Does art imitate life or life imitate art?
One of our children is in color guard and we are DCI fans. Over the past couple of years it has been interesting to see the shift in the types of shows these groups do. Some of the shows involve what appears to be misogynistic tendencies, violence towards women, or highlighting teen suicide, loneliness, and other social issues.
Warren Central High School is tackling a social issue, homelessness. They are using the words of Shane Koyczan in Places (listen to the words here). Through the music, the words and the visuals, these high school students are bringing the homeless into the forefront of consciousness for at least five-and-a-half minutes. As the guard has improved their physical performances, the audience is hearing the words more clearly. One can tell this is so because for the first time, during a performance at WGI Regionals, you could have heard a pin drop as the final part of their show was happening, a girl walking off the tarp, and the response from audience after.
There are two lines in Places that really stuck out to me, “Indifference has taken the place of mercy,” and, “We used to fight for each other.” I’ve written several posts about the indifference being exhibited right now, especially in terms of watching our country fall.
Although the second phrase uses the word “fight for each other,” to me that meant watch out for each other. It feels as if, as a society, we have forgotten to get to know our neighbors, to help those less fortunate than ourselves by volunteering for social organizations, to vote for people who want to lift us all up not just a few of us, to recognize when we are being conned by a conman, to not listen when we are being warned our country is failing, to only caring when an issues directly affects ourselves.
When did this happen?
How did this happen?
But most importantly, how do we get that part of who we were as a nation back?
Thoughts?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 