Finding meaning in Art

Greetings!

Under normal circumstances at which art is built, any form of it is supposed to pass a message, even in the midst of entertainment. But... Read on.

Coming out very sincerely, I can't remember the last time I planned to watch a movie to get meaning or a message from it, or to listen to a song to get meanings from it, or to listen to anything(like motivational talk) apart from religious sermons to derive meaning. I purely go for these for mere entertainment. Although I might end up picking up one or two facts about life, seeing the culture of other countries, or admiring the improvement in technology—because, most times, technological advancements are first seen in movies before they become practicable or rampant in real life.

I remember the last place I worked as a staff. We had access to TV from morning to night, and I was in charge of the remote to the DStv. Because I don't find interest in what the ladies liked to watch, they would always beg me to change the channel to those that showed Nollywood movies. Yes, there were many ladies there.
Many times, the manager would walk in to meet the TV showing demonic movies, and he would get angry and order me to change the channel. He would usually query the ladies with, "What you watch is what you become," which implies that when they keep watching demonic movies, there is a meaningful attachment to them that might influence them or other things in the environment.

I used to frown a lot when he started those sermons. Sometimes, I would be tempted to ask, "What if we watch American movies that are all about fighting and shooting, is there any negative impact?" He would be dumbfounded.

Well, that's how far people go with finding meanings or attaching meanings to art. So many people watch movies to get life lessons. For instance, my manager would always encourage the ladies to watch movies about relationships to learn how to deal with relationships and marriage. While it works for some people, it doesn't work for me. I only watch movies for mere entertainment.

The same thing goes for songs too. My taste in music is purely for entertainment and nothing more. While some artists are very good in their craft—crafting meaningful words into rhythm—I applaud them, but those words are not really there to teach me life lessons or for me to derive meaning from them. They're just something I applaud while listening to them.

Although music is meant to pass a message to the listeners—which a lot of artists have been doing and sticking to—how do those messages influence life? Maybe it's just me who doesn't allow those words to work in me. I see those things as mere motivational words. Currently, in my part of the world, motivational speaking doesn't work because the speakers often do the opposite of what they say.

Let me stop here before I find myself digging deep and mentioning names for examples, which most of us may not like. Lol.

Thanks for reading.

Images are mine