Frozen, Blockbusters and Technical Excellence

I remember reading a review of the movie Frozen which said that it was pretty good, but quite generic and had dark animation. That is the last I thought of the movie until about a year later when I discovered it was the 5th highest grossing movie of all time. (Apparently, it also has a popular song.) It turns out that while the critic didn't like it, most other people did. Critical Acclaim and box office success are often portrayed as an either/or fallacy.

Technical Excellence and successful outcomes (winning), are also often portrayed as an either/or. That is, there are only two options: are you focussing on technique, or are you focussing 'winning'? Obviously this is ridiculous, and I really wish people would stop.

Technique is a means to an end. The outcome is the end, technical excellence can help this. It is not an either/or discussion as the two aspects are intrinsically linked. The differences start when digging down into exactly what that outcome is.

If the 'end', or 'outcome', is playing professional golf, then a certain level of technical excellence will help. But, with 28,000 members of the PGA (Professional Golf Association), being a professional golfer is relatively easy to do. If the outcome is to win the Olympic Gold Medal, where one person wins, once every four years, then a higher level of technical excellence will likely enhance the chances of this.

(Photo Credit)

PS - Someone 'succeeding' with 'poor technique' isn't proof that technique isn't important. It isn't. Stop. Please.