Rocky and raw eggs leave an impression!

I leaned in close to hear over the noisy bus. The driver kept shifting gears and it made especially hard to hear. Dana sat in his seat and let out a little smile. He knew that he had everyone’s attention. He waited for the longest time and then started up again. “And then he ate five raw eggs.” 

The elementary school aged boys sitting around Dana all roared in mocked pain and laughter. One kid put his hands up to his throat like he was gagging. For a young kid, raw eggs sounded as enticing as someone throwing up.

But, Dana wasn’t done.

It gets even better

The bus driver looked up worried that something was wrong. When he saw everyone in their seats, he continued on the route. “And then, you won’t believe this part, he goes to a meat locker and punches the slabs of frozen beef.” To prove his point, Dana let out a quick one-two-three punch combo on the back of his bus seat. “His hands get all gory, he says it’s better than hitting a punching bag.”

Of course, Dana was talking about the 1976 movie Rocky. We were all young kids, too young to see the movie on our own, but an older sister had taken him. The memory is close to 50 years old, but I still remember the glee on Dana’s face when he told us all about the movie. He liked having our attention. By the end of the bus ride to school he had us all repeating lines from the movie including: “Yo Adrian,” “Cut me Mick.” and “the Italian Stallion.”

Rapt attention

I thought of the old memory this week. A former coworker had called and mentioned they had seen the movie Tron Ares with Jared Leto and Jeff Bridges. He had given the movie a glowing review. It hit me that a good movie review is an amazing thing.

As a freshman in college I could barely squeeze a dollar out of my pocket, but a friend talked up the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He told how the audience gets into the act by dressing up as characters and throwing toast, rice, and toilet paper.

“Is that why the Forum floor always feels crunchy come Monday morning?” I asked him. Of course I had to check it out for myself.

I remember not knowing what to expect. It was a mixture of theatrics and drunken idiocy, but I was glad I had taken my friend’s advice.

Movie reviews move us. My neighbor tells me how much he likes his new lawn mower. I say, “Okay, that’s nice. Good for you.” A guy at work says he loves his new Mustang. We talk shop for a few minutes. He talks about the car’s horsepower. “Great, good for you Joe.” And, I move on.

Pushing us to act

My brother-in-law tells me I need to check out the latest episode of Pitt, Succession, or Severance. He says it’s right up there with some of the best shows on TV. I’m in. I’m mentally adding it to My Watch List. If it’s a slow night, I’m checking out the show that night.

One study two years ago found that recommendations from friends or family influence the viewing habits of 60% of global respondents—a significantly larger share than those influenced by reviews on the web or social media. Ultimately, word-of-mouth is a driving force because it offers a personal, trusted recommendation that can’t be bought by advertising. It’s authentic.

Of course, it helps when the person giving the recommendation gets into it like my classmate Dana did so many years ago. Even if I was gored out, I had to see the movie. I had to know if it was as good as Dana said it was.

Here’s to drinking down raw eggs.