Form, Content, Structure: and Play

I recently received an email with this link, and if I've received it, I'm sure the more net-savvy folk out there saw it a year ago.

Take a moment to watch this. Go all the way to the end--not even two minutes of your time. Then come back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Interesting, eh.

The content is, of course, uplifting. It fits with the new optimism a new U.S. president brings. The cautious among us may say, "Let's dare to hope!" The less cautious are shouting "Hallelujah!" or some "Yahoo!" synonym.

The form is also interesting. A youtube video--and one sponsored by AARP, at that--is hip, happ'nin', current, today. It certainly has reached a wide audience.

But the structure of this was the most surprising part. I never saw it coming.

I'm a skeptical viewer. I rarely watch ads without finding fault or at least analyzing what I see and trying to predict the payoff. As I watched the opening of this piece, I thought "Hmm, that isn't quite right. Wait, that sounds a bit odd. Huh, I wonder why they split that line there." But I had no idea that it would play backward--and work.

How playful. How fun. It makes the writer in me want to scribble lines on a piece of paper for no reason and without prior purpose.

In other words, to play again.

When you work as a writer--I should say when I work as a writer, because I don't know that this is true for all writers--I sometimes forget the sheer joy of fiddling around with words.

So happy new year, everyone. Let's hope 2009 brings a little more laughter and play.

(Just don't tell me to smile. Nope, don't do it.)