Great Notes on Greatness

Matrix trilogy, Naruto (anime series), Aristocats, Ogden Nash Bestiary poems, select cheesy Broadway songs. All these have two things in common as art; one, I enjoy all of them, and two, they aren't great works of art. By "great", I mean: "of outstanding significance or importance". Don't get me wrong; Matrix action scenes get me every time, Naruto is fun to watch, Aristocats is cute as can be, Bestiary poems make me laugh, and I sing cheesy Broadway songs all the time. Still, read: these are not great works of art. Nothing in particular has provoked me to make this point, I just decided to make it clear.

Second note, this one a personal opinion on greatness: media can be great in one subcategory of a dimension of media (i.e film), but not in another. In fact, this is mostly an important note for film. I believe it's fitting to note things such as: Beauty and the Beast is a great fantasy film (or perhaps merely a great children's film), but not a great realistic film (obviously). If the intent was to make a fantasy film, immediately declaring that film unfit for any form of "greatness" is absurd. Instead, consider this: how uniquely and acutely did the media achieve its aim in the intended form? You could divide film into fantasy and realistic (children's is an arguable category, too; expressing a theme to children is a totally different task, since you have to be far more obvious). Poignantly expressing ideas with subtlety and realism is important, but fantastic ventures have their own draw and merit; really, the two are so different that they need to be judged appropriately.

Y'know, I think that's it for today. Oh, right: eventually (in the vaguest and stretchiest sense of the word) I may start a photography blog. Photography is more a hobby than an obsession (that being poetry), so it'll have a pretty relaxed atmosphere. Happy New Year, and take care 'til next time (which will be, oh... New Year's ~_^),

~LAEvanesce