"[Movies] function, not by literally presenting us with the world, but by permitting us to view it unseen. This is not a wish for power, . . . but a wish not to need power, not to have to bear its burdens."
--Stanley Cavell, The World Viewed: Reflections on the Ontology of Film
Again, the responsibility ("burden") of power, agency.
(J)
This is interesting, but seems to imply that film becomes an infantile event. Infantile in that we want to be taken cared of, nursed, and not actually engage with the world (i.e., take on responsibility). Certainly there is an escapist quality to (certain) movies, but when you watch something that evokes emotions, you permit those emotions, and take on the responsibility of those emotions. Quite simply, there are gonna be movies that evoke a "stone in the shoe," and one can't easily ignore that.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I think a large majority of people do not mine movies for pieces of themselves, or expect to learn something about themselves via a film (or a book, or a painting, etc.), but I'd like to think that at some point, people will be inspired by Art to the degree that they cannot ignore it. Stuff like Fight Club, Da Vinci Code, and Oprah's book club books are things (that reach a mass audience) that spring to my mind.
(H)
Oddly enough, today, two people passingly commented on the nature of people with regards to your post.
ReplyDeleteGrace said, "Nobody wants all the power."
Carissa asked, "Am I supposed to be responsible for their feelings?"
I responded, "I've thought about this recently (tacitly thinking of this post, among other things), and you can't be responsible for everyone's feelings."
Carissa, "They want someone to blame their feelings on."
Me, "Yes, they don't want to have that responsibility."
There's nothing quite fascinating in life than these types of, seemingly, "coincidences."
On "blaming others," it is particularly strange to me because I grew up blaming myself for everyone's feelings (middle child? of a divorced family? not sure if there's an exact reason, but a mixture of these I'm sure). It seems entirely illogical to blame other people for your emotions; that feelings reside within you and that you have to deal with them is obvious to me; only you can know them. Certainly there are events/people outside of us that we react/respond to, that bring forth feelings, but we are left mostly with the impressions of that event. That is mostly the material we must work with.
(H)