Our latest advice postings comes from readers.
Dear ModCon,
I am deeply selfish of my experiences with movies and books, and therefore will be unable to divulge too many of my secret favorites. I once told a friend about Donnie Darko finally allowing me to understand what sacrifice meant, only to have him parrot that phrase aloud in a group discussion nearly a week later. For some reason I was deeply offended by this, to the point that I wanted to expose this traitor for the world to see. Everything from “J’accuse!” to a slow pour of my coffee on his feet raced through my mind. I’d rather not get to that place again, so please excuse my secrecy.
In return, let me answer your second question. It is the most important of the two queries, and makes the first unnecessary.
There is an underlying Truth to all things. Every subject, whether in art or science, has a hidden universality to it. The same can be said for movies. That Truth is different for every person, but the way we experience it is the same. When you see beautiful art in the movies or read a perfect sentence in literature, it feels the same. If you haven’t had that experience, you haven’t experienced enough.
It remakes you in its own image.
When I first read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I knew that the world was different after reading it. You might not get that experience from the same book, but you will get that experience.
Your development and destiny comes from the search for that experience. Good luck on the journey, it’s a long one. If you really get out there and you still don’t have a clue, everything from the 60s was cool.