Everyone loves a good movie. Not everyone wants to see movies that are about history, even if it’s shown through the comfortable lens of a love story. Still, there is a desire for movies to resemble reality. Is that possible to achieve? That leads to a question about what I believe is the core draw of movies. Passion. What does passion mean, really?
Are we all born with a connection that is challenged and leads some to a disconnection? Or, are some people just born with too much passion that cannot be suppressed? I’m not talking about romantic passion, just that other thing no one, especially certain men who only want to discuss a passion related to sports, war, or domineering sex with a head butt, strong pat on the back or a guttural “yeah, man!”.
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I’m looking for the passion that makes you tick, through your own lens, through your self loneliness. Are you a one dimensional being without inner dialect or do you question and feel everything from the depths of your being? The latter being an extraordinary responsibility and burden, the former lending itself to self satisfying sleep induced satisfaction.
“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.” Maria Rilke Rainer
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Our knowledge of historical events is predicated from an early age by several factors. The strongest being a narrative that is handed down by the governing body of whatever nation you are born under. So, to a certain extent, you’re life is made comfortable by trusting that narrative completely. We all do it because we don’t have much of a choice. Don’t get me wrong, I believe we need this education. BUT, I also believe as adults, we should grow into questioning all narratives and search for our own meanings and truth. That journey requires a comfortability with endless unanswered questions, with an understanding of the ugliness of truth.
The people that change our viewpoint of history are the ones buried around us longing to tell us their stories if we would just dig enough to listen. Not just genealogical dates and places, but the impact historical events had on their lives, or just maybe, how they may have been a big part of that history. Take that to the furthest outposts of historical string theory and you might ask how the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Revolution, World War I, and the dissension into a tyrannical Hitler affects us today. You might ask about the roots of the slave trade economy throughout the world, manifested in the US south’s stranglehold on human bondage that would not release its grasp, while the North devoured cotton for their economic growth while demonizing the very industry they exploited. You might ask the most vital questions of all. Who decides what we know? Is there ever clearly defined right and wrong, black and white?
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Nothing transpires out of thin air. Nothing worth knowing well is going to be easy. Answers lead to bigger questions, that lead to endless journeys of discovery and frustration. Yes, “the more you learn, the less you know” is partially right. The more you learn, the more you grow by realizing the less you know.
It’s clear some people make definitive choices to remain sure of what they think they know, then shut the door. This is called narrow minded oblivion. We’ve all seen enough of those types of zombie wanderers to last a lifetime. It’s safe, it helps you sleep better if your privileged enough for most things to not really affect your marking time in the comfort line.
The world is in complete chaotic change right now and the ones who are fearful of change are controlling the dialog. We have a golden opportunity to grasp and define our collective future if we all open our passionate hearts to the massive access to historical data. Passion meets documentation. We cannot look forward without learning from the past. It is vital. These are exciting times! These are terrifying times! Both are equally true. Are we up for invention in place of reaction?
It’s amazing to see norms evolve so fast now. What was acceptable oblivion in the recent past has become intolerable in our ever changing present. We have a golden opportunity to change the course of human interaction, humane responsibility, and a world without destruction with passion for the betterment of the collective. That huge challenge has never had a greater opportunity for success or failure than now.
We cannot go back, yet the idea of doing so is being shoved down our throats while we struggle for air. Will we rise or will we drown in our own inadequacies.
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