Tipping Points, I and II

How odd that I would pick up a 10-year-old book, Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point," and the very next day after I finish it, I go see a new movie, "The Joneses," which has everything to do with some of key points in the book.

Except for the coincidence that they address the same topic, the book and movie are completely unrelated. And while neither ranks as among the most memorable things I've read or viewed, together I can say they do reinforce each other's message -- namely, that major changes in our society and/or buying habits are often the result of well-planned campaigns that rely on a relatively small set of influencers.

By campaign, I don't mean a generalized mass-market pitch that's so broad in its pitch that it misses most of its targets. Rather, as Gladwell (above) points out, there are particular personality types "who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon word of mouth."

These are the people who are socially well connected and who, by sheer force of personality and natural tendency to want to tell others of cool new products or great deals, wield an influence far out of proportion to their numbers. They may not even knowingly set out to start a trend -- or a "social epidemic" as Gladwell calls it -- but by the very clothes they wear or the restaurant or movie they recommend to a circle of friends, they wind up having spheres of influence. Essentially, these are the people who are at ground zero when a YouTube video goes viral.

I had barely absorbed the final pages of "The Tipping Point" when I noticed a blurb for "The Joneses" and, speaking of influential people, a positive review by Roger Ebert. It was enough for me to persuade Lori to join me at the Monday night movies at the Hollywood Theater.

The film introduces us to a perfect family who seem to have it all -- money, looks, a bodacious home in a new subdivision and lots of leisure time. David Duchovny and Demi Moore are cast as Steve and Kate Jones, and two lesser-known actors, Ben Hollingsworth and Amber Heard, (neither of them hard on the eyes) play their teenage son and daughter.

All four blend effortlessly into their new community and, as if they were channeling Gladwell, exert an outsized influence on their neighbors' buying decisions. People struggle to literally keep up with the Joneses. Turns out the Joneses aren't exactly who you they think are, however. To say more would spoil the ending. Suffice to say they are the epitome of Gladwell's "connectors" who help things reach critical mass -- or their tipping point.

Photograph of Malcolm Gladwell: http://blogstra.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/malcolm-gladwell-esque-thought-of-the-day/