Higginson: The power of the soundbite

The other day I was reading a Logan Jenkins column in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Mr. Jenkins wrote about the current owner of Stoneridge Golf Course floating the idea of potentially gifting land to the City of Poway for some residential development options. Mayor Steve Vaus was quoted as comparing this scenario to “receiving free kittens…they might be cute, but there’s responsibility that go with them.”

Later that day, at work, I noted that my colleague when explaining a proposed project echoed Earl Ray Jones comment to Kevin Costner in the film “Field of Dreams,” “If you build it, they will come.”

These soundbites, used by both politicians and screenwriters, can convey and leave lasting impressions with an economy of words. The movie industry discovered decades ago the power of creating impactful movie soundbites. Who can forget “Go ahead, make my day” in “Dirty Harry” or Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men” ranting, “You can’t handle the truth.” Not only do great movie soundbites leave unforgettable impressions, many even creep into our common conversations. When confronted by a task larger than anticipated, we all have heard someone mimic Roy Scheider in “Jaws” with, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.” And certainly no husband wants to be Paul Newman from “Cool Hand Luke” hearing their wife say, “What we have here … is a failure to communicate.” It only took my wife and me a few years into our children’s teen years to really appreciate Tom Hank’s epiphany in “Apollo 13” when imploring, “Houston, we have a problem.”

When I was elected to City Council in 1986, the city manager sent me to a workshop for newly elected officials. I confess that 30 years later, while I remember little from that workshop, there were two things I learned and have utilized many times. The workshop instructor reminded us that, as elected officials, we would come in contact with many constituents while out in the public. She went on to explain that invariably you will never be able to remember everyone’s name, but that’s OK because statistically 84 percent of the public will experience some type of “back pain” during any given year. So when approached by a familiar face but at a loss of placing that face with a name, simply ask them, “How is the back feeling?” I can attest, like Renee Zellweger’s “You had me at hello” in “Jerry Maguire,” it works!

I was also introduced by this same instructor to the use of soundbites in the political arena. We were told to try to develop the art of conveying seemly difficult and complex issues into simple quotable phrases. The fact is, the very title of my column, “A No-Brainer” was a soundbite I routinely used (following listening and analyzing the facts) to attempt to convey that a pending decision was going to be basically an easy decision to make. Even Donald Trump has been converted with “Make America great again.”

At times however, soundbites can come back to bite you. I trust George H.W. Bush wishes he never had uttered, “Read my lips … no new taxes.”

Years ago when Walmart first opened in Poway there was minimal opposition. In fact, with the $400,000 it provided to the city that first year, our decision to allow them to open was “a no-brainer.” Twenty-Five years later Walmart wanted to add groceries and folks trooped in, preaching “Armageddon” based on their perceived fears. Remembering what my mom told me as a child after a bad dream, and attempting to alleviate their fears, I expressed that it was very likely that “There are no monsters under the bed.” To the best of my knowledge, there have been no major manifestations of those perceived monsters.

Thinking of the mayor’s “free kittens” remark, I would be remiss to omit one of my favorite animal soundbites (which might even apply to my column): “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.”

Higgnsion served on the Poway City Council as mayor and councilmember for over 20 years.