Among copywriters, the most famous movie of all time is Lethal Weapon. That’s because Gene Schwartz, the author of Breakthrough Advertising, which is something like a bible in the field, once said that every copywriter should watch Lethal Weapon at least two or three times, preferably back to back.
Gene was recommending Lethal Weapon because of its BANG-talk-BOOM-talk-JOKE-BANG-BOOM-talk structure.
But Lethal Weapon is an influence gift that keeps on giving. For example:
In one early scene, we see Martin Riggs, a cop played by Mel Gibson, in the middle of a Christmas tree lot. Riggs is being used as a human shield by a cornered drug dealer, who is pointing a gun at Riggs’s head.
Riggs starts yelling to the gathering cops, who all have their guns out. “Shoot him! Shoot the bastard!”
The drug dealer is getting flustered. He begs Riggs to shut up.
Riggs keeps yelling. And in a flash, he turns around, grabs the gun from the drug dealer, headbutts him, and ends the standoff.
Next scene:
We see the same Martin Riggs, in his ramshackle trailer by the beach, late at night. He’s drinking and looking at a framed wedding photo of himself and his wife.
Riggs takes his gun and puts it inside his mouth. He tries to pull the trigger, but he can’t. He starts crying. “Oh, I miss you,” Riggs says to the picture.
Are you getting an idea of what kind of character Martin Riggs might be?
I hope so.
But in case not, there’s one more scene I want to tell you about. In fact, it’s the very next scene in the movie:
The police office psychologist is walking with the police captain through the police station. “May I remind you,” she says to the captain, “that his wife of 11 years was recently killed in a car accident? He’s on the edge, sir. I’m telling you he may be psychotic. You’re making a mistake by keeping him in the field. The man is suicidal.”
So now let me point out the obvious:
Probably the most famous bit of writing advice is to show and not tell.
And it’s good advice.
It’s almost as good as the advice to both show and tell, which is what’s happening in those Lethal Weapon scenes.
Because with buddy cop comedies, sales copy, and with influential writing as well, we are really not looking for people to draw their own conclusions.
Sure, it’s great if they conclude what we want them to, on their own. And that’s why we show them stuff.
But you don’t want to leave it there. You don’t want to give people any wiggle room. So that’s why you tell them your point as well as show it.
What? You say you knew that already? Or you say it’s so obvious that it doesn’t need to be pointed out?
Fine. So let me tell you something else, which might be genuinely new:
You can tell people stuff. Including stuff that’s not supported by the emotional visualization you just showed them.
Because an emotion is like syrup. It can be poured over anything… and once it’s poured onto the pancakes, it’s likely to spread all over the plate, to the sausages also.
That’s a super valuable idea, if you only grasp it.
In fact, all my emails are chock full of such super valuable ideas. If you want me to show you as well as tell you that, sign up for my newsletter here.