*** I feel incredibly guilty and angry about this pressure at the same time. It's even hard to explain, I can feel you judging me, harshly as you read this. So I keep deleting and rewriting paragraphs, trying to find the words to make sense of these feelings. ***
Not about to speak for others, but I'm not judging you. Write on. I'll read. You're being too hard on yourself.
*** Personally if I were completely honest with myself, I found the movie dull and uninvolving. ***
You're right about social pressure being a factor in shaping one's opinions. The only thing I can say is that it has gotten much easier for me to resist social pressure as I've gotten older. Is it that I feel I have less to lose? I dunno, but I find that I just don't care as much anymore what other people think.
The one way I do allow this kind of pressure to influence me is that if someone whose opinion I have great respect for disagrees with me strongly, then I will generally re-evaluate to see if I missed anything. This is especially true for art related things, such as music or movies. In most cases, I find that I hold on to my opinion, but other times I do see something new that I didn't before, or consider something in an alternate fashion that changes my mind.
An example of this is a film called Au hausard Balthazar, which the vast majority of film critics and historians consider to be a masterpiece. It became available on DVD this last summer, in a Criterion Collection edition, no less. I bought it, and eagerly set to viewing. Afterward, I kept thinking, "what am I missing here?" Yes, I get the point-- life sucks and then you die. We are all like donkeys, just helpless beasts of burden, but God loves us because we suffer, so it's all cool.
There are a number of other things about the film that I find annoying, that I won't go into here, but suffice it to say it was underwhelming for me. I will watch it again in future, after a little distance, because of the high opinion it's held in by others, but if it's still annoying, then it is what it is, yo.
*** It's hard living in a world with people sometimes. I need them. I love them. I want to do things for them, with them. But at the same time I desperately want to do things for myself too, alone. Like I'm two people caged in one body at war. ***
You are right-- it is a balancing act, and it's very hard. But it doesn't need to be a war. It's OK to make time for yourself, and it isn't your job to save everyone. Perhaps it's just me being profoundly cynical, but those people who are feeling bad because they can't afford to contribute to the Katrina relief effort should be reminded that the Feds are already doing it for them-- where do people think those billions of dollars are going to come from?
And does anyone think that Bush will go to Congress and suggest repealing his tax cuts for the wealthy so that the money can go to Katrina victims instead?
Not holding my breath, that's for sure.
Glad to hear you like Dead Like Me-- the second season is even better. I'm going to be very interested in reading what you think about George's mother and sister after some events of S2.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2005-09-12 02:28 am (UTC)Not about to speak for others, but I'm not judging you. Write on. I'll read. You're being too hard on yourself.
*** Personally if I were completely honest with myself, I found the movie dull and uninvolving. ***
You're right about social pressure being a factor in shaping one's opinions. The only thing I can say is that it has gotten much easier for me to resist social pressure as I've gotten older. Is it that I feel I have less to lose? I dunno, but I find that I just don't care as much anymore what other people think.
The one way I do allow this kind of pressure to influence me is that if someone whose opinion I have great respect for disagrees with me strongly, then I will generally re-evaluate to see if I missed anything. This is especially true for art related things, such as music or movies. In most cases, I find that I hold on to my opinion, but other times I do see something new that I didn't before, or consider something in an alternate fashion that changes my mind.
An example of this is a film called Au hausard Balthazar, which the vast majority of film critics and historians consider to be a masterpiece. It became available on DVD this last summer, in a Criterion Collection edition, no less. I bought it, and eagerly set to viewing. Afterward, I kept thinking, "what am I missing here?" Yes, I get the point-- life sucks and then you die. We are all like donkeys, just helpless beasts of burden, but God loves us because we suffer, so it's all cool.
There are a number of other things about the film that I find annoying, that I won't go into here, but suffice it to say it was underwhelming for me. I will watch it again in future, after a little distance, because of the high opinion it's held in by others, but if it's still annoying, then it is what it is, yo.
*** It's hard living in a world with people sometimes. I need them. I love them. I want to do things for them, with them. But at the same time I desperately want to do things for myself too, alone. Like I'm two people caged in one body at war. ***
You are right-- it is a balancing act, and it's very hard. But it doesn't need to be a war. It's OK to make time for yourself, and it isn't your job to save everyone. Perhaps it's just me being profoundly cynical, but those people who are feeling bad because they can't afford to contribute to the Katrina relief effort should be reminded that the Feds are already doing it for them-- where do people think those billions of dollars are going to come from?
And does anyone think that Bush will go to Congress and suggest repealing his tax cuts for the wealthy so that the money can go to Katrina victims instead?
Not holding my breath, that's for sure.
Glad to hear you like Dead Like Me-- the second season is even better. I'm going to be very interested in reading what you think about George's mother and sister after some events of S2.