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On Being Classic

“Resist the temptation to try to use dazzling style to conceal weakness of substance.” ~ Stanley Schmidt

To me, that’s the essence of being classic—content rules.

That’s why we can’t fake a classic, or speed up its production, be it literature, music, or a human being, if the quality is substandard. Nevertheless, with the right attitude, we could at least hope to save time by avoiding unnecessary mistakes. (“Are their necessary mistakes?” you may ask. Yes, sometimes we can’t be taught.)

1) Confidence and judgments

People may think that pride and confidence come only after they have created a classic. The problem is, they are more than likely to quit on the way, if they lack the firm belief that their work will be recognized.

It is true that the Internet and its derivatives extend our scopes and expose us to diverse lifestyles. Meanwhile, we become more susceptible to trends. It takes a strong mind to resist the temptation of doing “what everybody else is doing”.

First, there is no such thing that everybody is doing! We tend to underestimate the sheer size of human population, and forget that the majority is usually silent. Most existing classics had been created prior to the Information Age when people weren’t constantly receiving the “pressure”.

The guts to resist blindly accepting the public’s taste is critical. But that doesn’t mean we have to work against trends, to create something unusual or offbeat. Being classic is about sticking to quality, and pursuing what you genuinely believe is meaningful.

As an artist, one may be worried that the work-in-progress will be appreciated by nobody else in the world. The advice is, “If you want to write you must have faith in yourself. Faith enough to believe that if a thing is true about you, it is likely true about many people.” (Real Live Preacher)

Walk into any department store, and you’ll be surrounded by sparkling accessories and designer apparels. The lack of confidence can easily turn a financially-capable woman into a jewelry holder. But even with confidence, she has to make proper judgments in choosing the items that best bring up, not cover up, her natural beauty. Confidence and judgments, without either a classic will not be born.

2) Behind simplicity

Some say, “Simplicity is beauty.” It’s only part of the story. Simplicity can be a result of cursory production or lack of choices. The creation of a classic requires artistic consciousness in distilling the central elements and eliminating the fluffy and the unnecessary, resulting in simplicity. “A simple style is like white light. Although complex, it does not appear to be so.” (Anatole France)

The inspiration of writing this article came from a recent experience in choosing holiday ecards for friends. I was surprised by how hard it is nowadays to find a traditional greeting card that contains only a static image.

Ecard websites are flooded with animations and videos. First, a dog runs over and brings you a ball ornament. Then a tree springs out from a gift box, with candles magically appearing and lighting up on its branches. It can be fun, especially for the young generations. But what do you remember afterwards, the dog, the tree, or the candles?

A classic is meant to last. Its magic relies on the fact that the human memory works best for one integrated presentation. Adding accessories disperses your attention and weakens the impact of the central element, whether it’s visual, auditory, or cognitive.

Another drawback of adding accessories is that it conveys the message that you don’t believe the central element alone is strong enough. If you are a true celebrity, why would you need an eye-catching hat for people to recognize you on the street? This goes back to the confidence issue.

For example, in writing, the word “very” should be used sparsely, if at all. When you believe something is more than funny, use the word “hilarious”. Better yet, just show the content and let the readers decide how funny it is. If the central element isn’t strong enough, dazzling add-ons will only point out its vanity.

Simple and direct. In the music industry, the success rate of singing “someone else’s song” is usually low. This is not because the audience is too accustomed to the original performance. When you are the first one to perform, you choose the style that comes naturally, the simplest way to achieve a desired effect (which is often the best way). If you have to distinguish yourself from an already notable performance, you are more likely to resort to fancy approaches, exaggerated emotions, twists and turns, which all lead you away from the creation of a classic.

3) Gentle or brutal

Because of its simplicity, its low profile, the absence of melodramatic screaming, a classic sometimes gives people an impression of being moderate. Yes, knowing when to stop is an art, but the purpose of stopping is not to compromise, but to leave a stronger effect. Under gentle or even humble presentations, classics are, in fact, everything but moderate.

Think about the inner struggles in Gone with the Wind, the hopeless situation in Harry Potter when facing the dark society. A classic is not for a weak mind.

Besides confidence and judgments, the creator has to have guts --- the guts not to stop at where other people would have considered “good enough”, “almost-there”, but to keep exceeding boundaries until a certain art form can barely support the weight of the production.