Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Me and The World vs Something

I've started to notice that more things are becoming a case of X vs Y instead of X and Y. For example a popular show that always titles it's episodes as Versus The (insert) or various blogs I've been following for a while. I think it's more than just marketing, it's a look into the lives of the primary authors of this content. It's like they're against the world, as separate and fighting or struggling to achieve something. I almost never see a title that reflects acceptance or cooperation unless it's directly referencing teamwork. You don't need teamwork for an individual and an event though. For example a title might be Me vs The Grand Canyon and be a story about my visit to the tourist location in the United States. In this case though there's no real versus to be had other than any possible difficulties getting there or similar. It's not that the title is misleading, inappropriate, or even something worth complaining about, but it could be more aptly named. For example I in this case would've probably titled it Me and The Grand Canyon, building a relationship with the event and any obstacles I overcome are just a part of the experience. I could tell an epic story of inner struggle with the decision to be a father and call it Me vs The Baby or more than likely Me and The Baby, in which I would then go on to tell a similar story but in a more positive light, the title is making a significance in the entire reading of the article.

There's a multitude of ways a title could be changed from VS, and is just one of them, yet it still I find that most would rather distance themselves from their  own story. Something to consider next time you're writing.

3 comments:

  1. Well I think this has to do with subliminal messaging. ''And'' indicates an already established relationship, that the struggle to connect has been done and was successful, and on the other hand ''versus'' indicates the collision where you can't know the outcome, if something will work out or not. Sure thing is that those in marketing business are full aware of this and spam it everywhere to get the consumers attention.

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  2. most intriguing , especially the aptness of titling. nice one, i`ve got some thinking to..

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