1 post tagged “changing art”
What work of art (film, book, record, whatever) changed your life?
Submitted by bodhibound.
There have been a few, but I guess if we're talking film, it would have to be the 26 1/2 session opus, that is Cowboy Bebop. CB to me, transcends anime, and really redefines Sci Fi, Drama, Action, or at least what others feel it should be. Featuring some of the best animation, artwork, storytelling, and voice acting I've ever experienced.
Some of the Sessions (Episodes) really resonated with me, because they evoke emotions in parallels.
While most of us may not have had the EXACT experiences the characters have being it is a Sci Fi Drama.
Many of them mirror our own expereinces in certain instances. When Jet runs into his ex who left him without reason, abruptly, wanting to know why, and She tells him "Time doesn't stand still". It's a message many of us can take with us, helping us to let go of our own experiences.
Similarly we can identify with Spike. With his impulsive, yet laid back attitude. But we can also appreciate why he has this attitude as time goes on when we realize that when he lost his love he felt like a Ghost. Life is a dream, and we will awaken with Joy when we pass. And yet despite the beauty in that statement, we can also feel his pain.
We all have something that happened, or someone who came into our lives who we will never forget, even when they leave us.
When Spike is reunited with Julia she asks him "Why did you love me?"
How many of us have had times in our lives when we felt unworthy of being loveable? I'd wager more than one might expect.
We also meet Faye Valentine. At first we may write her off as shallow, selfish, or self centered.
But at a later look we find she was put into cryogenic stasis after the Great Gate accident (A major story point I won't ruin here), and that upon awakening in the future, she is taken advantage of by a con man, who gets her to fall for him, fakes his death, and sticks her with an insurmountable debt by listing her as a beneficiary.
At this point we can understand why she gambles her money away, keeps those she's afraid to care for at bay, and why she's afraid everyone will ultimately leave her.
There's also Edward, a young hacker our characters end up taking on who is orphaned. But despite having fended to herself she is whimsical, and joyous. Always making the best out of a bad situation, the other characters sometimes learn that, and we can learn that. Even if such optimistic is sometimes annoying.
Ein the Welsh Corgi taken on in Session 2 is a genetically experimented upon animal who is as smart as the human characters, but still communicates like any dog. But even Ein is an anomally. Ein quickly befriends Edward, and how many of us spend a lot of our lives just longing for genuine kinship?
Of course our main characters are Bounty Hunters, and in the Sessions we even learn what motivated some of these criminals to lead a life of crime. One of the best Sessions in my opinion is "A Waltz for Venus".
In the context of the storyarc, on a colonized Venus there are plants whose seeds cause blindness in a small part of the population. Our bounty head, Rocco has stolen a VERY expensive medicinal plant called "Grey Ash" from none other than the mob. Rocco is a verry cheery person who sees Spike take down hijackers with Jeet Kun Do.
He spends a good few hours trying to persuade Spike to teach him, who finally cracks (Initally to get him off his back), and tries to show him. Spotting the Mob's underlings he leaves the Grey Ash with Spike, and tells him to meet him at a secluded location. Faye of course tells Spike to sell the plant, but Spike's intuition leads him on some detective work. Spike meets a woman at Rocco's living space whom he finds out is his Sister, who worries because Rocco has been involved with less than reputable people. It is in this meeting that Spike says"I could be one of those people you're talking about" to his chagrin she tells him "You could be, but then again there's something beautiful in you. Others might not see it, but I can sense it" You see Rocco's Sister is blind. Spike replies with one of the most poignant lines of dialogue in the series "Something beautiful huh? I was afraid that. Afraid that I lost that a long time ago." Spike then meets Rocco a time later at the requested location, but the mob shows up. A shoot out occurs between the crew of the Bebop, and the mobsters. Rocco is shot, and the plant falls to the ground, and like Rocco, dies. The Bounty Hunters capture the mobsters but it's too late for Rocco. As Rocco dies, he quietly says to Spike "If we had met earlier, in another lifetime, Do you think we would have been friends?"
At the end of the Session, at the hospital we see Rocco's sister has gotten an operation with money secretly supplied by her brother. She hasn't gotten her sight yet but she's excited enough to tell Spike to get Rocco, she can't wait!
After a pause however she feels Spike's cheek, and pouts. "He's dead. Isn't he?" As Spike is heading to the door she cries, "It's just that.... I wish I could have known what he was really like."
Spike replied "You knew him better than ANYONE. WITHOUT seeing. He was EXACTLY the man you thought he was: A really great guy".
With that we find Spike at a stand in the city Streets, eating an apple looking into the heavens. The blinding seeds fall in an ironically beautiful pattern
CB is really a tale about Life, and it tells it so beautifully in a package of Science Fiction, Action, and Drama trappings.
I don't want to give too many spoilers as I've already given enough, but anyone reading this really should experience it for themselves.
