Where this was said
Specificity as the Key to Universal Resonance
At 16:30 · chapter starts 16:00
Mendoza pushes on the anxiety creative risk-takers often carry: doesn't the specificity worry you? Ahmed's answer is a firm no — not anymore. He's worked out that specificity and resonance are not in tension; they're the same thing. Nobody watching The Crown is the Queen of England, yet millions identify with her. Nobody watching Goodfellas is a Mafia gangster, yet it's one of the most beloved films ever made. What audiences respond to is honesty, and nothing signals honesty like particularity. Fleabag, I May Destroy You, Atlanta — the shows in front of his mind when making Bait — are all almost aggressively specific, and all universally beloved. It's a lesson, he says, he believes in passionately. [1] — Riz Ahmed "Nobody is the Queen of England, yet millions identified with The Crown. Nobody is a Goodfellas gangster, yet Scorsese's film is universal. …" 16:00
Nobody is the Queen of England, yet millions identified with The Crown. Nobody is a Goodfellas gangster, yet Scorsese's film is universal. Specificity signals authenticity, and authenticity is what audiences actually connect with.
