Monday, February 7, 2011

Differences can be similarities

First off, I don't know when we were supposed to put up our critiques on each other's posts so I’m just gonna do that as kind of an appendix to this post after I’m done talking about the reading we did. So, concerning the reading, I was totally mystified but some of the concepts brought up in this week’s reading. In The Story of my Body, I had a very easy time relating to the writer (on some levels, some of the feminine stuff didn’t resonate with me quite as well.) When she talked about sustaining scars from a bad case of the chicken pocks and some of the ramifications from that unfortunate mishap, I knew exactly what she was talking about because I had experienced the same thing. I have two scars on my face from the exact same thing so I understood completely what she went through as an adolescent. Although I could identify with her on this level, my ability to understand her sentiments weren’t limited strictly to that. I remember wondering to myself several times as a teenager about who I really was and what it was that defined me, both in my eyes and in the other eyes of others (especially the latter.) As I thought about this, I realized that what defined me wasn’t what I had in common with everybody else but what was different. I eventually appreciated and even embraced my chicken pock scars and one of the imperfections that made me different from everybody else. As I started getting into film I began wondering how I could make art that stood out from other people’s films and how I would be able to make a distinct style that nobody else had. This was extremely difficult for me because I don’t feel I’ve ever been anybody particularly interesting on a surface level, I’m just kind of a run of the mill guy with a few things that distinguish me from other people. Just like I discovered in my adolescence, I realized that my differences were really my greatest strengths in my being an artist. I also realized that my I shared differences with others (kind of a paradox, I know) and that as long as I was respectful of other people’s differences, these could actually bridge gaps. As I look at my group of friends, I realize that I only share a few interests with them and that what really keeps our friendship alive and interesting is how different we are. I think that some of the people who are easy to appreciate are those who appreciate others easily. Really, being a successful artist and giving the world a taste of how different you are is reliant upon being open to the differences others give you.

Richard- your presentation rocked bro. I particularly enjoyed how your style has changed over the years and appreciated how honest you were about certain things in your life. Your taste in music is also very agreeable and I think it’s extremely interested how influenced you are by music and how you still chose to be a film major. I’d love to hear about how you chose to become a filmmaker over a musician sometime!

1 comment:

  1. thanks for the critique man! i like what you said about sometimes feeling like a run of the mill guy with only a few unique traits. i can definitely relate to that as i look back. i wish i had learned the lesson sooner that our differences are the most extraordinary things about our characters. how boring would it be if we all just tried to be just like each other?

    i took human development last year and we talked about different psychological movements and philosophies. one of them, i don't remember who it was, dealt with multiple personas that we live with. one is the "me" the image that we project based on our appearance, posture, manner of speech, how we express ourselves, basically all the stuff other people can observe about us. but there is also the "I" which includes our thoughts, true desires, and other things that no one else will ever 100% understand about us. i think think this also applies to the fact that we are all different. sometimes i feel like i want to be a certain way, but it puts things into perspective when i realize that "who i am" goes much deeper than what others see.

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