I don't know how unpopular this opinion is but I strongly hold the position that society today seems unable to differentiate "Art" from entertainment, and this blurring of lines harms both. _ what do you mean?
What I mean to say is that society nowadays fails to recognize the fundamental differences between art and entertainment. Thinking that they are the same or interchangeable does a disservice to both. To me, it's not an "art vs. entertainment" situation. Rather than opposing them, the distinction lies in recognizing their complementary roles because a healthy individual needs both art and entertainment, but for very different reasons.
Entertainment, of course, entertains us; it delights and validates us by affirming our existing beliefs and emotions. It's there to make us feel good — a safe space that doesn't challenge us, as it has been created specifically for our needs and is catering to our preferences. However, it leaves us unchanged and not transformed. Entertainment is produced because there is a public demand for it.
Art, on the other hand, is meant to change and transform us. It's not always delightful, entertaining or self-affirming. On the contrary, it can sometimes feel like an attack on our beliefs and the reality we think we’re living in. Art can be uncomfortable, even disruptive, and by being so, it forces us to engage with it on a deeper level, challenging our perspectives and encouraging us to evolve. Unlike entertainment, art is not made because there is public demand for it. To be more precise, the demand for art exists, but it doesn't come from us — the public; art meets the demands of the time. Real artists are those who can discern the lessons and demands of the time and make them digestible for the public. While entertainment caters to an audience’s desires, art challenges its audience, often presenting ideas or emotions they may not have asked for but need to confront. It’s not about pleasing or fulfilling expectations; instead, art serves as a catalyst for intellectual and emotional growth, pushing society to reflect, adapt and progress.
My beloved Armenian poet Paruyr Sevak has a very thought-provoking piece that, I think, is about real artists. I'll present a rough translation: "They come unoften, yet never too late. / They are born at exactly the right time. / And they get ahead of time itself, / Which is why they are not forgiven".
The role of a true artist goes far beyond technical skill or the ability to produce aesthetically pleasing works that will be liked by many and, thus, make a fortune. A true artist serves as a visionary, a truth-teller and a catalyst for change. They push us to reflect deeply and think critically about the world around us. This is why, in the absence of such people (and I strongly believe that we live in such times), individuals become more susceptible to propaganda, manipulation or conformity, as there are fewer voices prompting them to critically examine their environment. Additionally, without these voices, society loses touch with its emotional depth, becoming more disconnected, indifferent and apathetic to the suffering or experiences of others.
True artists are what we need today. There are many discussions held online about whether today’s celebrities should address "political" issues and the problems we face as humans.
My answer to this is no, at least not for everyone that society considers an "artist." Most of these individuals are mere entertainers who are there solely for entertainment purposes (I would be quick to add that some of them even fail at that). Dozens of them can't even form comprehensive sentences in their mother tongues; how can we expect them to express trustworthy opinions on grave issues? This is one of the reasons why it is highly dangerous to confuse entertainment with art.
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I'm pretty much the worst person to even weigh in on this topic because I've been partial to Suvi since day one, but in my opinion there wasn't ever a need to explain or justify Suvi's choices/reactions.
Not because she's perfect, never wrong (though in my heart I know...) but because I'm very certain that the people that keep on hammering on her mistakes/shortcomings/tendencies are people that already dislike Suvi (or don't like Aabria very much, I wish this wasn't a topic of consideration but even 30+ eps in there's still people like that around) for whatever reason and gather excuses to justify their bias against her and no amount of explanation will turn their hearts in her favour.
It really feels like a parallel to the way Suvi herself tries to be understood by her friends and yet she fails time and time again.
And people insist on forgetting that Suvi is not the Citadel, she's just one young wizard of the Citadel.
And it's gut-wrenching how much I relate to that feeling of alienation before every corner she tries to fit in: amongst her citadel peers she's othered by her position and privilege, and now by her friendship to a witch and a spirit; between her friends she's the odd-one-out because of her Citadel connections and the nature of her power; and now amongst the witches she stands out by being the face of the "enemy".
I don't blame her for clinging to the little corner of the world that has not made her feel foreign despite the very nature of her presence: in Steel's family whom she's not related to by blood, yet completely by heart.
And it'll never be a fair game. The girls especially are very young and with new-found independence, they're given colossal decisions to make, and that before beings older than three generations of them combined and incomprehensively more powerful and less empathic.
As much as Mirara wants there to be a good witch and bad witch, there's no such thing as black and white, there are decisions and consequences, what one does with the power they're given. There is no right or wrong in a fight filled with so much heart, there was never a world where a fight between Ame and Suvi would be clean.
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Damn... Do you guys remember the time when we are just shipping characters because of fun? Because of sexual tension we feel between them? Because of the potential???
Why do we keep pushing the morality into the story now? I understand we feel related to those characters, but why have to be so righteous about it?
People can ship whatever they want, because it's just fiction, not reality. And if you don't like it, block them. Easily solution, right?
Why do we have to yell at the world that 'this ship is wrong?' or ' that ship is disgusting?'
Like... What ever heck is inside our imagination, fandom is where we express it.
Why do we have to fight each other like that?
It's really sad and immature.
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I feel like people are blaming every single thing that's happening in Venezuela as being because of the us alone.
Which yes, the us definitely isn't helping but I think everyone who agrees with that statement to an exaggerated manner is ignoring the fact that maduro made everything worse and that he isn't even qualified to be in the presidency.
Think about that for a moment.
Every single person that underestimates the harm that maduro gave to this country is defending a man that didn't even get a proper education in politics and had his position just because the previous president gave it to him.
And he has stayed that long in the government because of electoral fraud.
So yes the us isn't helping venezuela in any manner but saying that Venezuela is in the state that it is only because of that when there are many factors (maduros shit government mainly) that also affect the state of the country is a very uneducated take.
Also people who don't hold maduro accountable for
The suffering of the people
in the country he is leading
I have a question for you. Do you own a brain? With braincells included? Just a thought.
Not that you know what that is.
For (more) clarity: the us is shit and didn't help my country in any way they could have and I acknowledge that but the government of maduro killed people. And that was (and it's ridiculous I have to point it out) unnecessary. It's not a democracy. The opposition is better for us.
Important addition: if a cop wants to stop me in the street and look through my phone for anything that says that I'm against the government they can do it. And they can arrest me because of it. I'm a minor and they can arrest me if they see something that says that I'm against the government.
Keep defending maduro all you want but that's something he is doing.
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