Interviews

I enjoy watching interviews on Youtube. The interviews that Ellen Degeneres does are my favorite. For one thing, she reminds me so much of Great Aunt Nancy it surprises me each time. The second thing is that she is good about bringing back the same people often, and keeping in touch with them between visits on her show, so the interviews feel more intimate than they do on, say, David Letterman (Bruce Willis being an exception), or certainly, Jay Leno. The interviews don't contain the same "So, tell us about yourself and your show" openings every. single. time. It's more along the lines of "I have met you before, I have heard about your show, movie, family, pet...now let's have some fun, and see what happens".

For me, there is something about watching a person answer personal questions and have conversations in such a simulated environment that is fascinating. I mean, you have all of these strangers watching you, in the studio audience, on television, on Youtube who, for some reason, suddenly care that you exist and want to know what you are about. But, it really is, mostly, a fake intimacy that is developed between us and the interviewee. The fascinating part of it for me is how the interviewee responds to this environment, because it will almost always leave that person either entirely naked and exposed, or super fake with automatic, built-in responses.

And watching these interviews inspires me to want to enter any high-stress situations that come my way with an enthusiastic, unflinching, uncompromising approach. If I see any similar approach taken by the interviewees in the interviews I watch, it completely affects how I respond to what they say and how they act. This response from me makes me believe and hope that most people out there in the world react the same way...or at least a similar, recognizable way.

High hopes for the world? Or do I need to be in front of a camera, sitting across from a professional Television Personality for my words and actions to be taken so kindly?