Beauty and Art

I have realised today that art is an expression in the pursuit of beauty.  What a common man can experience but cannot describe is expressed by the artist through his art form.

During my very recent trip to Rome, Florence and Venice, I for the first time time was engulfed by beauty and it had a physical force for me.  I was hijacked and enthralled.  You can say the beauty of the Sistine Chapel nearly encased me.  I was immobilised.

I realised also that beauty can be of varied forms.  I have experienced an unique feeling – the beauty of a child.  In Italy I experienced the beauty of art.  The expression itself being beautiful and when one dwells upon the content or context one can experience a different kind of beauty.

It was perfect timing that I watched a Bengali film called – AnourAnon (“harmony” – I was told).  The beauty of the relationship of the protagonist and his wife enthralls you as much as the beautiful weave of the storyline. I was choked in the end. The feeling is not of sadness or anguish but of understanding.  My trip to Italy has become a lovelier memory and life just seems perfect.

I guess there is a harmony now, in life with my partner and within me. The harmony is beautiful and I think this is the true pursuit of the artist.  I am on the other side of the fence. Not an artist but a lover of beauty. It is as satisfying.

Is there a thing like too much sex in movies?

Sex in movies is interesting but to a point. It adds artistic value but to a point. Why is it that sexual perversity or the erotica takes over characterization in movies? I have a specific movie in mind – “Where the truth lies”. It has got the best actors – Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth. There was a murder, a journalist trying to uncover the truth behind it and loads of sex. A lot of it did not even add value to the plot and was irrelevant almost.

Depravity on television and in movies in some way makes us feel good about ourselves and helps us feel we are above something. I have always believed that people who watched horror movies associate tragedy/horror with their lives. But I can’t imagine why people with good plots would go all the way to unnecessarily eroticize. In this piece I am not trying to say anything – just wondering aloud.

I can’t get over the fact that the most beautiful, natural biological thing can be so degraded and made to look like an end in itself; like something that drives a persons life and all else revolves around sex. I don’t seem to understand this at all.