Ellen DeGeneres & the Metaphor Heard Around the World
Whether she’s considered corporate or just the face of her own incredible brand, Ellen DeGeneres always produces content that goes viral, gets retweets from celebrities, makes an impact, and helps those in need. Her name defines who she is: Ellen De“GENERES” (Sound it out and you’ll get it). Watching her show is the highlight of my day. Anyone that knows me knows that. She reminds us to be kind to one another; a statement that should just be a given. She speaks up in a strategic way as to get her message across to make a statement; keeping the content light but lasting and is always able to segue into a dance.
On the topic of Canned vs. Planned Content, Hamza said, “It really comes down to valuing your audience, and making an effort to produce something useful/amusing/informational/engaging/inspirational. Anything less feels lazy and/or contrived”. No one values their audience more than Ellen DeGeneres and her efforts always produce a message that contains all of the above.
Over the years she has built up her brand to represent kindness, giving, and having fun. Throughout her 14 seasons, she has used her platform to interact with her fans, spread love and hope with every person she features, and creates a support system for those going through tough times. She interviews celebrities on every show but also brings everyday people who do amazing things and have impactful stories that need to be heard. I know that when I’m having a bad day, Ellen is like therapy because of the good she does and the person she is. Everyone just loves her!
Side Note: Ellen, if you’re reading this — you’re such an inspiration and one day I WILL be on your show. Just wait! #Goals
Anyways, I could go on forever about how awesome she is…
A few weeks ago this video broke the internet. With so much political turmoil in the world, Ellen was able to make connections between Finding Dory’s storyline and Trump’s actions towards building the wall and the travel ban without directly pointing fingers or naming names. It was such a coincidence and completely ironic that Trump screened Finding Dory the day after announcing the ban. She expressed such a powerful metaphor. It went viral, it got retweeted, it made an impact, and provided great awareness for those in need. This certainly was carefully crafted content with little planning that was was time, place, and tone appropriate. It was a recent event and she wasted no time to take control of the narrative she felt so connected to.
If you do the simple search of “ellen degeneres finding dory wall” on your Facebook search engine, you will see that this story is everywhere. Sites like CNN International, GMA News, The Guardian, and many more reputable news outlets reported this. Celebrities spoke out. Buzzfeed’s video of the story had everyone sharing it to their personal feeds. Added 2 weeks ago to YouTube, it has over 2.7 million views. I’m pretty sure this was the metaphor heard around the world.
“Dory arrives in America with her friends, Marlin and Nemo. She ends up at the marine life institute behind a large wall and they all have to get over the wall. You won’t believe it, but that wall has almost no effect in keeping them out.”
She was sure to emphasize the word wall to make her statement, but she never once mentions Trump, the travel ban, or keeping out Mexican immigrants.
“Even though Dory gets into America, she ends up separated from her family but the other animals help Dory; animals that don’t even need her; animals that don’t even have anything in common with her. They help her even though they’re completely different colours because that’s what you do when you see someone in need. You help them.”
What’s incredible about this metaphor is everyone knew what she was talking about without bringing the mood down by personally attacking the president. Ellen just has that power to stand up for what is right without expressing negativity through anger or outrage. She sticks to her brand by contributing her voice and expressing concern to serious issues but does so in a clever and smart manner that always ends on a positive note.
She did not have a lot of time to act on that past weekend’s sequence of events, though she successfully, efficiently, and effectively managed to deliver an inspiring, thought-provoking, philosophical message that actually changes your perspective of watching Finding Dory from now on. Parents can now instil this important message to their children when they watch Finding Dory. I’m sure the message of helping those in need was the purpose behind this animated film, but now that it connects to a current event that is challenging that notion, it has a greater impact and a call to action.
The coincidence between Finding Dory and Trump’s actions provides such hope that everything will be okay as long as we stand together and help one another.
Have a great reading week, y’all and remember, be kind to one another!
