I’m going into film. I’ve been debating that for too long, but I am.
My grandfather is worried for my income once I graduate college. The best people in film make quite a lot of money, but the lowest make nothing, and my grandpa has been trying to keep my goals realistic.
He is an author himself, and he used to run a newspaper in Ecuador.
He didn’t find any success in that or painting, so he wants me to pick a major that is more lucrative.
A lot of my friends are also going into much more reliable majors and many of them don’t see the need to watch films or read fictional stories.
That is where I differ. I believe in the need for creative arts.
Although Hammurabi’s code (the first written set of laws in history) is an integral building block of society, most people remember the Babylonians for their art. People remember them for the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Lamassu and the architectural artwork they were able to construct. Societies are remembered for their art, even if it is entirely fictional.
There is also a need for art in everybody’s life. It helps people analyze their own lives and better themselves.
The same is true for fictional stories. They tell us things about ourselves that we can’t often reach through more realistic writing or films, like learning to accept further generations through a movie like Everything Everywhere All at Once.
From each work of art, every individual can derive meaning from something different, and this unique quality helps to foster diverse perspectives in a society.
Even if art doesn’t use film as a medium to tell a story, many can benefit from fictional books. The Count of Monte Cristo, as an example, can help people realize that reinvention is sometimes the best method to positively shape their life.
The creative arts help people realize things about themselves that they may not have discovered otherwise.
So whether you are going into art or opting for a different field, don’t dismiss it as unimportant because it has the potential to greatly impact your life – if you let it.
