Author: klgonnerman

What About You?

by klgonnerman, posted in Movie

I saw La La Land recently. True confession? I didn’t love it. I appreciated it and the movie tradition it was referencing, and its theme certainly appealed. I was drawn in by the ending. But in all honesty, it wasn’t my jam.

The friend I saw it with, though, loved it. She was thoroughly mesmerized.

That means I’m not done with La La Land yet. I have to find out what about it captured her. After our conversation, I’ll know more about my friend, and I’ll also appreciate the movie a little more.

The exchange is the magic. Art is as much about what it does for us, as it is what it tells us about ourselves and the experience of others. When we understand what moves others, or why something doesn’t move us, we get closer to true connection.

Every exchange is worth it. Every experience of art – good, bad or indifferent – is valuable for that reason alone. In fact, good, bad or indifferent doesn’t matter as much as what happens after that.

A simple question will help: What about you?

Because we’ll get to understanding one another much faster with that question than we will by shouting our own opinions from the rooftops.

 

Break Open

by klgonnerman, posted in Music

Many people have said that the last few months are like a grieving process. That we are grieving our country.

Well, I don’t know about you all, but I am not so good at grief. Grief is messy, unpredictable, and brutal.

Sometimes it’s easier just to avoid the depth of the feelings, and get busy or worry or escape.

Sometimes, the right song can break us open. Not just for sadness, but also for empowerment, for joy, for energy, for fun.

One afternoon, I listened to Hamilton – maybe you’ve heard of it? 😉 – and I listened to It’s Quiet Uptown, a song about the family’s grief, on a loop. It made for a good cry.

A silly favorite of mine is The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars. Its main chorus goes, Today I don’t feel like doing anything…, but by the time I’m done listening a few times, I’ve found my motivation again.

One more recommendation, for anyone going through any kind of grief. The composers of yore knew how to do a Requiem that moves you. My two favorites are the Faure Requiem and the Rutter Requiem. (Mozart’s is beautiful but too angry for me.) Listen all the way through and you will go through all the stages of emotion. Usually by the end I have found some temporary catharsis and peace.

What more could we ask for from art?

Sharing What Moves Us to Motivate Us

by klgonnerman, posted in Uncategorized

When I need a break from hard things, I turn to art. Hell, when I need to understand hard things, I turn to art. Beautiful art. Funny art. Fascinating art. Challenging art. Motivating art.

That’s the whole point of this blog. That’s why I’m writing about art every day for 30 days, leading up to the Inauguration. Because I need to get grounded and get ready. And the only way I know is through art.

I’m not alone. (Isn’t that cool?!?) In fact, there are endlessly amazing people who are making great art, sharing great tips about art that bolsters them, and encouraging us to share.

On Twitter, there’s a new hashtag: #ReadersResist. Every Friday, readers post quotes and tidbits that lift them up. It’s new, and it sounds amazing. Check it out.

One of my favorite podcasts these days, Our National Conversation about Conversations about Race, dedicated its first episode of 2017 to those modes of art (and self-care, also good!) that motivate and inform. It’s worth a listen. And I especially love Baratunde Thurston’s recommendation: Search “Grover waiter” on YouTube. Lots of delightful ridiculousness will ensue.

I hope that we continue an endless stream of sharing the art that keeps us moving forward. Because for every political action we take, and every good interaction we create or support, and every step back we inevitably have to suffer, we’ll need art to keep us whole. And understanding what inspires one another is another step to understanding each other better – which is always one of my goals.

We have to remember that, no matter what happens, art will help. Because we’re not alone, and it’s not impossible, and isn’t that what art reminds us?

For the Love of Action Movies

by klgonnerman, posted in Uncategorized

I love action movies. But sometimes I wish I didn’t have to compromise my values just to enjoy them. I mean, do all action movies have to be grossly prejudiced and built on stereotyped tropes?

I get it, we need a good side and a bad side. It’s no fun if you can’t root for the good guys. But do the good guys always have to be the white, patriotic Americans fighting against the terrorists of [name that color/religion/other category]?

As a woman, I appreciate that we’ve had some good female action characters dating back to Leia in Star Wars. I surprised myself by binge-watching Jessica Jones last year, just because she was a tough woman who could get herself out of jams.

But we can do more. For the love of action movies, we have to do more.

Sometimes, the tropes are enough to make me wish I could swear off action movies altogether. The other day, I started watching the original Iron Man, and much as I love the quirky character that Robert Downey Jr. embodies, his origin story is painfully full of torture techniques and enemy Muslim terrorists. I couldn’t get past the first half hour.

This same discomfort and discouragement makes me especially excited about Black Panther, a comic book written by Ta-Nehisi Coates based on the original Marvel character, also called T’Challa. He’s a rare instance of a Black hero, and in this case, an African hero.

Coates has gotten some heat from comic traditionalists for his writing of T’Challa, mainly because Coates has written T’Challa with flaws. A superhero with flaws? For many that’s a no-go. But I really like it. And I like even more what Coates has to say about writing more complete characters, even in comics:

I have to ask questions. I have to ask questions of human beings. What are their own private individual wants?

We talk about empowering women and sexism in comics. All it requires is you elevate characters as human beings. You don’t have to make them perfect. Ask human being questions of them.

[Read the whole wonky, comic-book enthusiast’s interview with Evan Narcisse.]

According to IMDb, Black Panther is coming out as a movie in 2018. Man, I really hope they do better and create full characters without sliding into tropes. There’s such potential in this story, and I just don’t feel like stowing away my values for the sake of yet another action movie. Is it too much to ask for entertainment and humanity at the same time? We can do that, can’t we?

If Coates can do it in the comic, we ought to be able to make it happen in the movies. After all, isn’t art about evolution?

Two Sides of Touch

by klgonnerman, posted in Theater

What would it be like if being touched were torture?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a broadway play, came to the Bushnell in Hartford last week, and asked me to really consider that question. An adaptation of the 2003 novel, Curious takes the perspective of a teenager who places high on the autism spectrum, who is trying to find out how his neighbor’s dog was murdered.

It’s a gloriously uncomfortable walk in the shoes of a boy who sees life from an entirely different perspective. He’s literal – why say “get on with the show” when you just mean “let’s start”?  He’s incredibly gifted – math is his thing. He’s sensitive to noise – the scenes in a London subway station feel like an onslaught to the senses, just as it might to this boy in real life. And he can’t stand to be touched.

It’s a great story and a great show for many reasons. But my big takeaway is about the privilege of touch.

I’m a texture person. I love soft fabrics, running my fingers over textured wallpapers, the feel of cold, wet sand between my toes. Do you remember the kids book, Pat the Bunny? I used to love that book and all its various feels. As I write this, I am petting my dog while he lounges awkwardly on my legs. I have never found an emotion that didn’t require a hug.

So to see parents who cannot hug their children, to think of how it would feel for every touch to feel like an assault – it’s foreign and, for me, very sad. I’m reminded that kids with autism aren’t the only ones who might not like to be touched. Abuse survivors, people with other sensory processing disorders, and others, may also be, completely understandably, resist to touch.

We should never force someone, especially a child, to be touched if they don’t want to be. At the same time, I will be appreciating my hugs, cozy comforters and scratchy wool hats even more with the knowledge that I could have been born without the ability to tolerate, much less enjoy, these beautiful expressions of touch.

Yet again, art gives me a new lens on the world and a new appreciation for something I take for granted. Isn’t that what art is all about?