Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar win for The Revenant triggers surge in sales for spinning tops
When serial Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio finally broke his
Academy Award drought last week, he inadvertently triggered a small surge in
sales of spinning tops. The reason, explains Will Cutler, a product designer
from Burton upon Trent, is somewhat complicated.
Movie buffs will remember that DiCaprio’s character in the
2010 science-fiction film Inception was
a thief who infiltrated the subconscious of his victims. In a world where
dreams and real life are difficult to distinguish, Dominic Cobb relied on a
small top – his totem – to check if he was awake (the spinning top slows and
topples) or dreaming (it spins for ever).
So, when DiCaprio picked up his Best Actor Oscar for The
Revenant, the internet celebrated with a meme showing the actor
using his top to check if he was dreaming or if he had actually got his hands
on a gold statue. And that, according to Mr Cutler, the designer of the Vorso
MK1 top, was enough to cause “an upturn in business”.
“I’m serious man,” said the 26-year-old designer. “I’m worried
we won’t have enough stock.” In truth, the curious renaissance of the spinning top was
under way before DiCaprio won his first Oscar. A cursory search of crowdfunding
sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo reveals a plethora of tops, a rudimentary toy that has
existed since antiquity.
Today’s tops tend to be small, metal objects with hyperbolic
names. They include the TTi-180, the UltraTop XXX, the BilletSpin, the Kraken
and the ForeverSpin, a product that reportedly raised $1.5m (£1m) on
Kickstarter. Some of the new generation of tops glow in the dark, others can be
stacked like building blocks; most promise extravagant spin times. A few boast
more metaphysical qualities: the UltraTop, for example, is billed as “a great
way to relax, escape from the hustle and bustle and meditate”.
Structure of the Lead:
Who: The spinning tops.
When: Not given.
Why and What: The movie, The Revenant, boosts the sale of spinning tops.
Where: Not given.
How: Not given.
How: Not given.
Keywords:
1. infiltrate (v.) 潛入
2. totem (n.) 圖騰
3. meme (n.) 透過模仿傳遞的風潮
4. renaissance (n.) 復興
5. cursory (a.) 匆忙草率的
6. plethora (n.) 過剩
7. rudimentary (a.) 初步的；早期的
8. hyperbolic (a.) 誇張的
9. extravagant (a.) 奢侈、過度的
10. metaphysical (a.) 隱喻的
沒有留言:
張貼留言