It’s not always about reinventing the wheel.  If we’ve learned anything this summer, we should have learned that.  Sometimes that wheel just needs a new set of tires to make it look, sound and feel better.  Take this summer’s mega-blockbuster movie, The Dark Knight.  We didn’t need an all new superhero or villain to pull us into the theatre.  All we needed was for a familiar one to be presented to us in a truly fresh, masterful, and creative way.  It wasn’t just the acting; it wasn’t just the screenplay; it wasn’t just the directing or the cinematography.  It was all of those things done to perfection.

Another shining example is Coldplay’s new release, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. It may not be a sonic revolution, but a fresh wind.  Coldplay is still Coldplay – just better.  And maybe what is the most impressive thing about it is that it is innovative, layered and compelling musically, but managed to appeal to the masses.   

Many of us seem to have our eyes fixed on the horizon, waiting for the creative arts messiah to save the entertainment industry.  At the very least, we’d like for someone to reinvent that wheel.  But until that happens, maybe what we need is to toss those worn-out, threadbare tires into the landfill, and put on a fresh set… maybe even some that will take us off-road.