Seth’s World View

Just saw Ghost World and have to admit I liked it, even though it was really screwed up. Perhaps it reflects reality and the way people really are more than many movies, or perhaps it’s because Scarlett Johansson is a brilliant actress (she goes from playing an 18 year old when she was 16 to playing a 25 year old when she was 18, how’s that for range?). It was Thora Birch that carried this film though, who I just realize was the girl from American Beauty. Hmmm. I guess she likes playing dysfunctional characters, or maybe they’re just more interesting. I think my liking this movie is two-fold: it’s honest and I relate to aspects of the characters. I’m not as cynical, though I can be just as discouraged and frustrated. Right now, I’m just resigned.

I’m working on an art event called ‘cosmos in chaos’. It’s a multi-dimensional art gathering with live music, visual art, writings, and other expressions. The theme is derived from Madeleine L’Engle and her book Walking on Water. In trying to define what art is from a faith perspective, she thought cosmos in chaos captured a lot of what she thought. Art is more than chaos, it’s cosmos found in chaos, not settling for chaos, and finding hope, substance, imagination, and on. Despair and depression are chaos. Destruction is chaos. It’s hard to explain what L’Engle is getting at, though I understand myself. I believe in hope, yet not as much as I would like. I struggle to hope at times. I don’t despair because I know there is always a glimmer of hope, yet motivation to press on can be a challenge. It’s then that I should just pursue goals and follow inspirational quotes (have a bunch on my wall), because a lot is possible and why not take risks? Yet it still takes energy to pursue life and often I’d rather not bother.

I look at Ghost World, and see chaos. Yet if I compare it to many ‘family’ movies and their saccharin sweet storylines, I’ll take chaos every time. While I enjoy a good sunset, it only happens once a day, and not every day, and it isn’t always profoundly beautiful. Life has a lot of chaos. You won’t catch me watching Requiem for a Dream again though. There is a limit to the chaos I can endure. So what is it I like about Eternal Sunshine, Pieces of April, Wonder Boys, Adaptation, Seven Years in Tibet, Lost in Translation, Good Will Hunting, The Power of One, and others? These movies are chaotic and not exactly inspirational. Rather, they are about organized messed-up people who don’t do anything extraordinary but manage to find some shread of life to hold onto and press on. I can relate to that. Maybe that’s what cosmos in chaos means to me, art that reflects the chaos of this world and reveals a piece of cosmos that I would not otherwise have found.