Shallowness and Neck Scratches
I watched The Invention of Lying with my friend Camille the other night.
I thought it was clever and fun, but had some big holes for me. I couldn't draw the parallel between being truthful and being shallow. Since it's set in a place where no one knows how to lie--they only tell the truth, people say exactly what they think whenever they think it. I had two issues with this. One is that the things they'd express were usually surface-level assessments of others. I can see how immediate impressions and thoughts can come upon people, and that these thoughts are usually superficial and judgmental. But I can't see that being the only thing people think about when looking at others. The second issue was that I don't see how truthfulness inherently means that people will always express their honest opinion whenever they feel like it. I'll give my honest opinion of something, but if it's a mean one, I usually wait until I'm asked.
So basically the implications were that honesty equals shallowness and immediate expression. I totally disagree with this and didn't care too much for these implications. Nevertheless, the movie had its good points.
I saw the movie Up in the Air which was slightly frustrating. I guess this makes it a good movie. I have too much to say about this and am not finished formulating my thoughts. But for now I'll say that it presented an extremely thought-provoking and valid question, "To what extent do personal and family relationships bring happiness, hope, and value to our lives?" And along with that, the question, "To what extent are these relationships a burden on us?" I suppose a short answer would be that the burdens and downsides are greatly outweighed by the joy and meaningfulness which relationships bring.
In other news, I watched American Idol with a friend of mine tonight. Her babies are so dang cute. And when I was holding the little guy, who was giggling all over the place, he leaned forward and grabbed a good chunk of skin on my neck and pulled it outward while scratching me. My neck is throbbing a little bit. But his grin and giggles were worth it. I guess that answers the above questions, huh?
I thought it was clever and fun, but had some big holes for me. I couldn't draw the parallel between being truthful and being shallow. Since it's set in a place where no one knows how to lie--they only tell the truth, people say exactly what they think whenever they think it. I had two issues with this. One is that the things they'd express were usually surface-level assessments of others. I can see how immediate impressions and thoughts can come upon people, and that these thoughts are usually superficial and judgmental. But I can't see that being the only thing people think about when looking at others. The second issue was that I don't see how truthfulness inherently means that people will always express their honest opinion whenever they feel like it. I'll give my honest opinion of something, but if it's a mean one, I usually wait until I'm asked.
So basically the implications were that honesty equals shallowness and immediate expression. I totally disagree with this and didn't care too much for these implications. Nevertheless, the movie had its good points.
I saw the movie Up in the Air which was slightly frustrating. I guess this makes it a good movie. I have too much to say about this and am not finished formulating my thoughts. But for now I'll say that it presented an extremely thought-provoking and valid question, "To what extent do personal and family relationships bring happiness, hope, and value to our lives?" And along with that, the question, "To what extent are these relationships a burden on us?" I suppose a short answer would be that the burdens and downsides are greatly outweighed by the joy and meaningfulness which relationships bring.
In other news, I watched American Idol with a friend of mine tonight. Her babies are so dang cute. And when I was holding the little guy, who was giggling all over the place, he leaned forward and grabbed a good chunk of skin on my neck and pulled it outward while scratching me. My neck is throbbing a little bit. But his grin and giggles were worth it. I guess that answers the above questions, huh?
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