5. Why "and" is so important

So if you then start thinking more deeply about it, you begin to realize you can’t have contradiction without first having something to be contradicted. That something is the opening element of agreement—the “setup” for the contradiction. It’s also the context (or “frame,” as we discussed in the politics chapter).

This is what we have increasingly found to be the most neglected and under-appreciated of the three forces. And quite possibly the most important. If you don’t set up this initial context, then you’re not going to have much depth of impact. This is what melodrama is about: the absence of much context.

. . . . .

The key point is that the mass audience doesn’t need all that A material before they get to their B and T. But … if you largely skip the A, you end up with melodrama, which is shallow, ephemeral and potentially even meaningless.