The case for chaos

The case for chaos

“In space no one can hear you scream.” “An adventure 65 million years in the making.” “You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll hurl.” As a lifelong editor, author, storyteller, and brand builder, I’ve always been a sucker for a great movie tagline. So you can probably understand my reaction to the billboard I saw on a recent trip to Los Angeles. It was for the second season of HBO’s cerebral, violent sci-i masterpiece Westworld, in which lifelike robots in an Old West theme park rise up against their human creators. The billboard showed a menacing mechanical vulture in the desert, with three words: “Chaos takes control.” That’s efective marketing copy for a dark show tackling heady themes of life, death, and creation. But it’s also curiously inspiring. As any successful entrepreneur will tell you, it’s often when unexpected chaos descends—at work, at home, on the playing ield, in a relationship—that you make your savviest moves and nail your biggest wins. Change breeds opportunity. Or, as one of my favorite authors, Chuck Palahniuk, observed in his book Invisible Monsters: “Our real
discoveries come from chaos—from going to the place that looks wrong and
stupid and foolish.” It’s a lesson learned all too well by Westworld’s leading man, James Marsden, who appears on Men’s Health’s cover for the second time. The 44-yearold star of X-Men, Enchanted, and other terriic ilms lived a charmed existence for much of his life—until his marriage of 11 years came to an abrupt end. As he revealed to us in an honest, emotional interview, divorce was the irst time in his life he felt he lost his equilibrium. It was scary and sad,” he said, ighting back tears, “and it made me pull everything into focus. I needed to focus on what’s important. I needed to heal. So that’s who I am now because of that. I know things you regret can be catalysts for good things.”
Today Marsden is happy, his career is motoring at full throttle, he’s healthier than ever (see page 98 for proof), and he’s in a great relationship. Marsden’s hard-won words about embracing change and staying positive are an inspiration. I hope you give them a read. And speaking of change, if you’re a
close observer of this magazine, you’re probably aware that it has arrived at a new and exciting chapter. After irst joining the magazine in 1993, starting my 13-year tenure as editor-in-chief in 2000, and recently revisiting the brand as it charted a new course under the stewardship of the Hearst Corporation, I will be saying goodbye to Men’s Health. But I’m excited to pass the reins to Rich Dorment, a whip-smart young editor who worked for Esquire magazine for many years and was most recently plugged into the high-paced tech world at Wired. He’s now here to lead and is irmly committed to giving you what you need to achieve what you want in life. “The old rulebooks about itness, wellness, and success have been torn up,” he says. “We’re writing our own rules as we strive to become stronger, faster, better versions of ourselves— better partners, better parents, better friends, and better men.”
So expect even more topnotch stories and aspirational advice—along with the best foods to eat, gear to buy, and everything you need to be the best man you can possibly be. So what’s your tagline?David ZinczenkoACTING EDITORIAL DIRECTO