The look results from a particular approach to work, which is that we should try to avoid our habits. My creative process starts with the suspicion of my easiest inclinations. Sometimes your easiest inclination is perfect. But you should still scrutinize it. Also, you want to make things that are general, but will last.
Cliches have their place, of course.
But I think really good work often takes a cliche and makes it individual. Or it does the opposite, taking something individual and making it into a myth. He's a variation of the Faust myth. Anyone who's had a teacher who meant something to them will understand that. I wanted the story to raise good, meaty questions about contemporary media and about the popular cultural assessment of what art is, what artistic endeavor is worth and what it might look like if it came along.