A simple thing as a background story can sure stir things up. That's the funny thing about the Past. No matter how long ago it has passed us by, it can still call up a storm in a jar. That's mostly because we all have made some choices in the past that don't sit well with who we are today.
The Past is a series of pictures that move in an endless conga line, its beginning lost somewhere in the mists of memory and its end nowhere in sight. The end we can't see because the Presents becomes the Past faster than we can even phrase the concept. The beginning...well, somethings are better left to drift in a sea of mystery.
As we move along this movie we keep finding plot twists and errors that we missed during the first viewing. Whether it's a simple one-liner that, turns out, is actually an obscure reference to an impressive part of history, or a small gesture that's preserved as a tribute to the memory of a friend, these small details are defining for who we are. They show that as much as we like to state that we are our own people, the mold that we're made of came from some place different than our selves.
The tricky thing about the Past is that it's open-ended. There is no line that states "the beginning ends here". There is no convention that states that "a person's Past must start at precisely the moment of their appearance on the stage of life". The rules do not apply. The Past makes its own rules because it needs to adapt, otherwise it would end up being another movie that turns out to fail to reach its true potential.
But lets return to the open-ended bit of its description. I say open-ended because of questions. Questions are the one tool that everybody can use to reshape the Past, to make their own Director's Cut. In the bonus feature section of the DVD recordings of our lives, right after alternate scenes, there is the option to see the movie, this time guided by the Director himself. You get to see the whole thing from His point of view.
That's the nice thing about the Past. You can rewind, watch the scenes over and then just press the Pause button and wonder about different angles or reactions that the characters might have had to the star's lines and actions. So if the option's there, can anyone blame a person for drifting in the Past, for thinking up "what-ifs" and "maybes"? Guess not, otherwise what's the point in giving us free reign over the filming?
Each of us has their very own Past, each of them colliding with others. The angles might be different, the captioning style might be surreal in one moment and more real in the next, and the lines depend solely on the playwrights. But before being aired, before "coming in a theater near you", the Past drops by your editing table where you can add your point of view, where you can once again see all that was, as well as all that would have been, possible at the time when vision became art, the art of life.
G'day & g'night! :)
9 comments:
"With memory set smarting like a reopened wound, a man's past is not simply a dead history, an outworn preparation of the present: it is not a repented error shaken loose from the life: it is a still quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter flavors and the tinglings of a merited shame." (George Eliot)
Ok, maybe the quote doesn`t fit in the context and I may have exaggerated a bit by using it :D. But I really like it. Don`t you?
PS: Nobody blames you for taking a look into the past, but be forewarned - if you look back too much, you will soon be headed that way. >:D<
"The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it." ~Wendell Berry
Replying to a quote with a quote, how cunning of me. (Not really.) I totally agree with Mr. Elliot, the past can't really be shaken loose like a piece of gum on the bottom of your shoe (though gods know that even that's tricky). The Past is ours to bear since we make it, but heck...it's not all about the bad things or the sad things. There are moments of light comedy, soundless black and white frames, all seasoned with the best soundtrack ever.
As for heading down the same road as the past if one looks too much after it...well, there are some moments that I'd like to see again and maybe some that I could make amends for on the way back to the present. :)
george eliot was female, and very much so. otherwise, nice post and nice dialogue of the minds.
I stand corrected. Well, proves two things. I should brush up on my biographies and names are tricky little devils, aren't they? Thanks for the correction. :)
no fancy quote here, i just want to express my opinion on the subject.
allow me to disagree on the fact that one's past is equivalent to a film. first of all, a film is completely open to criticism and to the different perception of each individual who choses to watch it. someone's past, however, is completely obscure even if it's your own. films have this quality: whoever tells you to view it, and whenever you see it, with whomever you are, they stay the same. the scenes, the acts, the actors are always the same. that is what, in my opinion, gives a film the quality of objectiveness, compared to real life. you can never view an objective version of someone else's of even your own past because the versions will always be different, depending on who's telling you about who's past, what your opinion is on certain events, and what the times and company are like.
furthermore, a film is a result of the director's views and opinions. full stop. no one can modify it afterwards, not even the director himself. someone's past is not just a sequence of actions that depend only on the person in question, it will always be immaterial and incorporeal, so it's prone to constant change by anyone and anytime.
i think the plot-twists and the black holes that you only notice after a "re-viewing" are nothing but the result of your mind distorting events in order to find a satisfactory version that will allow you to sleep comfortably.
lastly, a film expresses an action viewed from one point of view, or two or three at most. our past is the expression of infinite points of view, and will be constantly reshaping itself to fit inside different periods of life which are accompanied by different principles and different conjunctures.
you say you can edit the past by rewinding events, questioning it and by adding your own opinion to it, just like a film. i say you can never do that objectively and trying to do so will only result in failure. you can only be subjective, and in doing so, you decrease the value and the accuracy of the past.
in conclusion, i guess what i'm trying to say is that the past is nothing but worthless trivia concerning choices that have consequences in the present. i don't care much for people's past, i only enjoy it like i enjoy stories that appeal to my affections (negatively or positively).
[sorry for writing a freaking novel]
Hello veve,
I'll allow you to disagree, though don't see why you would need my permission to do so. :) Right about now I could start to batten down the hatches and fire off arguments to defend my writing, but that would just be silly.
Movies can be altered, I'm sorry to say. And I'm not just referring to remakes here. I'm referring to seeing the movie again the film, but this time getting some extra details. Take for example, Blade Runner (I recommend it, it's a really groovy movie, though the book was better in my opinion).
I like to believe that it's impossible for one to edit the past in order to clear his conscience. Frankly, I'd prefer to believe that Conscience never forgets cause the alternative is not pleasant. People should have regrets and guilt trips, otherwise we'd all be arrogant self-righteous SOBs.
As for the editing and the remaking of the past, that's easy to clarify. Don't you ever think of how different things might have been if you would've made a different choice? I know I do, but then again I've been accused, quite fairly, that I live in my own world at times.
You may have written a novel, but I think it was a pretty good book. ;) I just feel a bit sorry for being tired and not fully able to appreciate it.
Thanks for your opinion and for sharing it with me. :) See you around!
i usually request permission because i've had my head chopped off several times in the past for not doing so (figuratively, of course) i learn from my mistakes, or from what others perceive as mistakes.
anyway. yes, movies can be altered, but the original version that is on sale on shelves all over the world can never be. the modification is only shown to a group of people, but never to the general audience.
it's interesting that you brought up conscience in the discussion, because it stands for what i'm trying to say - at least in my case, conscience has altered things so that i would be happy with myself. of course, the truth is always there, imprinted on the back of my mind, but conscience will not make me aware of it.
i do have guilt trips, i'm not totally oblivious to what surrounds me, but for me the past is what i want it to be, while the reality of past events is not exactly that. and this is applicable to everyone, not only to me. and i tell different people about my past in different ways, depending on my relation to them and on how they might judge me, or on how i view my past at that moment.
yes, i do stop to wonder if and how things would have been different, had i done something differently, but i usually dismiss those thoughts as irrelevant.
i feel like i'm not being clear enough 'cause right now my english is a bit hazy.
i'm glad you appreciate my opinion, that's a rare thing nowadays.
hey,
Well, I did figure out why you asked permission. And I do understand it. But then again, free speech is awesome and since I'm a regular user I don't see why anyone else shouldn't be allowed to do the same. (Though some tact should be infused in the delivery.)
As for the past...well, we don't have such different takes on it. It's a very intimate thing because it sums up all the choices that we've made so far. And while some were rotten, others were plain fortunate (or sheer old fashion dumb luck). Naturally, we don't easily share the rotten ones. Sometimes we don't even share the good ones. Probably because trust is as gentle of a thing as a dandelion.
If people were books, then the world would probably be filled with mystery novels. :)
I compared film to past due to one simple reason. I have my favorite movies and I have my favorite memories, and I'll always play them again and again. Guess I'm a bit mushy after all. *blush break*
To appreciate an opinion is not the hard part. I think that sharing an opinion is more difficult; you simply can't tell how the other person is going to react. :)
See ya! :)
ah well, i wasn't trying to convert you to my opinion, anyway.
nice chat, though :d
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