I've been really into commencement speeches recently. Here's two really good ones:
They're great for these days in college where I'm finding that I need strong external motivation. Anyways, I'm having difficulty picking a favorite, so I'm not going to. Is there a word for being impressionable, but not because you're intellect or critical thought is lacking? It's like openness to new ideas that leads to capriciousness. Still not there. Fuck it.
Wallace's best points are definitely on how being the center of our own universes influences us. It actually changes a lot of day to day interactions if that is on the mind. Thinking about discussions with people as discussions with beings who are in the same boat as you: not knowing any other experience but the one out of their own eyes, explains a lot. I find that I'm much more understanding of things that I don't like about people when I actively think about this idea. If it's the case that I've changed my approach to life for the better, then I think it suffices to say that this is a good speech.
Now about that Rowling lady. I think she's like an author or something. The British avant-garde literary society love her apparently. I guess they like wizards. Anyways, her speech is phenomenal. Now I must admit that I'm down for any rag to riches story, but hers is so insightful and so well woven into the speech that I can't help but like it. This part in particular really, really made me think:
"Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared."
Is art, then, a powerful tool for saving humanity? I think that given this quote Rowling would definitely think that it is true. I understand that she isn't necessarily equating imagination and the artistic imagination that made her famous, but I think that the parallels are interesting. Journalism is important for shedding light on the issues around the world, and articles like the one on Dubai that I posted are very important for allowing people removed from a situation to sympathize with those in one. But in addition to journalism, art, especially in literature and films must be aiding empathy worldwide. One movie that I saw in the past six months was Defiance. I can remember one scene in the movie where the people in the forest camp caught a German who was out to get them and the emotional scene ensuing his capture was one that I don't think I'll forget for a long time. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes but (since im a registered badass in 34 states) I didn't let a single one out. I don't know if it was great scoring, acting, or cinematography, but somehow I could feel their pain, anger, and fear. I could just feel how much they wanted to avenge the wrongs done to them and their loved ones. These were actors, and yet in a theatre, I somehow felt closer to people who had suffered over 50 years ago. Films like Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda, Last King of Scotland all make it easier to empathize with people who live a world away and it humanizes them. This has to make some sort of positive impact on the world. It's so easy to dehumanize people, or allow people to be dehumanized when you see them as less than human or not at all, but the ability to see them as such becomes much harder when you can see yourself within them. So yeah, I guess art can save lives. Weird thought.
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