What does ‘Les Mis’ tell us about good content?

When it comes to content, success is measured in mass appeal

Among a number of film critics, hating Les Misérables has almost become a raison d’etre. They are about as dogged in their condemnation of the movie as Inspector Javier’s relentless pursuit of Jean Valjean. David Denby said in The New Yorker, said, “This movie is not just bad….. It’s terrible.” David Sexton of the London Evening Standard wrote, “… Les Misérables is exhausting, if not infuriating (it made me bad-tempered for two days, a personal record).”

Could this be a different Les Mis than the one I saw? I wasn’t the only one in the audience who shed more than a tear or two and applauded at the end. And my moviegoing experience was by no means a singular one. Michael Moses, co-president of marketing for Universal, the studio behind the film, told USA Today that the film powerfully connects with people. He witnessed standing ovations in addition to the tears and applause. Folks are going back for a repeat performance.

So what’s up? In fairness, Les Mis was even panned by critics when it came out 150 years ago but the Parisian masses ate it up. That’s because, as USA Today also points out, Hugo was not writing to the intellectuals of the time; he was writing for the people about social injustice – an issue we still grapple with in the 21st Century.

As a movie musical, Les Mis clearly demonstrate its enduring ability to grab audiences from the opening scenes and not let go until Jean Valjean’s life on the run ends with his redemption. The demand is global. Les Mishit the $300 million mark at the worldwide box office as it continued to rise up the chart of the most successful musicals of all time.

Despite the critics’ vitriol, it’s pretty clear that Victor Hugo was on to something. Could he have sown the seeds of successful content marketing back in 1862 when he wrote the novel? In my last (and my first post of our new Content Matters blog), I wrote how great content evokes an emotional response. That being the case, Victor Hugo was dead on. Not only does Les Mis – the book, the play and now the movie — hit the emotional mark, it tries to answer questions – another requisite of good content about redemption, forgiveness and humanity. And it educates. Who knew there was more than one French rebellion?

Let the critics damn Les Mis all they want; the audience doesn’t care. While clearly no fan, Anthony Lane also of The New Yorker predicted its mass appeal,. Lane wrote, “Fans of the original production, no doubt, will eat the movie up, and good luck to them. I screamed a scream as time went by.”

Les Mis is a powerful emotional experience. Audiences connect and keep coming back for more. If you haven’t seen the movie; do. It may inspire your content efforts. It did mine.

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