90% Sure
I'm obsessed with great fictional writing. Sometimes I won't be able to actually fully enjoy a book or even show until I speak about it with others and these conversations enlighten me into how much thought was actually put into the book or other form of art.
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations comes to mind. I read it and was just "meh... it's OK. I don't think Mrs. Havisham is in anyway a relate-able realistic character. The ending left me curious, and it's hard to care for the convict when you get to know him so very little." Then I spoke and read about the book more and was astonished at just how much thought went into the book. The marshes and their representation of danger. Pip's desire to be rich and thinking it would make him better only to learn money has nothing to do with character. Finding out that his beloved Estelle was also born of the same convict that gave him his fortune. And that he was not so different from what he strives to be to begin with. I could go on about some of the amazing quotes that were brought to light. But It went from "3 star of OK, not bad" to "5 star, Holy shit, this guy really thinks things through to get the underlying message across."
The same can be said for art. I see a piece and decide if I would hang it on a bedroom wall. If not, I am inclined to not like it. The more I have been going to the museum and actually discussing the art, the more I realize just how shallow my first impressions are. Sure, many I still wouldn't hang in my own home, but I appreciate them more and see them as what they are. An artist showing us their story in abstract colors and shapes. Even when not drawn well or realistically, they can be beautiful and meaningful.
I think people are the same way. I'm fast to judge people and later find out they surprise me. Things I didn't notice or didn't know about them. Eventually I get to see people for what they are. Even the ones that are horrid on the outside, can have something miraculous to tell once you dig a little deeper.
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations comes to mind. I read it and was just "meh... it's OK. I don't think Mrs. Havisham is in anyway a relate-able realistic character. The ending left me curious, and it's hard to care for the convict when you get to know him so very little." Then I spoke and read about the book more and was astonished at just how much thought went into the book. The marshes and their representation of danger. Pip's desire to be rich and thinking it would make him better only to learn money has nothing to do with character. Finding out that his beloved Estelle was also born of the same convict that gave him his fortune. And that he was not so different from what he strives to be to begin with. I could go on about some of the amazing quotes that were brought to light. But It went from "3 star of OK, not bad" to "5 star, Holy shit, this guy really thinks things through to get the underlying message across."
The same can be said for art. I see a piece and decide if I would hang it on a bedroom wall. If not, I am inclined to not like it. The more I have been going to the museum and actually discussing the art, the more I realize just how shallow my first impressions are. Sure, many I still wouldn't hang in my own home, but I appreciate them more and see them as what they are. An artist showing us their story in abstract colors and shapes. Even when not drawn well or realistically, they can be beautiful and meaningful.
I think people are the same way. I'm fast to judge people and later find out they surprise me. Things I didn't notice or didn't know about them. Eventually I get to see people for what they are. Even the ones that are horrid on the outside, can have something miraculous to tell once you dig a little deeper.