The Stefani Principle: I have a theory about Gwen Stefani's solo career. I think each single she's released from L.A.M.B. (I'm not spelling it out, and neither are you) is supposed to be worse than the one before it. No, I don't think it's mere accident!
When combined with non-stop airplay, we have no choice but to listen to, say, "Hollaback Girl" and think "Well, at least it's not as bad as 'Luxurious!'"
Not only that, Gwen is cashing in on a decade's worth of credibility that she built up in concert with Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont. I mean, aren't we all secretly hoping that, after fifty-odd listens, "Cool" magically begins to sound like "Don't Speak," or something?
I think this can be applied to any number of things, actually. You put your best foot forward, and if that doesn't work, it doesn't matter! Through sheer lunatic audacity, you can still succeed by putting your worst foot forward repeatedly. You've bought enough time with the best-foot thing that people think this worst-foot thing is just a holdover until your next brilliant idea falls from the sky. In fact, your second-most recent flub can be rationalized into something brilliant, extending your genius retroactively!
Is there any better example of this than the Bush Administration? After building up a mountain of 9-11 credibility, they've spent the next four years messing up absolutely everything . Of course vast majorities of the Republican Party support them anyway, despite the fact the Administration isn't even remotely conservative.
This would be like the Beatles reuniting in the late 1970s and making album after album consisting only of cover versions of ABBA! I wager it would take a while before hardcore fans admitted this wasn't a genius plan to outwit the Rolling Stones.
So, with apologies to dear Gwen (whom I would love to see fronting No Doubt again), I'm dubbing this "The Stefani Principle." I'm also wondering if anyone out there has other examples of this from their own lives. The Stefani Principle at your workplace? At your school? Elsewhere?
When combined with non-stop airplay, we have no choice but to listen to, say, "Hollaback Girl" and think "Well, at least it's not as bad as 'Luxurious!'"
Not only that, Gwen is cashing in on a decade's worth of credibility that she built up in concert with Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont. I mean, aren't we all secretly hoping that, after fifty-odd listens, "Cool" magically begins to sound like "Don't Speak," or something?
I think this can be applied to any number of things, actually. You put your best foot forward, and if that doesn't work, it doesn't matter! Through sheer lunatic audacity, you can still succeed by putting your worst foot forward repeatedly. You've bought enough time with the best-foot thing that people think this worst-foot thing is just a holdover until your next brilliant idea falls from the sky. In fact, your second-most recent flub can be rationalized into something brilliant, extending your genius retroactively!
Is there any better example of this than the Bush Administration? After building up a mountain of 9-11 credibility, they've spent the next four years messing up absolutely everything . Of course vast majorities of the Republican Party support them anyway, despite the fact the Administration isn't even remotely conservative.
This would be like the Beatles reuniting in the late 1970s and making album after album consisting only of cover versions of ABBA! I wager it would take a while before hardcore fans admitted this wasn't a genius plan to outwit the Rolling Stones.
So, with apologies to dear Gwen (whom I would love to see fronting No Doubt again), I'm dubbing this "The Stefani Principle." I'm also wondering if anyone out there has other examples of this from their own lives. The Stefani Principle at your workplace? At your school? Elsewhere?
posted by Joshua @ 11:14 PM
1 Comments:
No one has any examples at all? I'm disappointed.
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