10/06/2025
We've been telling stories since before the campfire was invented. So, being "original" today is all about context and style.
The hit US TV show, Sons of Anarchy was lauded for its originality. It wasn't Shakespeare, for sure. But I'm not the only one to see it as Hamlet, retold.
There's nothing wrong with taking the familiar and re-imaging it as something new. It will be new to someone, no doubt.
If one has never read Hamlet, then Jax Teller is as fresh a troubled young prince as they come.
How the story is told makes all the difference between something "original" and an obvious ripoff.
That's why I didn't cringe when I read that Homer's Iliad could be read and imagined as battle rap.
The parallel is there, especially between Hector and Achilles. So the article now in the Media C-Suite connects for me.
To bring this to point, story is just the beginning. For audiences now worth over $2.7 trillion in global revenues to our industry, how you tell it matters.
The same is true for investors. How you tell the story of why they should invest in your media business is the difference between raising capital or not.
Look to the ageless plot lines that work. Truth, transparency, partnership. Then tell your story with style, passion and urgency.
Know your audience.
Comedy and tragedy are exciting. Drama catches the attention. But investors enjoy non-fiction.
As for the Iliad as battle rap? I find it so easy to believe that Homer would have been a fan.
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Like what I say? There’s a lot more.
Homer’s Iliad as epic rap battle takes nothing from modern culture and gives everything in exchange.
