There is something I need to say. I believe it is quite important. So important that merely understanding it changes a person. The problem I have is that my aptitude with communication is not as great as I would like it to be. Certainly not sufficient to appropriately convey this thing I need to say. Any attempts I make inevitably lead to misunderstanding and dismissal.
If I try my hardest, there are those who will hear, who will listen. However, those same people already know and understand what I’m trying to convey. In fact, many of those people understand it better than I do. It has been through those people that my own understanding has grown and flourished over the years. So telling them this thing is a bit redundant. Like shouting into a barrel.
Unfortunately, there are many more people who will not listen at all. They may not even be able to hear me, my voice is so small and quiet. But it is those people who need to listen more than anything. It is those people who need to understand the most. I just know that if they grasped this thing for even a moment, they would realize just how important it is.
So it seems my problem is trying to figure out how to make those people listen. Especially when I already understand that I cannot make anyone do anything they don’t already want to do. If they do not want to listen to me, then it will not matter what words I choose or how I try to say what I need to say. My message will fall upon deaf ears.
But it is really important that they know. Important that they understand. At least, that is what I believe. It is in part because I understand that I know it is so important. I truly believe that if they simply understood, they too would recognize its significance.
Perhaps I need to better understand those people. To understand what they do want to listen to. What they want to hear. Perhaps I might be able to speak to them in a way they understand and prefer. Perhaps then I could convey my message. Unfortunately, speaking in their language makes it incredibly difficult to convey this message of mine. Their language isn’t very efficient in expressing this idea. Their language is better suited to expressing different sorts of ideas.
I also have to be very careful when I speak to them. There are words I feel compelled to use that will immediately close them from me. Simple words with so much meaning, but at the same time words that they don’t want to hear. I cannot use those words.
A famous person wrote an amazing essay entitled “In and Out of Harm’s Way.” In this essay, the famous person discusses the idea of “The Arrogant Eye.” A person with this perspective sees the world as they want to see it. Their observations are tainted or coloured by their own desires and feelings. When they interact with the world, they end up trying to dominate that world. After all, the world is a reflection of their making; in some sense they own the world. The problem with this perspective is that it leaves very little room for others to exist in their world. Or, what inevitably must happen, others are subjugated and oppressed in order to make room.
The alternative perspective is referred to as “The Loving Eye.” A person with this perspective sees the world as it is, or perhaps more accurately, they try very hard to see the world as it is, trying very hard not to allow their own desires and feelings to overshadow the world. When they interact with the world, they often try to leave the world undisturbed. They want to allow the world to express itself, in some way. Others that may exist in the world are also encouraged to express themselves. The world is not intended to be a reflection of their making; it is not their world to possess.
These perspectives are not the thing I need to say. They are vehicles to help understand. With art, one can view it with an Arrogant Eye or with a Loving Eye. Inevitably, one will colour the art with their own experience, no matter how hard they try not to. But with the Loving Eye, the person really tries not to. With the Loving Eye, one tries to understand what the creator of the art intended, instead of assuming for themselves the meaning of the piece.
Art is art. And creators are creators. The second the art leaves the creator, it will have of life of its own. The good creators understand this. The good creators will do their best to separate themselves from their art once it has left the nest. But it can still hurt a great deal to watch your art be constantly misunderstood and misinterpreted. The worst, I think, is when your art is labeled as inferior or bad. How can art be bad? If art is an expression made by the creator, then it could only be bad if it was somehow not an expression of the creator.
Unfortunately, none of us can control others. We cannot make them listen. We cannot make them understand. We cannot tell them how to view a piece of art. And we certainly cannot tell them whether a particular piece is good, bad, or otherwise. Everyone will decide for themselves what they think about the piece of art. In fact, they will decide for themselves whether the piece is even art at all. This is yet another problem with language.
I was going to go through The Matrix Resurrections scene by scene and explain what I thought was going on. At this moment, I’ve changed my mind. I watched the film several times, trying to look with a Loving Eye. The things I saw both inspired me and disappointed me. I was inspired because the creator seems to have accomplished the very same thing that they did with the first film: The Matrix Resurrections is rich with symbolism, layers, and hidden messages that will keep people busy for a very long time. However, I was also disappointed because it seemed like many of those messages suggested that the film should not have been created in the first place.
I believe the creator was incredibly reluctant to create this film. When forced against their wishes, they decided to take the opportunity to say something they felt was important. Important to them. And really, I think that too is what is most important.