paprika
Not to put any pressure on you here, but is it really so bad that I still try to use art as an excuse to start a conversation?
I wrote a review for the New York-Tokyo site a few weeks ago for this movie, and so I figured I’d make a note of that and then mention a couple other thoughts that weren’t included there. I think I’m starting to get the idea for what they want over there, so I didn’t write as much, there weren’t as many edits, and it’s all working out just fine. But I can’t help but think that their need to temper the personalities of the individual writers somewhat and excise the more personal notes makes the overall experience a little cold for my taste. Reading the site, I feel as though I’m getting to understand the monolithic edifice of New York-Tokyo, but not the people behind it. I guess that’s why I hang out with those guys.
Then again, any lack of extended, long-winded discourse seems to leave me cold. It would seem that there’s no pleasing me, unless you’re willing to bounce tangentially from one subject to the next, using each movie, comic book, TV show or cereal box as a springboard for these meandering discussions. Sadly, this requires an awful lot of time. But more importantly and less obviously to me until only recently, it takes a lot of trust. I find that, whenever opinions differ, it doesn’t take long for participants in a conversation to become adversarial. Maybe it’s because language is imperfect and things like tone and mood inevitably interfere with the signals we attempt to broadcast. Maybe it’s just that I’m a jerk who argues all of his opinions as though they’re irrefutable fact.
I liked Paprika quite a bit. It gave me a lot of food for thought, and when I saw it in the theaters with a couple Japanese friends of mine, I felt like I had access to a cultural perspective that I wouldn’t have otherwise. More importantly, I think I was able to understand their particular takes on the movie and their personalities (in a specific context, of course). At the end of the day, I’ve probably seen something different from you. But just because I want to explain my perspective doesn’t mean I’m not interested in yours. Is there really so little time for us to explore these things?
Writing this, it suddenly struck me that it may not be a matter of trust so much as priority. Maybe my ideas and questions aren’t as interesting as I’d been encouraged to assume. Shit.