction of their birth, but that is not always the case. Hence, the title “divergent” pertains to young people who defy tidy categorization. This diversity of thought and attitude seems to be the bane of existence for Kate Winslet’s “Jeanine” who heads up the power-hungry Erudite clan – as indicated by her smart Hillary Clinton haircut and Donna Karan-esque navy blue suits.

The bulk of the film is spent setting up the rules of this future society and, when Woodley is in fact revealed to be “divergent,” tracking how she will survive a society that doesn’t much want her in it. She is mentored by the hunkily haunted “Four,” portrayed by newcomer Theo James, channeling an Anthony Perkins-ish, glowering charm.

I found the proceedings much smarter than what is typically on display in these kinds of films. I suppose the casting of Winslet is a sign that director Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Limitless) had something greater in mind for this one. It reminded me at times of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, both of which depict near-future societies whose well-meaning, peace-keeping totalitarianism results in widespread mediocrity and a crushing fear of the unique. Orwell’s allegorical legacy continues … praise be!

At one point, Winslet’s character ominously declares, “The future is for those who know where they belong.” Perhaps its just my paranoid middle age speaking but our society today seems to fear the unknown more than ever. The cinematic parable of Divergent (and its two planned sequels) strikes me as so powerful at this precarious cultural crossroads where we find ourselves. So, for once in my movie-going life, I’m actually looking forward to the second installment in one of these teen oriented sci-fi fantasias. Heaven help me.

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Reel Roy Reviews is now a book! Please check out this coverage from BroadwayWorld of upcoming book launch events. In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the book currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan; by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan; and by Memory Lane Gift Shop in Columbia City, Indiana. Bookbound, Common Language, and Memory Lane also have copies of Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series.

Countdown: 12 Years a Slave

26 February 2014

6 Comments

From my wonderful publisher Open Books…

Only 2 days remain until the official release of ReelRoyReviews, a book of film, music, and theatre reviews, by Roy Sexton!

Please note that, in addition to online ordering, the book currently is being carried by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan and by Memory Lane Gift Shop in Columbia City, Indiana. Memory Lane also has copies of Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series.

Here’s what Roy thought about 12 Years a Slave: “…a haunting portrait of an America in which religious fervor (and hypocrisy) corrosively coupled with economic disparity prop up a cruel caste system whereby our humanity is a commodity traded too easily for blood and cash.”

Learn more about REEL ROY REVIEWS, VOL 1: KEEPIN’ IT REAL by Roy Sexton at http://www.open-bks.com/library/moderns/reel-roy-reviews/about-book.html. Book can also be ordered at Amazon here.