Mirror Mania - Part I

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Mirror Mania - Part I

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Norm Fox (not pictured above} was a friend. I was but one of a colossal coterie. Harvard, Columbia University, and The London School of Economics are a few of the coordinates where he magnetized the eclectic array of people that filled his orbit.

The man was a bonafide polymath. From his Los Angeles Times obit (July 15, 2010) -

He had an encyclopedic knowledge of art, music, opera, world history and cultures, literature, film and television, gastronomy, enology, languages, and so much more. He memorized every line of his favorite film, Truffaut's "Jules and Jim", which he saw over a hundred times. A self-taught painter, he had several art gallery shows.

That’s less than the half of it. He was a curious man in every sense. 

WIDER HORIZONS FOR ME

Fox wrote award winning copy for major advertising agencies, and later award winning scripts for prime time television shows. That’s where he connected with Norman Steinberg, my longtime pal and sometime collaborator, whose tv/film credits are - well, Blazing Saddles to start. 

Steinberg drew me into the Norman/Norman axis. Somehow I’d missed Norman Fox at the London School of Economics. Probably owing to a coincidence; while he was there I was aware of London though entirely unaware of its School of Economics; I was fully focused on the many demands attending to my studies at the New York School of Gigs.

In time I grew a bit more knowledgeable in matters that extended beyond trumpet playing gigs, and I lost my chops. Who needs gigs when you can’t play? 

“Everything changes.” ~Suzuki Roshi

While I was at this stage long involved in meditation, wisdom traditions, states of consciousness, philosophy, psychology, theater, several musical idioms and, of course, milk shakes - I knew next to nothing about the machinations of major league show business. The Entertainment Industrial Complex.

Musicians live in a show-biz adjacent neighborhood.

I’d had something of a primer in my time with ‘Midday Live,’ a daily chat show in New York where I snuck glimpses into the gaping belly of the beast.

Life changed. I had moved to Los Angeles and into Belly Central, living amid the challenges facing a newly anointed Hollywood denizen with all the associated churning. 

Norman Fox hosted regular luncheons with carefully curated guest lists. Among his eclectic endeavors he hosted a talk show on KABC radio centered around travel and dining. Ergo, he made deals with the best restaurants in town where he would assemble notable guests, among which I was not infrequently noted.

His modus operandi was to pose a provocative question for each of us to address in the course of courses.

As luck would have it (never underestimate luck) I was well schooled in ‘swinging’ conversation by great storytellers at The Copper Rail, a bar and soul food joint directly across Seventh Avenue from The Metropole, a jazz venue that opened onto the street. Non-stop, continuous music.

World class players of traditional jazz and swing influenced music alternated between sets on a long narrow bandstand behind the Metropole bar, and the Copper Rail bar across the street.

Only a child of nine, seen from the bandstand in the throes of animated antics, expressions of ardent appreciation for what “the cats” were playing. They were compelled to pay attention to me. Especially when asked why I was there and my response was, “I’m a trumpet player.”

It started with Henry ‘Red’ Allen, a fellow trumpet player and New Orleans contemporary of Louis Armstrong, whom I would mimic on the street. He had a signature high sign that I would shoot back at him anytime he looked my way. He got a kick out of that. 

Slowly I got to know all the guys. They would generously invite me to sit with them, buy me a coke to sip, as they relaxed between sets in a booth across the street.

There I absorbed amusing, often hilarious, richly textured, and rhythmic conversation. The greatest musicians are great storytellers, whether in a booth with booze or on the bandstand with horns.

I was ready for Norman Fox. And he was ready for me.

Hooray to the Copper Rail days. They were sweet.

Through the good offices of Norman Fox I embarked on a deep education at he highest level in the workings of ‘electronic media,’ as it was called many years later in my early days of professing at the Newhouse School. 

As the world and its media has shifted and continues to shift swiftly with quake like rumblings, the grounding I got then has served me well. I don’t pretend to know exactly what’s happening, as cultivating ‘don’t know’ mind is a rudiment of ACTING HUMAN practice. I am, nevertheless, a keen observer of media upheaval in this tumultuous time. 

As HUMAN ACTORS, living mediated lives, it is critical that we have an engaged sense of its impacts as we co-create ourselves in this fast changing world. 

LETS GO TANGO

Not only was Norman erudite in matters of entertainment business, his “significant other and best friend,” as he described her, was part of the package.

Her name is Loreen Arbus, the daughter of Leonard Goldenson, who was President and Chairman of the American Broadcasting Company. 

Goldenson was a critical force in the formation of ABC, he turned it into a media conglomerate, and then played an outsized role in new programming strategies and media synergy, igniting changes that would have implications lasting until and into this moment. 

Loreen, was more than just Leonard’s daughter, she was the first woman to head programming for two national cable networks. She lead Showtime and Lifetime to prominence. She is, also, a world renowned Argentinian Tango dancer and choreographer.

Loreen is best known today as a philanthropist committed to help girls, women and those with disabilities.  

Norman and Loreen, a curious couple, in every sense. Me, an oddity in Hollywood, a musician from the Bronx morphed into a coveted writer/director/producer of primetime television - Fox, Arbus, and Dubin were copacetic.

THE VIEW FROM INSIDE

In brief, here’s what I learned.

ABC was for years a poor cousin to CBS and NBC. Goldenson was not a happy camper. Slow progress toward parity in the 60s, and 70’s was accelerated when Roone Arledge, who had run ABC Sports with sterling success since 1968, was in 1977, handpicked by Goldenson to add News to his portfolio in an effort to parlay his golden touch in Sports programming (sorry about that) to the then deeply troubled, ratings disaster and money leaking News division.

News had been cordoned off and protected from commercial pressure to support ‘integrity.’ It often operated as a loss leader. To the extent News had an economic impact on programming it was in so far as the News audience tended to stay for the night, thereby bolstering primetime ratings. You had to get up to change the channel. ABC News was, as Roone Arledge came to the helm, at an all-time low. 

Arledge was responsible for Wide World of Sports, and Monday Night Football. Both enormous hits spitting out piles of profit.

He won ten Emmys for ABC’s Olympic Coverage to add luster to the glory of ABC.

Roone did what he knew how to do. He created World News Tonight in the image of Wide World of Sports, garnering a ratings and economic windfall. 

Eventually the News businesses at all the networks followed, then fractured, giving rise to Cable Networks. 

CNN, an exception, was a bold play by Ted Turner, independent of any network affiliation. It served as proof of concept. He started in his father’s billboard business, got into local stations, then satellite distribution before launching the first 24- hour-a-day All News Network with international reach.

Turner was an adventurer, notably a competitive sailor. A sportsman.

Now we have MSNBC and FOX News. CBS has dipped in and out of cable; it offers a streaming service today.

Roone Arledge showed that News could turn a profit when presented ‘as if’ sports. Turner noticed the profit potential, as did NBC and FOX.

Today we live in a culture where News media flashes on ubiquitous screens, reflecting in appearance and content, that everything and anything happening anywhere in the world is best seen through the lens of sports, broadly defined. All in the interest of business advantage and profit.

WE IDENTIFY WITH THE MEDIATED WORLD

As we’ve discussed, what we see and how we see it makes strong and compelling impressions, influencing who we think we are and how we connect with each other, coloring events in and around every daily moment, and shaping the world in which we live.

To the great extent that media disconnects us from ourselves and each other, sows discontent, arouses heightened emotion based on imposed ’truths’ not actually experienced in our immediate life, and teaches us to keep score and predict outcomes - it does a grievous disservice to our sanity and humanity.

When we take to heart and see what is portrayed on television and in other media as an ‘official version of reality,’  without intentional and practiced awareness, we sacrifice our birthright to co-create in the Universal Theater.

To ACT HUMAN depends on seeing finite games, like corporate media businesses, in the meta-context of our infinite ACTING HUMAN game. 

So, we shall dive deep into our practice to learn  how we can navigate the media morass so as to see clearly and not get stuck in the muck.

There was a time when television was referred to as a ‘vast wasteland.’ We cannot so easily dismiss media with disdain. It is an active element in our lives. To push it away is to deny ourselves the opportunity to live alive in today’s fast changing world.

Seeing the effects of news as sports is one step in the direction of enlarged awareness, to serve ourselves and each other, to play truly in the Universal Theater for sanity and humanity.

There are several books that I commend to your attention. I will refer to them often. Here they are:

Until next time,

Lights Up!