The last week or so has been Viewer Hell for this cinema addict. I've had to wade through a number of TV pilots that I would never have spent a moment on if a potential client hadn't asked me to review them. It was a dismaying experience, but I think I learned something from it about how the TMO should pitch its one salable product -- basic TM.
I actually looked forward to watching the first two episodes of "Ringer," because it stars Sarah Jessica Parker, who I loved in "Buffy." It had potential, in that it was actually SJP squared, playing twins. Sadly, it had an unimaginative plot, and was full of unhappy, unlikable, self-obsessed characters who between the lot of them couldn't come up with a thimbleful of positive self esteem if their lives (and their ratings) depended on it. As a TV writer, you should know you're in trouble when the only admirable character in your show is a former addict who now works as a NA counselor. Just sayin'. Then I watched "2 Broke Girls," memorable only for Kat Dennings' delivery of the punchlines of a series of low-rent sexual innuendo jokes. Again, it's a show that is all *about* lack of self-esteem...look at the title. Next came "New Girl," starring Zooey Deschanel, which was the sole redeeming hour of the whole viewing experiment. Zooey is truly adorable, and this show puts her in the spotlight, pretty much carrying the whole series herself IMO, because I couldn't work up a bit of empathy for any of the other characters or actors. Fortunately, I think Zooey's up to the challenge, and this one may be a big hit. But, at the same time, Zooey's character is lack of self esteem incarnate. This poor self image is reflected back to her by her three male roommates (who have a "Douchebag Jar" into which they have to deposit money whenever they act like douchebags...and the jar is usually full), her model friend, or any of the guys and gals they ineffectively hit on while looking for love in all of the wrong places. Zooey's character, ferchrissakes, still wallowing in an embarrassing breakup, watches "Dirty Dancing" five or six times a day, sobbing through it. And millions of viewers are going to tune in every week *to* watch her wallow, because they do the same thing, and can identify with her and her big, sad blue eyes. So, what's my "takeaway" from seeing these TV shows? And how on earth do I relate it to the TMO and how it should be marketing TM? It's the common denominator -- lack of self esteem. If these are all going to be popular TV series in America (and they probably all will), watched weekly by millions of viewers, what are those viewers seeing onscreen and identifying with that makes them want to come back week after week for more? Lack of self esteem. Viewers can identify with these characters because they feel that same lack themselves. So I'm thinkin'...how could the TMO better market TM, if what they *really* wanted to do was promote its practice, and get the most people started with it? Duh. Pitch it as a way to feel better about yourself. Instead of pitching it (via the DLF, pretty much the only teaching effort being undertaken at this time) to at-risk kids, people in prisons, and soldiers suffering from PTSD, get back to pitching it to the Common Man. And as much as the groups of people mentioned above need something that can boost their self esteem, after this week of watching the TV shows they watch, I'm thinkin' that the Common Man can use a bit of a boost themselves, and might be convinced to pay a reasonable price for it. Forget the flying crap; only dweebs want to learn to fly. Forget the ME stuff; nobody believes it anyway. Get back to the SIMS days, stop relying for your income on "milking the faithful," and start marketing to new people, pitching something that is of actual interest to them. Since the TMO will still feel that it has to do research to sell its product, by all means do it. But do research on normal, everyday, working people, and limit it to self-surveys of their general feelings of self esteem and self worth before starting TM and then after a few months of regular practice. I suspect you could come up with some real, non-data-massaged results from such studies that would show that TM has a real benefit in this area. Then go out and pitch *that* as a reason for learning TM. Lower the price at the same time to make it more reasonable for your target audience, and limit what you teach people to the basic mechanics of TM. Don't try to "cross sell" the Sidhis or enlightenment; mention them once during the basic course, and then don't bring them up again unless someone actually *asks* about them. In other words, focus on your one salable product, and pitch it at the thing that millions of Americans are actually interested in -- self esteem and how to have more of it. I think it might sell. At $300 a pop, which I feel is a fair price, and marketed as a self-therapy for people who want to feel more comfortable with themselves, I think TM is still a marketable commodity. Beats the crap out of spending many times that amount on mood-elevators and anti-depressants. But to market TM successfully to the Common Man, IMO its sellers really need to dump all the baggage TM comes with these days, which almost no one but the current faithful are interested in. It's an uphill battle to try to sell Eventual Enlightenment, and being essentially "broken" or unfulfilled until it happens, to an audience that is already suffering from an epidemic lack of self esteem. Sell them what they're looking for -- a way of becoming more comfortable with who they already are.
